Variety (Jul 1932)

"taesSiHyr My 12, 1932 FILM HOaSE REVIEWS VARIETT PARAMOUNT, N. Yv • New York, July 8. If the specialties In a picture llouse specialty show live up to the excellence that a ?15,000 salary out- Jay lmplies» the production around fhiwir^can't "make--much^aifference' either way. It doesn't at the Para- mount this week, which is fortu- nate, because the current' produc- tion surrounding a heayy array of names and salaries is prfetty bad. Harry Rtchman and Bert Wheeler stand for $10,260 f.o.b., with Rlch- jnan's cane and topper and Wheel- er's apple and sandwich the only scenery they brought along. Also on the show are : Jeanne Aubert, Mitzi Mayfalr and Polly Walters, The Palace would have added a brace oi acrobats and sold the same layout for $2 not so long ago. Be- sides there's a picture liere, 'Mil- lion Dollar Legs' (Par) , and with the stage show they'lr© getting, nobody is going to ask whether -J:he picture Js' good oriVjust a-picture. JVIiss Mayfalr dances and Hiss Aubert sings, and so does Rlchman sing, but the meat of the bill is comedy. Since the Paramount the- atre opened and up to a couple of months ago, wheii the" guy who planned the Hindenburg line wired the Par stage, the Par audience had been starvs.d_fbr something to laugh at besides an occasional neck fall. Now that the mike& are delivering verbal comedy right to yoiir seat, the customers, are really enjoying themselves, Aiid does that make It sweet and pretty for Wheeler and BlchihiEin for about Ave minutes oh the apron with Miss Walters? The trio, all seated on the edge of the pit platform, cross-Are to and fro with oldies, stalles and everything .Julius Tannen forgot to tie ■ down. And they loved It. Nothing oovld have been, more per- -fect as a btiildrun. for-Wheeler and- Mlss Walters as they return to the rostrum upoh'BIchman's departure. They -: go Into the old Wheeler standby, than which there was no. better among mixed dialogs in the old days, and everything lands, in- cluding the glycerine tears. The only thing missing was the horn. Rlchman changes to evening dress for the girls' sia,ke in his un- derneath-the-flnale vocal Interlude and has tjie strange experience of seeing them swoon to the same songs that laid a dozen eggs In the same, theatre two or three years ago. Same songs but a different Rlchman. Not so nite-clubby and more of a ceiieralized entertainer and working this t'me. ' Miss Aubert, & straight muislcal comedy prima despite her French accent and eye-opening duds, had to strugglie a bit to get them Inter- ested In the early portions of her singing.. When something started to go on In the rear as accompani- ment for one ofi the songs. Miss Aubert. commenced to .reach first base. That showed wtere this mu- sical comedy singer Is most at bome. Mies Mayfalr does two specialties, the first all alone out In 'one' and the second oh a larger set before the David Bines line. Miss Mayfalr is pretty far ahead of her field right now and If she continues to Improve as she has lately, there's iip telling when somebody else can catch up. As long, as Miss Mayfalr can so eftslly kick her own chest •with both feet, there won't be much competition around for her. In a; neat little speech she said the Par-, amount was her first New York stage da,te. She was 11 at the time and her chief worry was the Gerry Society, she added. As Wheeler explained, Miss Wal- ters was following plenty by danc- ing, after Miss Mayfalr, but it can^t really be called. dancing. Regard- less of thati she shows a cute figure and does a satisfactory straight for a comic who's no cinch to foil for. ;A11 In all, the talent is wejl bal- anced, with three attractive women on one side- and two strong men In their own ways on the other. Little production help and what there is of it Isn't very helplful. The fiash finale with a flock of Jighting effects didn't pah out, but the talent had sewed things" up tight ahead so. the flop finish didn't step on the applause. Rublnblt conducts' .ah ' overture comprising 'Songs by Harry Rich- jnan/ preceded by a slide inform- ing that Rlchman Is also a song writer, which is among the big sur- prises this week. . The Crawrords are at the small consoles on the stage currently, playing 'The Voice in the Old Vil- lage Choir* to Vocal interpretation by an unbilled mixed pair. It's among the pdorest items in the. Crawfords* repertoire. Nobody was hanging from the chandeliers, but the seats were holding heaVy enough Friday. Bige. much the same show as before, and they liked it, which is a tribute to Lewis' sales ability. O'Neill Kiddies were worked in Walt Roesner's overture and jna^.