Variety (Jul 1932)

30 VARIETY VAUDE HOUSE REVIEWS Tuesday, JdEy 5» 1932 PALACE JOE PENNER (2) Comedy, Singing 10 Wins.; One Pafaoe Joe Ponner plugged his way to Inoderately important name propor- tions and meanlnsr throush the pic- ture houses, has worked. In them for many years, all along hot playing much vaude. Penner Is\a type comedian from burlesque with an odd quality In his voice and a trick laugh standing as his principal assets. He carries a straight man with whoih he opens the routine rehearsing gags; the other spills himself, hut closes alone with a comedy special, sold In a uniqucr way. Violin and card bit precedes. Did very nicely at the Saturday matinee. Char, LA^ COSTA, CARLITA ahd LA TINOS (6) Dancinjg, Instrumental ' 9 Mins.; Full (Special) C. p. H. Act seems to be headed for some- where. Lead pair are Spanish dancers Svho get away from the foot stomping to mix acrobatics and adagio with the work. Scene Is a special cafe set with a bar, the : ;Three La Tlnbs, two men and a, girl, backgrounding with accordion; guitar, nnd-vtoltn. After the first dance the girl comes on for a violin solo while dancing on her toes, mbstljr a back bend. The men play a duet with one doing a peculiar whistle, and V the girl comes back for more back ^lending arid violin playlngi Not so : good on the repeat. They've seen it Finish Is the lead couple back for iii hear-Apache- with the girl doing some cooch that Is wickedly smooth. I^ot enough to be offensive and Into the' pair dabce In which she plays wildcat. Gets one toss to the floor for a threes-foot drop and act . ends* with her belns tlurown through a supposed mirror. . . Somethirier different in the line of flashes: And can make the grade IWhen more finish Is acquired. GRANT WITHERS (2) Personal Appearance ,14 Mins.; ;One', : Academy if Withers would do anything be- sides smile pleasantly his''In person' Bhbwlng: nilght mean soniethlng. Most picture people in vaude mean practically nothing, but their names help draw. How much draw there . Is. attached to Withers' name after a couple of yeats away from pic- Jiures Is highly debatable. . . . ^hen Withers started his Vaude tour, as caught at the Oriental, Chi- cago, he didn't even have ah act. Kow he carries with him Sddie' Moran> unbilled, and one of the I most capable stooges In the busi- nessi That's something of a break. S^ran,manages to get a f«w laughs on hls'bwn. He could get more if Withers knew how to istralght a bit less woodenly. But Moran isn't even billed. For a, finish Withers uses a- bit from one of his pictures, 'Dancing Siyeetles,' with thel sound track cut off and hlrbself singing the song, •Kiss Waltz.' It doesn't syno any too well, but it's the one excuse for Withers being on the stage. 8HEPPS' DOGS AND MONKS Animal Act 9 Mins.; Full (Special) G. Pv H;L_.„ Turn ^akes a nice flash .Wl.th a dozen dogs working against spe- cial black velvet drop - lightly worked up for a foliage suggestion. Dogs 'are Immaculately white and .entire act looks cared for. Most of the trlcks^are the usual stuff with only one monk working. Does the wire and a high jump. A second monk rides the back of one : of the dogs, pooch, doing a somer- sault with the smaller beast cling- \ ing to Its back.. Showy trick. I JLU. of the pups are tall waggery knd seem to enjoy the work. Third monkey Is used for comedy, crack- jlng nuts with a couple of bricks. JOE MOSS and ORCHESTRA (23) Orchestra, Singintf 25 Mfhs.; Full (Spocial) Palace ■ ■ '■ Joe Moss, as un orchestra leader. Is not generally known'to vaude- ville. He has confined much of his activity In an orchestra way to so- ciety work, broadcasting and nitery spots of the better -calibre. Lately at the swank Hotel Pierre, .New; York, a,nd previously on the LUcky Strlkie hour. That he may and ought to have aome draw at the Palace over and above what the law. of averages gives Is probable. That he iias an attraction which merits drawing and favorable com- ntieht Is without probabilities. ' It's certain. Moss maly be making a slight error In showmanship to stick it out 26 minutes, although he has much to offer In the way of novel- ties, specialties and the like, but the danger of the running time hurting him is not serious. Moss' band, in summery-dressing, Includes 14 men. Only one steps down front to engage Iri any kind of a number,'a song doubly bit with a girl, but Moss still has plenty ahead of hlis band to trot out. In addition to