Variety (Aug 1932)

2Q : VARIETY Tiicisdiiy, Avgust vp/^ 1932 EDDIE GARR Comedy, Singing -13; Mins.; 'Onie : . .. ' ■. Palace, New York '. " it's this pefsonable lad's second aiJp6ararice at th€f Palace three months/. When the' hoUse turned grind Garr was on the Initial bill; doing, a slherld and later weavln^n and out of the Gus Edwards '-^w Stars on Parade', shlndlff.'. Present occasion finds hlni a ° scintillating addition to the Kate Smith 'Swahee Music Revue' oh Its i^econd sfaiiza, with Gaipr .illllnsr the spot made va- cant by CllfC Sdward'd sudden call to Hollywood. '. . (jarr reveals all civldences of a distinct comer. Outside ot the per- sonality that makig's.. Itself feit.iErom the moment , the boy oppns his moMth tp yarht .'them up wltli' a sprinkle of. 6o-stf gags,, the youth Uncoils a knack for mimicry that's a darb. • • .$tidks pretty closely in hjs reper- toIi;e .o names and manners easily Tepognlzable. Take-offs on Scbonz- zje vDurante, Chevalier,, Vallee and I^il Wynn each In turn sock the bell, limming the shadows {is vfr.ell as the hlghllsrhts .of these" variegated lumi- naries. .But the Jucles^ imitation e£-them all is Garr's replica of'the James. Barton drunk .epic, in wiilch the former's: adding of a touch oi his: own . here and. there' product cmedy effects.that even.the origi- nator can make note of and admire: . .. Odec. JiW tOGLm and CO. (6). ' \ Sketch. ■ ■ , ; ,■ ■ . v.. 1$!l\nin,-i. in One ^nd Three No card in the fileis for this sketch and.Coglin was iaround lately In an- other Mvhlch, like this one, was de-: rived'from hoary and'hlstOrlcat aft- erpieces.;, That's where much 'of the Broadway.; musical comedy^ comes ^rom, too, so Coglini is in good coiih-' pany. Sketch Opens.-with a drop'iti one with scrim to disclose, the In- terior as. .well as ejtterlor'bf a hos- plt&K "House' surgeon- iQ; the set c6hiplalnlng:'that hls^ jtationt knd ian lhter]:ie are playing- hookey. .Blacks ILo the oiifslde of 'the lnstitutioii aiid Cojrlih and the interne' (who looks V'OUfe. like ah, Orderly) roll in, .dr.urik. Coniedy bit and prop itled to'. give tifB tull' hospital rociih :.and. jiatleht or^^red to. bed ahdi'qulet.i>rescrifaied> That's ^the cue, for fill.'sorts'. o(.' ih- ten:'up;tiqn3,., fropi a'.,fat'-.Uttlo girl -vrlth a horn > to a co^uple of gunmen^ not; get as many laughs here as Wight have ,been a.ntlcipated,; but <3ogUn. gets Qvev somei smooth 'comw mei>t, an'd.Jt isiiouid go over .betteie when: it lias been worjked longer*: . Had . the : deuce here and about tlhe •Indletited ' pti&ltion tintil the roaghi" edges.' get worn-, off.- Ga"n be itiade Into something' with f^marter pliylhg. *.-- v.. ■ v .; , - .. ■ ■ • 1 I I I ' V ■•' ■ I..... ■ . V ■, , . ; . • LES ^AULFIEbD REVUE (6) Songs and Dances . .-> 14'<Mihs< iri l^our,'Own Set- Gi O. H., N. Y. Caulfield has been around in' a number of act fjorinitlohs; . but this seems to be a mbire ambitious' ef- fort -yvltH' fpyr ' gltls .^nA a iiiale pianist. Opens/With. Caulfield In one fq^r. a vocal Introduction, then .full ^tage, a black gold and.sliver set whl.?h. look^ dingy,, in..InsufllGient light.. Man at the piano and two • girls, on for legmanla. Third girl comes down from the fliies on a platform with angel wing backings and goes lnto ' a \dance with 'Caul- field. Two. girls back-for another brief , set of klckSi then the fourth girl In!, a coOch costutnei but no wriggles. Caulfleld-and the blonde back- for a flirtation'number' ind the other .single on for a nice tbe bit -with. the' blonde' doing a. hot" aero roullhe. and all on the finish. Abt.'lacks speed apd class and the mus'""' —— AL TUCKER AND SOCIETY OR- CHESTRA (9) B^^nd,, .18..Mine.; .Full (dpjpoial), . Orpheui:n, New York- ■ In about 1918 Tucker first had this kIndiQf an act Then he tried a two-act; as >Tucker and Smith and for a while a three-act as Tucker, Smith apd Sibley. He's back to'his original idea, dressed up and brought to date. It's a good idea and Ought to get him some