^ a big . fiash In a ballet number and a staircase. finale that included a TJrum-corps-and-plentjrofredr'whlte: and blue. Joaquin Garay sang 'Lazy Days.' Trailer on next week's date ^of Jack Bempsey was one of the neat- est things o£ Its kind in a local showhouse, projecting shots of the Sharkey-Schmellng fracas directly into the big colored screen at the sound of a gong, and causing much comment. Picture was 'Make ile a Star' (Par). Bock. FOX, BROOKLYN Brooklyn, July 9. Jiist another unit here this week, .sans names, sans novelty, sans in- terest, Fortunately the dances were staged by somjeone who knows something about staging dances . so that department is the reverse of a washout. 'Chains' Is the . name of the unit, with all that the title connotates there. Opens 'one' with a male doing what is supposed to be a modernistic dance keynotihg. Full stagei Jail scene foUoWis with the dozen odd girls strewn about sup p6sedly as slaves and with chained hands, while Frank Stever, a portly baritone, yodels. Karels and Kay and Georgehe and Raye, two adagio teams, flirt back and forth Just to confuse tlie issue, neither team do ing anything' especially outstanding in the way of leaps or catches. Paul Mall, once a blackface co median, walks on in 'one' to use up ten jmlnutes. He's a t>ersonable yoliing man with a pleasant enoiigh voice,. but ought to buy, borrow, or beg himself some material. Outside of singing one of r those patch-as patch-can: parodies, he wanders through one or two choruses. and calls on Freddie Mack's pit-men to supply the real meat of his act. .That's not fair. Paul has enough on the ball to entertain if he goes about it wisely. He ought to start doing it. Girls now wander back: in a very modernistic and pretty chain hum ber. Gold and Raye go through an amusinj; act of rough comedy danc- ing. They're two young men that know what dancing Is about and show it. Girls again, adagio again and the whole mob for a finish. Busby Burkeiy, who has a nice legit staging rep, is credited with the staging of this show and, con- sidering the fact that he had no material to work with, has turned oiat a creditable Job. Which Is faint praise, indeed, since there was nothing to work with. ' Up in front of the show Is a very good prolog by Freddie Mack and band. Mack is getting more and more confidence, every week, and is Just about rea.dy to hit the big time In a iJig way. He's personable, pleasant and talented. Currently he moves bis men through a rapid .routine fluctuating between hot Jazz, novelty and symphonic tunes, also getting in a quartet singing piece and a solo by Tommy Green, a boy with a nice tenor. 'Week Ends Only' (iFox) on the screen and biz Just so-so. Kauf. FpX, FRISCO ' San Francisco, July 4, House celebrates its third anni- versary this week, bringing back Ted Lewis for a return date, and augmenting the show with" 65 youngsters, pupils of Peggy and Helen O'Neill, who are semi-annual attractions here. Business pretty good, though not quite up to Lewis' fir.st week, when he got nearly $38,000. He gave 'em DENVER Denver,. July 8. ' "Fred Schmltt's orchestra plays 'Spirit of '76' overture, with patri- otic numbers, and during the finale the curtains fly showing a huge U. S. flag, with 36 youngsters on the stage waving small flags. Great applause getter as usual. 'Parisian Revue' opening shows entrance to cafe, and with girls of line checking their capes and canes at check staAd as they do h rou- tine. The six men of the line enter and also check, and all do intricate iand fast routine. Jack Holland and June Knight do their interpretation of the tango, finishing with the old- fashlohed 'wring-the-dishrag.' Rudy Kaye, pleaslhg singer, sings in words no one can ui-derstand, after a built-up entrance. Later the lad sings English,, and pledses; Second scene shows .Interidr of cafe, with band of huge dummy ne- groes. Dezso Retter, with, a collar too big for two of him, tries cbm- edy before going into his trance of wrestling with himself, which, by the way. Is good. Act is a winner. Holland air.d Knight do a rumba with variations and Rudy Kaye sings. Wilton Crawley, in black- face, does part of his clarinet play- ing lyine down and m'xes acrobatic feats with routine. Does an. Al Jolsbn with one the orchestra mem- bers furnishinig the 'voice' "by means of a nasal sounding: cornet, Craw- ley furnishing the facial expres- sions. . Janice Walker sings Cinderella ditty as introduction to enacting of story of Cinderella. The .c/owning of Cinderella as queen furnishes the finale. . / A