the vocal singles, he has; The Batchelors, quintet of harmonists, and. the song team of Oracle Smith and Charlie Herbert. Eacli do their share. In the event of some cutting, there'd be. no com- plaints, depending on how Moss and the theatres he plays feel about that running time. Batchelprs work around a piano, singing through , a mike, while the team works from there and down- stage. In connection • with a barn- yard romia.nce setup, too many choruses of which are done,-Moss has some comedy slides thrown on the screen. They are of folks; cus- toms and spots of other days, styles, etc.,. getting laughs. Char, THE PIRATE QUEENS? («* , Dancing, Acrobatics |10 Mins.; Three (Special) jC'oliseum An act with plratjcal background, billed as 'Pirate Queen,' was around several years ago. It probably had no connection with this one except ;In atmosphere and similarity of bul- ling. 'Pirate Queens' is a group of six igirls Who mingle acrobatics with Idance routines. They work together, ftlrigly and In doubles and trloia, generally impressing by their atyl^. |The act with which it might be con- fused consisted of a girl and six men, with a story and vocal back- Sround. : 'Queens' opened the show up here grhursday night, getting over nicely. Char, STUARt and LASH (11) Comedy Band 34 Mins.; One and Fiill (Special) Qrpheum, N. Y. Booked, billed and plotted as two acts the. combination can without trouble hold the next to shut and shut positions on most any pro- gram. They're clever people, Stu- art and Lash, they work hard, they have a capable. company and they are audience pleasers. If there's any quarrel with the turn It's the matter of time. . They are on the stage just a bit too long ^and too of tern Might, be better to let the other members of the troupe do a bit more work with the two chief progenitors out of sight. Twa boys start the works as a team for good , fast comedy. . It's rough stuff, hokumlsh, and even goes in for slapstick and seltzer bottle, but It's laugh provoking. Ida Shlbley walks on for a bit of chat-. ter and a. very jieat high kick num- ber. This girl knows what high kicks mean. durt'aln descends, annunciators announce .'Glorious Girls,' and an eight-glrl band troupe Is shown in front Of a nice though gaudy set. Lash walks on presently to handle the baton' and the. clowning con- tlniias. Lash also plays mandolin and scrapes a,t a violin for a few minutes. Stuart works oh a har- monica for very good effect. Miss Shlbley does another number. The girls continue playing. And Stuart and Liisb continue clowning. Cutji.hg five minutes from the last act would help coitslderably. Kaw,t. I——~—• MORLEY SISTERS (9 ^ Songs 8 Mine.; One Orpheum, N. Y. Alice and Dorothy Morley did a sister act for years. For some time they split up while Dorothy went into an act with .her husband and Alice; did a single which got high praise. Now the ''glrlB*"are together again and still a good team. Theylve discarded the high-yel- low make-Up and work straight. No costume changes, biit both are neatly attired at entrance. Several nice hot numbers are split between them and delivered for all they're worth. ■ ■ ' , ■ ' ;.'" Deuced here, over easily, and okay for a spot farther up on the bill elsewhere. KauJ. The grind policy here.at.|1 top, with either nin^or 10 acts and some film short fillers. Is slated to go but after this week. House is schcd uled for. a combination policy of six acts and. pictures,, latter on second run following the Mayfalr. It may be assumed, though thls- week's show does not offer convlno ing Indications, that out of all the recent Indecision and despair,, those behind the operation, of the Palace are hoping current seven-day stretch wlU brlnff' some light. Bad -weather can hurt the beat show, but good weather will never put over shows or a policy that does not possess the elements of sound showmanship^ , .Palia.ce policy la essentially an experiment, a result of operating mInds' that are looking for some- thing different.. It's neither one thing nor another. Thus, its trouble is double. Policy Is neither that of the State as a combination which has its par- ticular, familiar .draw, nor Is It big time which made the Palace what It was in the pa^t It's between the two. A picture alone would prob- ably have been better than vaude alone, as now, at popular prices oh a grind basis; but with the capacity house would have to become a. run^ buying seilectlona from the