place.' Layout at. opening is- somewliat reminiscent of Charlie Ahearn's Millionaire. Band outfit Bandhien all made tip as bums on the loose and very playful.. It isn't a steal from Ahearn since Tucker was .do- ing- It when Ahearn -was a bicycle act Anyhow,; It - auickly turns into a completely dlfCe;rent thing, be- cause Tucker's, men actually , are musicians, . -whereas Ahearn's lads do nothing but hoke. Tucker haa managed to find him- self some Teally. capable muslpal lads. Including an extra high barl-- tone. that's, the money for sure ap- plause, and an acrobatic boy that plays the hafrmonica in between giv- Ihe Imiltatibns of wrestlers. Tucker .gets lii a minute or so of his trick .fiddling, but . otherwise lets the other lads do most of the work with himself f^orrylng. about laughs. ;'. It's a good act. Kauf. . FRED LIGHTNER & ROSCELLA Comedy • 15 Mins.; One Orpheumr New. York-. Winnie's little brother Fred aind quite:a lad. - A bit less than a' year ago he was caught and called a Comedian : with, . an unfortunate choice of 'material.. Today, there's no doubt about him. He's, a cOmic tvlth ability and—^more unusual'— adaptability. He's now working an act that is' bound to please. Lightner has put the big red ears On the shelf, and -with it his ultra- Broadway fllppishness. ' He's still flip, but on the- family time.' He's discovered that the lads on Second avenue don't understand the idlb- syncracles of. in-front-of-the-Palace chatter. He works In ordinary street clothes and depends on nothing but his .wit to piit him o-ver. And'he has enough wit to get away with it. - Only one: 4nore change could.be made for the .'betterment of Iiight- ner's act.. He .could send his pretty but useless:, (as far as stage goes) partner tt the park to take a walk while the act is on ahd work single. But lie .isn't lUsly to shelve ,her, so. maybe. .It/.oughtn't to b.e mentioned. ■ Kauf, FRANK ELLIS Skit N 16 Mine.; Two (Special) Orpheum, -New York For years Fr^nk iBllls did a' tvvo- act: with Maitle. "Walsh, known as Wiailsh and Ellis and featuring a tribky tune, 'Ours Is a Nice. House/ His latest offering is a skit In which the only singing is done by the girl, Florence Br^wer^ balance of the material being talk. . Ellis's turn shapes up as a pleaser with enough -laughs, novelty and story to rate .satisfaction in, most of the better class neighborhoods. MIss.Brower opens doing a song bit behind, a practical "window In house drop carried, Ellis coming up to call on her. Majority of the talk is along argument lines over break ing of their ;engagement and the girl's new bi f.,^one by Arthur Shields with a slight pansy touch. Then the final make-up, with the interloping:.b. f. given the air. A novely finish is provided; aided by some more singing from Miss Brower. ■ ■■ - Char; STATErN.Y. Despite the counter dra,w of the Kate Smith revuslcal now in its second week ait. the Palace, this .lioew mainstreeter. shouldn't' find It much of an effort tp .turn in an average tally this week. Pace the turnstile picked .up through Satyr- day afternoon.npt only, fl^surgd, thl?, biuft indicated a gobd. .«;hAncQ.j)f tbe house's. 'coming thrpweh '- with . a grand note or two oyer the pr.e-yipus House has thie picture. 'Wash- ington Masquerade,' a couple of easily recognizable, names to fiash on the" marquee and well-knif bill of substantial entertainment.. James Barton and Art jarrett. are the names sharing the box office's hopes, with Anatol ^rfedland's 'Show Boat Revue' . On hand to round out and perk up matters with pep, beauty and color. ■With Marty May doubling out of the Frledland extravaganza into a separate spot farther 'lip the botirdk the bill could tephnlcally .be rated as only five acts. .WhatWer the classification, and certainly, the turn put on by M&y inakeS his deserving, of full enjoyment of the tag, that doubling helps nip In the pay roll somewhat after the. coin, had been generously spread among Barton, Jarrett and the revue;,,, Runoff in- clined toward the sluggish in sev- eiral spots on the first, .show, but were the sort of awkward, breaches that are eliminated after another performance or. two. Situattoii of ... 