medlbcre .stage layout, but backed up by a strong picture, 'The Tenderfoot.' ORIENTAL, CHICAGO Chicago, July 8. . If there are theatrical cele^britles in Chicago they can invariably be found In one of three places: Vln- ccnt-Bendlx'sresidencer-Gene-MacT- Dohald's yacht or Beeandkey's Ori- ental. At the Oriental the memory books of the stage crew are Just full of the loveliest autographs. They've played everyone except- Gandhi and Almee Mappherson. in most cases it hasn't mattered. The house still saw red. That, of course. Is speaking, for the last couple of years. This week there Is Norma Tal- madge. Never before, has the for- mer cinema star apjpeared on a pub- lic platform... There Is: strong r^- son to believe she consented to break the. rule only at the urging of George Jessel. After the date was set it was reported she wanted to escape the responsibility:. Jessel talked her into going through. And when, those 32 performances are over she will have tucked away, a total, of experience that she will probably be glad to have behind her. It's, background for her pro- fessional future, whatever that may be, ■ ■ . . For a star of Miss Talmadge's former dignity slumming in the varieties must have been ah ex- perience to Inspire fright. It so happens tha't she was one of, the early clicks of the screen who ar- rived without any stopovers In other , branches of the. prbfeissiori. A Gomedlenhe, would have worried less/ because she could have aban dohed the decorum at a leading lady in the easy famillai'ity thit funny people ai-e permitted. Jessel gave her two shoulders to lean upon and the aid of his rich -experience-and-poise- to draw-frem He skillfully covered up through- out. On the opening day there was a fog of hervou^ess muffling her voice, BO that several of the com paratively few lines she had were lost. Without Jessel she would haVe looked very helpless indeed, for being a .dramatic actress she doesn't do the rumba or play the zither. Mls& Talmadge looked marvelous, especially in her. opening gown of ,white satin, with four rows of white fox in an ultra cape. Her recep- tion was unusually enthusiastic, and several fiatterihg remarks made by Jessel were quickly seconded by the audience. . Balaban & Katz ex- ploited the fact that this was a world premiere of Miss Talmadge oft the screen. Business opening day. promised to be good, although a dud picture; 'Week-end Marriage' (FN) waa a liability. - Stage show ran to great excesses on the Friday getaway. That bare stage opehing with the girls re- hearsing vras awkward and point- lesis and w,as a natural candidate for the scissors. Other slack was crying for tailoring. jessel dominated everything, and presumably was responsible for everything as conception and auth- orship were credited to him. Leav- ing Leon LeonidbfC very little to do eiccept to spot the lUisset Rascals, girl brigade, in three numbers. In the general endorsement of his capabilities and accomplishments a minority report,cail be filed Eigaihst Jessel on several points. There were were 15 to 20 Yiddish gags to mysr tify and annoy non-Jews and three blackouts that belong with the Shu- berts, but not with Balaban & Katz' family clientele; Jessel self-con- sciously commented, 'After, all, we must have things to Interest the kiddies.* Early in the presentation two stooges surveyed the theatre, and when" asked by Jessel what they were doing they cracked : they owned two shares of Balaban & Katz stock and were going to con- vert the. Oriental Into, a garage; It may be that Barney Balaban, Wal- ter Immerman, Dave Wallerstein and Lou Llpistbne have ho sense of humor. Anyhow, the gag was or- dered out. Jessel's squarer, that didn't, was: .'You're in the wrong theatre. You must mean , the Palace,' gave the RKO scouts a chance to go into convulsions of merriment. Geraldine and Joe, twb versatile kids who have played and replayed Chicago, were spotted through the show and Successively registered on their various specialties, climaxing with their hoke Apiche in the finale. "This is a pip. Kids have lots of what it takes. Somewhat extravagantly intrb- duced by Jessel was a male trio, Gordon, Reed and Kenhy, They were not sensational, but they were very modern, smart and uniquely routined. This act bears the stamp of time and 'effort spent by an inr tcrested outsider. It's an 'office! act. Wynn Wayne, antecedents un- known, is a torch singer with a barrel of hotcha. She's a sizzling, slinking Salome of song that mixes a ribald strut with her lurid lyrics. She requires perhaps a little expert guidance to attain celebrity. She