film product on a selective' basis to even make out with that. Pop vaude and some film filler at $1 top has less of a chance than if the house was such a run, though in either case capacity Is against the theatre. It was/has been and prob- ably still should be a big time vaude operation, getting its price by giv- ing a policy: meriting it. Palao Is not to be rated among modern playhouses In construction. It has a top gallery to which it Is difficult to attract patrons. With the downstairs at $1 top, it is more difficult than ever to. get people into those seata than -when the lower floor levy -was stiff and persons may have figured they -were getting a bargain, by go!"*? up on the shelf. With six. acts ahd a picture oh second run, house -would be trying something doubtful. The Mayfalr on first run, to begin wlthj Is none too well fortified with product. Also the two houses are within a good spljt of pach other. RKO seems to predicate Its planned hew combination policy fof the Palace on what Loew's haVe In the Capitol and State. RKO compares Its May- fair to Loew's.Capitol and Its. newly conceived 'Palace policy to the State. There la no parallel between the two houses of each circuit on operation and chances. On What Is probably .Its final straight pop vaude show, the major Palace names are Herb Williams, next to shut, and Joe Moss' Orches- tra (New Acts), preceding, on the show of nine acts. House out front again bills Its stage outlay as JlO acts, advertising Moss' orchestra f^nd The Batche- lors, harmony quartet, working In It, into two attractions. At that the Moss orchestra and wiiat it offers l3 as- good as two or three acts, though quite Iq.ng . tuid sometimes threatening to weary the fofks a little; Moss* dynamic direction as- sists a lot in avoiding It. He's at all'times on the job, keeping things moving even if HT may seem a lag Is comihg. Wllllamd* Is also on long, giving 'em plenty. They'll probably carry him home to Long Island on a stretcher after this week's grind, If It Isn't after Saturday with Its five shows. Some Of the acts get In here as early as- 8 a. m, Saturday the illusion when he holds the girl that she's floating on air. First three-way adagio-In the middle also Includes some novel angles. Char^ ROBBINS.FAMILY (5) Aerobatics, Dancing 10 Mins.; Full Academy Twa boys, two girls and an elder- ly man, posiaibly the father of the quartet. Look like they may have come from the circus tent. Work starts slowly with the young quat'tet doing a very hiild dance number. Old man wanders oh for a couple of mild gags, and the four come back to really go to work. They're all experts at ground tumbling and handle the stunts In a new way for vaude. Soon as they cut out the dance and hokum ahd settle down to straight acrobatics they'll, be worth while for either end of any grade of vaudeville. Kauf, JACK STARNES (4) Adagio . 13 Mins.; One, Full (Special) Coliseum A novel finish, creating an illu sion, tops this adagio. act's other- wise avej-'age endeavors. A male single, doing an introduction, also essays talk between numbers but doesn't get far on laughs. His final stretch in one, In vleW of the net on comedy, entirely too long, biit prob- ably padded In preparation for the last adagio number. In that number, done :on a jet black stage, one of the three male handlers is also in black, creating FOUR WARD BROTHERS Dances, Chatter, Comedy 17 Mins.; One Grand Opera House Look like experienced performers whose forte is dancing; which is where they should stick. One also strums a uke or something, while two others attempt that dumb BHt ish comickery of a couple of fops that won't hit with wise audiences. It's too badly done. However, when the four dance, or maybe three, col lectlvely Or individually, they please. With fixings look like a deucer for general playing, in 'B' spots. Comedians .spot evening outfits with monocles, others pair in street clothes. Shah, t^ rehearse tlie show. It's more thaih a grind, it's ian endurance contest. Other acts, including several that have been at the Palace before, evl- denoed an enthusiasm, mingled with hope, that'has its sympathetlo side. They ,all hate to see . vaude dying. Folks may not Want to ride in buggies now that automobiles are so modern and cheap, but when they laugh or listen the thrill is the^samiB as it alwfiys iias been. The main reason there is not much vaude around today is that there aren't many spoti: where