11 arrangements add nothing to', the general effect,'- .Does, -well en,oiUgh .for a closlng act In hbuses of this, class, but can't expect .bet ter: placement until more , expertly staged: JACK MASON Songs 15 Alins. in One. ' . Prospect, Brooklyn Billed as 'The Voice of the South,' Jack- .Mason by no means suggests the. novice, working with certainty and a'good sense of. applied Show mansjhip- Openis with a radio 'set, fed MyUj^^ieb annourtdlng itself as Mason."^*Iie demurs and they'agr.ee to harmonize Harvest Moon, which is done neatly. Then the Set Is rc tired and 4ie goes into talk and songs, varying his, somewhat falsetto tenor with whistling and chatter. Some o£ the latter is local politics and ohe or two are a bit forced, but his talk I3 average and does not run too long. At this eaSy house -hlr, 15 minutes were all ac- ceptable to the crowd. Neat ap- pearance. and.a. pleasing volce qualr ify him for the second spot on most any type of program. around smaller independent vaude stands.. . . > Four people (2 m, 2 w) work to-, gether mostly, with the: girls top- ping the work of the boys oh smoothness and technique. : Ijads when stepping oiit-alone, to do a buck in one, however, prove'up very good/ . A single dancer, ^also, shows up better farther down, in the act on her second number.. , Iiifiheir; first acrobatic ispecialty, ampng( other things she fails to point her .'toes pn high kicks. Act carries a team of abrobats in head to- head, head balancing and hand to .hand work. They w.ere liked Immensely, up here. On the wlndup in full the acrobats are Included. ChQ,r, DOROTHY DOUGLAS and. SIRENS (5) Flash 10 Mins.; Full (Special) Mt. Morris ■' A flash along economy lines which, rates okay for houses of the Inde- pendent grade such. as Mt. Iilorrls. Miss Do-uglas isn't out . of the small- time camp.on doing a prima donna, but In dance and other work acquits herself fairly well. Her line of four girls do several numbers,- but until the finish. In single bits, When they make a good showing, their routines lack both staglhg and execution. ; A horse bit with a prop. 'Spark Plug' and Miss Douglas acting as trainer, serves as novelty besides digging up a couple laughs. - Opened- Bix-acter here, girl's spe- cialties putting act across for fair reception Thursday, night. Char, W.HITEY ROBERTS (1) Dances, Juggling, Comedy : 13 Mins.; One Prospect, Brooklyn- Trouble -with-this personable chap is he tries to crowd in too nniuch and altogether chatters ±66: much, the chatter being mostly unoriginal and too pblltical In ifiatur'e:. Also, hiS attempt to crow while Off^iflng what he calls a 'Brooklyn St6lnp^ is Al- most goofy., His 1^st"bJ|t'ls his waltz clog and the quiet aippearance of a- girl support Hfter Robisrts '.fails to'carry the audiehcb: as. a single. Difeuce on a .6-act''breakrin' pro- gram bef ore kids and over',big. Thfe girl plays! a dunib character, Rober:.j calls Sis, and whom he at- tempts to teaoh a juggling .trlck. The plate tracking that .follows IS expected and so loses some punch, but nevertheless, carries a. bit of humor. - Needs some handling and show manly advice. It might be a tip for Roberts not tO try to sing. Bhan, BERNARD and KAY Comedy, Singing 16 Mins.; One Mt. Morris Mixed combination, -\vlth the-man doing a burlesque comic type be- sides some singing, the forte of the girl member, -who also acts as foil for the man. Worthy of better time, than this house represents. Much of the talk indulged lands laughs and is sbld with'effective- ness, but the best.of it Is,moved tip ahead, with the poorest afound' the kissing bit tOward.'.the 'end.^ " [ Woman does a l>bp hie'dle^, regis , teringbn Voice and i!