starts with more than a notion. Eddie Meikel at the organ devoted hlmsolf mostly to a 'Jessel for President' group of slides that packed, a lot of humor, and should by normal sequence and showmanly association have led directly to Jessel's In-the-flesh appearance. However; ' before the stage show could follow Beeandkay insisted Ajpon-^Inser-ting—next ■ weekls-trailer^ thereby losing and breaking the continuity. Land, LOEWS STATE, L. A. ■ Los Angeles, July 8. 'Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farnn', as the screen attraction, plus the regular F&M unit> with Irving Aarbnson's Commanders, doubling from the Frolics, make a lot of en- terta.inment. Too much. In faot, with the second show opening day; running one hour and 16 minutes, late. A.t $3,500 lor the ' week, the Aarbnson band is a doubtful book- ing under the .circumstances, Open-, ihg day had the audience pbnder- Ing over a strictly fioor show rou- tine-Ih a Picture house. Aaronson introduces his vocal trio as 'singers who sing smart songs for smart people.' The trip warljled two num- bers loaded with lyrical smut. From then on everything the band: did was received coolly., Combination plays but .one num- ber, rest of- entertainment being hoke comedy by the biand members, all in cafe style; A one-time stage attraction, . the Aaronson band Is how a cafe orgahizatibh, wllS'hblh- Ing to. offer for the rostrum.. Phil' Saxe and. Red Stanley, also ifrom the bafe show, worlt with the band; F&M unit, .'Sweet and Lovely,' with Blanche Sweet featured, is average entertainment. Miss Sweet sings two numbers, iaccompanled by "AT"Rrnlcer,- formeriy~of"Paul''Whlte--- man's trio. Her one large moment is a . scene from 'Anna; Christie/ Which she did as a silent six years ago. It's ■ the , barroom sequence, with Miss Sweet revealing where she has been for two years. : Also a. bit strong for picture houses; however it's art. Stroud Twins are the duo m.c.'si Twins evidently spent a lot of time watbhing Jack Benny work, but Benny is'good. Outside of one tap routine, they confine their activities to gagging, and are prone to slip in blue ones. Chamberlln and Hines, hoke, dance team reversing the usual apache style, with the girl throwing the man around,, get the only. sight laughs. Team works hard and lands neatly. Line girls open the presentation with a nifty Interpretative number, the girls dressed a^ fishermen, working with a large net. Trick lighting aidds effectiveness. Net brassieres are used, allowing plenty of display. Line works as a back- ground to the apache number and in the closing. Fanchoh did <the staging, and has pacKed a lot of class into the 40 minutes. Attendance hear capacity down- stairs for the second performance, with the picture credited. Hearst News clips fill the bill. Call. MANCHESTER, LV A, \ ' Los Angeles, July 7. Stbogery reaches undreamed off heights in Charlie Foy's 'Bughouseff unit, which is breaking In at thef Manchester and then hopping di- j*eotly-tQ- Portlandr Or&, .-to-open-lfa... Fanchon & Marco toUr. Act is dif- ferent from anything F&M ha^ done before and will travel along at a smart pace after a week or two of playing. Fby works almost continuously through the 62 minutes arid holds down the top billing easily, In spite* of plenty of competition froni Max- Ine Lewis and a pair of his o,wiii henchmen. Latter, with a lusty bal- lad down near closing, wowed the audience. Opening oh one of those crazy village sets with everything very idiotic, action subsides- to- allo^ Mishka Besoff's balalika orcheistra to dp several numbers with Foy clowning in front. -From then on the stooges are on and off continuously, .with the first gag, 'For $60, all of us, that's what we want,' in poor .taste arid of anti- quated vintage. Four girl dancers In the unit have their chance for solo appearances. with La Verne Peterkln and. Virginia Peck .in tob numbers, Cutie Frederick ih a pow- erful acroba^tic iselectlori and Vlr-r glnia Flashette rounding out tjjp quartet later on when they doyn. modern- . combination - of hot and classic. Work in silver cloth dresseSt Olga arid Mishka, with their ball- room.. whirUngtalso_ went over well here In solo appearance. '"MisuxIriiB Lewis had to fight the house band part of the way thrcugh her first song, but at the: erid of the. second one halted all proceedings while she took her ovation. Those stooges of Foy's followed* all se ven of them, ^o show their versatility and abllftyTp standT up''" urider any kihd of punishment. Foy . can meitch his assistants or assail- ants against those of Ted Healy and no|t be ashamed. Finale