people will support It. That is, it it Isn't kicked around by the men who. are supposed to provide it. Between Williams and the other stroner comedy act on the show; Clifford and Marion, there are al- most enough laughs to satisfy any ohel The same amount would have gotten by at the Palace In its old tworh-day days, when to the clowning by Marie Marlon, the com- edy from Jean Oranese, Joe Penner and Lulu McConnell Is a.dded. Clifford .and Marlon are spotted sixth. Theiris-iB-the best hand-grab- ber' on the show next to .Williams, unless a tie is claimed by Moss. Lulu McConnell. works third in her old brldgei game sketch, Joe Penner (New Acts) following. Lat- ter has worked hard and diligently over the years. In. picture houses and m.usicals mostly. He's a type w-lth an original comedy demeanor and salesmanship that has a place in Vaude as Well as picture theatres. Sight and ho-velty is provided by the opening, fifth and closing acts, respectively. Nellie Arnaut and Bros., . 'Living Jewelry* and June Purlane ahd Co. They are Palace acts of the past, on an if needed basis mostly, but while hohe are above average on nierlt at the same time they are not below that estU mation. In addition to newsreel, including Pathe, Paramount and Universal clips, film filler includes an 'Oswald the Rabbit' cartoon (IT). Numerous seats oh the lower floor Saturday afternoon, beginning of the big ex- odus to - the country^ seashore, etc., etc., etc. Char. FORDHAM ('Variety of Vanities'—Unit) It's a trick taking several vaude- ville. acts and personalities and tying them Into a production unit somewhat along picture house lines. The picture people have long since learned it'^ a,, trick, but around RKO numerous attempts in the past have gone haywire. Prpbably due to the talent, but importantly also because of staging. • O. L. Oz; himself a former vaude- villlan, has the sixth sense required for units from all indications. His 'Variety of Vanities' has entertailn- ment appeal considerably above the average. tThe staging is show- manly.. Divested of its Unity,.as.a.:reEnilar vaudeville show, Babe Egan and Redheads, Hughle Clarke, Johnny Tyrell and the others would—proibL ably make' a fair showing. Mixed together as in 'Variety of Vanities,' with a lot of special material staged, they go much farther thah that. Unit 'runs an even hour, Just right. Miss Egan precedes it in the snot, directing the orchestra for the regular overture. Her girl musi- cians are spotted In the dugout amongst the men. She and her muslcianesses remain there for part of the unit, until necessary for them to mount the stage for the greater portion of the second half. Hughle Clarke, Johnny Tyrell, Collette Lyons; her teammate, Georga Snyder, and others are in and out of the show from start to finish, Tyrell opening with his girls and most of Miss Lyons' regrular act following. Latter is In excellent form, clown- ing all over the place and the unit. In the speak set, occupying second half of unit, she and. Clarke click nicely for laughs ih the beer-drlnk- in? bit. Miss Egan Is leading her band throughout this scene, which gathers nice ehtertalnmeht mo- mentum, but lets down a trifle when Clarke and a girl dancer are In- jected for singles. This separates' the beer bit and steW stuff from the finale, when effect of cop3-carryln£f people around on a pinch Is pro- vided. Latter IS; by trick costumes worn by each principal. These two singles ahead could be cm. but. Clarke particularly has been on enough before, and if a wait must be filled the single hlgh- kicklng dancer alone ought to suf- fice. Helen TijiaUi Lillian Lester and Olive McClure are dancers on the show, leaning mostly to acrobatic. One of the girls does a vamp bit with Clarke that steals plenty of laughs. In ach case the dance special- ties are up to and sometimes above standard. Three Rhythm Girls top anything In a dancing Way with their routine, exhibiting swell hoof- ery In a challenge, worked when first on. Among the virtues of the unit is its speed. Only in a couple of spots does Its snappy pace let up at all. Business maybe poor up here Fri- day, night, but due to the Demo- cratic show on the radl6. With unit n't here on screen 'Strange Love of Molly Lou vain' (FN), .CAor. STATE Indifferent attendance that pre«- yalled all oyer the mid-town New York district' was reflected in th^ afternoon' gathering at Broadway's principal drop-in house. Crowd used only