>ersbnalIty,a;boutj the middle, with h6t pat.tnet fblld-w- ing it up with a' sp,ek:ial. arrange ment, 'My Woman,' designed partly for a few chuckles. ,- Fifth here.on a'sl!ic-act bill ThUrs'- day night and over fairly good. Char. (7) 'BROADWAY PARADE' Flash 11 Mins.; Full (Special) Mt. Morris . ' Neither below..^nor above the av- erage to be found In the better class neighborhood indie houses, but h'as some good. possibilitIes> .'Flash has much .that entei'tains and is both routined and mounted with an eye to better taste than ordinarily MURRAY LANE and HIS RASCALS Harmonica Band 13 Mins; Two (Special) Prospect, Brooklyn ' .^o.far as observation permits this a piratical d*py of the Borrah Min- evltch act, and a mediocre copy at that. No donbt It is working cheap er than Mlpevitch. It- offers no originality . pind no . Improvement. That it showed here for KAO rhay bring the presumption that it's okay to be considered. Maybe the book ers can guage its value from the kid reaction here, which was great. The auc^lence was 90% kids when caught in the .middle of a five-act'break- In' program. Special street drop Is used for setting. Opens with a youth In gamin ;clothing attempting a song, - thert band" appears and toward finale an-r other kid tries a song. Sandwiched ir is . a routine copied fronn- Mlnne vich, even, up to the midget biting bit. Lane, himself, copies Minne vich's costume style. Shan. having two ...singleton.: male • lurns,! Jarrett and. Barton^ following each other cotild have been- a.voided by- putting the Marty'May 'sesslon-ibei. tween them, and perhaps have.made it easier for the headline, comic to warm them up. ' . '' Task of taking the stage retinue away from the starting mark: went to the Kanasa^a Troupe, who put on a rlsley exhlb brief, but replete with all the exciting highlights of the art • On the next turnup of the lights- Buster Shaver introduced a couple of nrfdgets from his '.Tiny Town Revue,' Olive and George; and un-wound a novelty act of smartness and distinctive.' Mites have the looks, are perfectly formed and at- tired and pack ertpugh" versatile tW- ent and personality to - make up for a trainload of-the average Wiidget troupe. • Odd- spectacle' that': oi' a. normal doing a. filrtatlon song and dance with a llliputlan, but the Shaver manner is oke from every angle. Crtick piece of staging and showmanship all the way up to the whirlwind waltz by the midget at the- finish, with Shaver- piarticularly deserving' of the warm sendoff ac- corded. Easy-going style of Marty .May and the ingratiating personality of his latest partner, , Jean Carroll, make a hlcely balanced combo. Both fed it to theni smoothly and effec- tively, -with the returns equal'to the happy collection of material. On his entrance May unloads a flock of in- struments> but makes little use of them outside of the violin for'Sev- eral clowning bits. All thla could be passed up for a. few additional moments of the Carroll dumb pat- ter. . ■ Art Jarrett did five numbers In a row without: pausing for breath, or bows, though there was little cauSe for the latter until the final Item, a medley that- put the lad In his real metier-and'gave him a chance to strut : those falsetto - overtones. Here's the type of freak voice that radio In its strange -way brought into: some modicum of-favor, and-is now on the way to giving' the' cold shoulder. Jarrett has'taken on con- siderable polish and-stage presence since he left Chicago a year ago. Closed to a strong handout on his initial appearance at this house. One thing he could cut out of the'act is that blue spot and borders at the beginning of the-finis number.