was a nut-house wedding scene to the tune bf 'Minnie the Moocher,' with the audience, almost as tired as the performers. .Plenty' of laughs . and entertalnmerit In this one. ' LaiTy Ceballos stained smoothly. PARAMOUNT, L. A. LoB* Angeles, July 8. Classy little show at the Para- mount this week is called 'Chase-lng the Blues,' with the title in honor of Chaz Chase, heading the bill. The omnivorous prop eater is doing much the same material that he used in "Vanities' at trie Blltmore here several months ago; but has added one swell bit, a bathtub scene. Clicked satisfactorily. Remainder of the 40 minutes Is smooth and soMd. Line of 16 girls opens with a wooden soldier routine, disappearing down a trap behind a set piece that flies to reveal Nat Taylor, colored hoofer, who dances much the way Louie Armstrong sings. Paul Gordon, bike peddler, has a neat line of patter as accompani- ment, and topis his tricks with rid- ing feats on a unicycle for good ef-. feet. Could eliminate his false starts on that vehicle; they look faky. Dave and Hilda Murray are on next for one of their polished ball- room glides. Nice touch had the organ soloing on' the waltz move- merit. Inez King, stock warbler, got a hand on her entrance and proceeded to fling: a near torch. ,Chprus lii^e on again for a toe strut riumber, well routined and in- cluding a specialty by little Audrey Sharort. Marie Hollls entered on their .exit for a combination toe control and aeroiiatic number which had no suggestion of the contortion about it. Scored big, and is a bet for spotting in faist company. The Chase match' mastication and pantomime followed and a pretty production finale clpsirig. Girls dressed in summery costumes and the Murrays did a flirtation num- ber for a picture finish. Business about average, with , 'Man from Yesterday' (Par) . the I feature. Mill Bros, short, news and 'Lehar Impressions' overture filled out the program. ' \ IMPERIAL, TORONTO Toronto, July 8» ' Stage show at the Knevels hous^ ran to 66 minutes for the first matl-i nee, but was trimmed to 40 for the two night sho..'a when Billy Gray's m. c.'lng. was sliced. Boy's material was good, but the time Just had to be saved. No name strength on the marquee, but the prez. stacks up nicely and should prove- satlsifactory to the regular clientele, which at this deluxer is numerically strong. Closing Shea's Hipp temporarily leaves the Imperial as the only house in town with a stage bill, which is being heavily plugged In newspaper copy. . Traveler parts on full stage wltli ballet in rompers and hair ribbons on a long piano stool'with bdcks to audierice. Arm drills at the keys of gigantic pfano with Crawford arid Caskey behind the scrim for a chal- lenge number on the top of the massive grand. Pair are agile, and In fast tempo go through a dance menage, with boy leading in acro- batics and girl constantly on toes for more restrained routine. Bit closes with l2^glrr ballet facing au- dience for mbre arm-and-leg drills, and then down to the foots for high kicks, Crawford and Caskey coming out for another, brisk number, with, boy strong on leaps and spins; Paul Sydell, riot In the billing, trails with a pooch for the usual balancing st]xK arid the Inevitable comedy mutt. Draws laffs. Clever ba,]aricing registered. Time for cos- tume change has line-up back again in full stage dungeon set, this tim^ for a chain dance. Convict costumes arc white with pale-blue stripes, and number is done in Indigo lighting. Much more spectacular e^ect from a visual Standpoint cbuld ha,ve been obtained if Costumes had embodied the traditlpnal black . arid white stripes, and the number done In pne before the black velvets, Nicely dlscliplined number went byei: with- out a misstep, a.rid drew a warm re-^ ceptlon. Stage to 'one' again, with Johnririy Bryant but for a whlBtllng bit and bird imitations that were aided by the boy's personality and good wardrobe. Betty Fraser trails with a torch pbp medley that gets d nice haind and indiciatee that war- bling must be a family virtue. She's a sister of Sylvia Froos. Billy Gray opens second half, with nut comic scoring on comedy hoof- ing and burlesque recitations that are heavy on gestures and have the nxo- nolb^st all over the stage as well as up and down the alisles. Single socked home and drew the heaviest applause, reaction of the evening, which, with, generous ericorinB of Gray, left him limp at completion of act. Line-up eases on again fbr flnalei in rich-looking full-stage, set that was heavy on silks and drapes. Girls are in garden uarty gownis arid (Continued on page 47)