about lu^lf the auditorium, and In conse^quence a flrst-rate enter- tainment'just ambled.along to small applause returns. For some reason this spot Is acutely affectiad by the pall that: always hangs over a small audience. Show was entitled to a better hearing, being i^cely put together ifor the State grade of clientele. Feature, 'Two Seconds' (WB), has sensational features that ought to recommend It. to casual attendance, and the name of EdWard O, Roblh- sOn la a bbz-offlce name for the metropolitan passer-by. BUI played better than it reads, Its one defect being the late spotting of Bernlce Claire. Probably for the purposes of the State also the line- up is lacking in vlgorouis comedy, that important department being in the hahds Targely of the. dependable Herman Timberg, next to closing, and Maddox and Mack, two lady clowns playing No. 3. Colby and. Murphy dance flash, .on No. 2, com- pletes the. running schedule,, from which the weiakness'In laiigh values are apparent. Opener is Maxlne and Bobby, an ideal, matinee novelty, with its semi- comic trainer and a trained fox ter- rled of unusual dramatic talents, even including the feature trick of doing & jumprthrbugh-the-hoop in slow motion, quite a knockout of a feat and a strong finish for this show. Trainer has a shrewd lay- out, doing: most of his cuelhg In neat pantomime. Colby and Murphy revue probably Isn't a new chapter in the many - similar turns the stepping pair have turned out in the past few years, but the costumes and accessories look fresh. Light framework upon which, the dance affair Is hung Is neatly established at the start with one of the boys, and two girls done- up as picture jpalaxse uishera In costume and appropriate song lyrics. Turn- into a dance trio With spirited tap-' ping iand legmanla. Finale Is a fast and graceful waltz adagio by- the principal pair for a nice, fast flnlsh.' by all hands. Maddox and Mack out in 'one' for their familiar style of ^Ister comedy . chatter and knockabout, tall brur nette in white and , short blonde in trick pa jama outfit, being neatly teamed for the ribbing chatter: Song by the brunette is Incidental to the joshing, and the dance flnlsh. gets them away to fair total of re-: sponse. Miss Claire wais the victim of uh? ^ wise spotting. She.demands a proper : p lac ing, for_Her effect depends upon ah audience's. mo6d~ to accept. .her , legitimate straight song turn. Fol- lowing a, rowdy comedy interlude doesh't produce the state of mind to " take a straight concert item, be the singer ever so good to look at and her Voice ever so agreeable to hear. Girl la simply garbed in a white evening frock of'ingenue niodel and makes her -way on her charming simplicity and grace of bearing. Timberg took command here, a well-established name ahd type of, act for the house, and made his Way hicely through 20 minutes or more of comedy antics with the aid of a foursome, of stooges, including the same assistant whose biarnstormlng ham characterization still stands out In the routine. Golf dance with the: second generation Timberg makes the excellent stepping finish. Closing turn Is sensational. KIkur las, seven men and two girls, all Japanese, doing In polished style the usual routines of juggling and rlsley work^ the latter having some firsts rate bits, notably a full twister from foot balahca On one bearer's feet to a like stand on the second matman. Screen, filler besides the Hearst news Is a Metro-Goldwyn short, •Sealskin,' with Thelma White , and Sazu iPltts,. done in two fair reels. Nearly three hours of shiow and a bargain for the four-bit gate. , Rush. ACADEMY Human nature doesn't change much Ih the course of years. Neither does the taste of vaudeville audlr ences. They still want,, as they always wanted, novelty. This thea- tre last Thursday night (30) demons strated that. - Five standard vaude acts, mostly pretty good, and pretty well di" versified, on the bilL But It took a foreign novelty act, a clown doing things In . his own comfortable European fashion, to really wako the audience up. Peplto, the Span- - ish clowh, in third spot, on a. hot night, managed the most complete shpW-stopper this theatre has seen in months. Even flashing the name of Grant Withers, the picture lad doing a p.a., oh the enunclators couldh't stop the applause for Peplto. Maybe ' the fact that the Academy has a pretty large f oreign element in its attendance had some- (Continued on page 31)