-They don't blend with that all blue laybiit otf" toggery. Looking and - alctlng as chipper as ever, Jim Barton stepped IntO the next niche and made it by far the brightei^it ahd merriest, interlude of the occasion. He -went throngh that drunk charact6riza[t'ioh like' the master comic dnd actor that he Is, and kept the chuckles coming his way withoiit - a break,' uncorking k noisy mess of apprbyal at the flhll^h. Still one of the tbpndtcl^ rhythm .tap; sters. Barton liext Stejpped'lhto that department and at which he Is. a.t his best and brought them sitting up In' their seats. . , . On the..closing assignment there was the Fripdlind ,'Shdwi Bpa-t Re- vile.' Seven girls, each young, ti,nd an anodyne , pn $he ° glimni^rs, and eabh a specialist in some'c&tegory of the terjjysitlc art. Still carries the old pace, flairs of color and comedy . Intervals. An ■ all-around well-stage frolic, enha,nced by Marty May as the chief funster and the giiy that keeps the wheels moving, Odec. GRAND O. H. Four acts On the 'burrent program to supplement 'Bacheloir's Affair/ 'Man From" Yesterday' and a news- reel. Apparently the Sat'iirdaiy serial Is out, but It's still three ho.urs for a little more than eight cents an hour, with a markdown for. the hids; who form' the bulk of th^ matinee audience. Usual .crowd in the aft- ernoon, but som'Q emt>ty seits. '. on the swing show. Probably the .i<lds were around a.t the'fire house get tin.r cooled off under the sh^w.er. That sort of kids. \ Tom Fulmer and-Co.:opens in one and over to < a bigger bunch .of ap plause than most first shots < get down here. Fulmer does a. couple of up-to-date numbers, but bats' out his home , run with an Irish mod ley. Has a pleasant voice when he does not force' It: but strident-when pressure is applied. • The company is a mighty-good looking girl who should have been given a piano lamp, at least. Plays in the dark and Fulmer is no treat to thb eyes. Jim Coglln oh next with a new old sketch (New Acts), which will probably wqrk into shape, - but is rough in spots just. now. Handi- capped by using too many local peo pie for the bits, but he carries four people ^yith him. Had a little trou- ble getting them, but easy once that was done. L.6 Paul, card nuanlpulator, does sonie corkinjgr front and back palm- ing and excels In fan work. That part of the act has .cliass enough for the better houses, but his two assistants pull down .the act, though they boost the comedy appeal, Paul does nothing new, but does the bid things extremely well. , Closer is Les Caulfield review (New Acts),, which is not offering much of consequence. Makes a- fiash, but needs better stagecraft ALBEE^ B'KLYN There's « good vaude and film handout In Brooklyn which on papei^ and in actuality ought to bring iougx toiners in and send 'em-away happy. Biz Saturday afternoon was way off, surprising in this borough, but undoubtedly aind-qulckly attrlbuta-. ble to the extra-high mercury and the beaches. . Arthur ^etley, best of the tram- " poUne ..turns, starts the merriment off in right. sprightly fashion, and Castleton, Mack and Owen run awav with the. deuce. For some stranBo reason both: these turns suffer from having , their names misspelled by the annunciators, Petley appeartne as Petely and , ^he , trio as Qhm. Mack and Owen. . Maybe it's tinlnu portant carelessness on the part of somebody, but .actors have a tough enough time keeping, their names in ^ront pt; the public as things are. Adelaide , Hall, trio, , had, a hard time getting.started Saturday aft- ernoon with the reason nbt hard, to find; Miss Hall has suddenly de,« elded she's a chanteuse. Her ap-. pearanCe with two pianos isn't so bad,, but when., she goes' into the ether- to reach' for high sopranio honors It doesn't .advance her cause one. bit. She's a blues singer, one of the best, of 'em, and ought to remember It.. She has that rare negroid quality that means a lot Soon SiS she, switches. In her third ■ song, to Harlem, ih mannerisms and verbiage, .there's a quick and defi- nite : thrill reaction in the audience and she's: oyer. Herb,Williams, of course, had ho trouble handling the next tb shut and had to fight his way off.' Peairce and' Veliei -with their exceptiohally meritorious dance fiashi held aU the custcmers glued to thelt. sftatis to 'close..' ■'- ■ ■,.' , ■ ; Made three full stage sets, at the end, following ejich other, ail -with pia,nbs, and fbur full sta,ges o.iit .of liyb. tumis,' Ijut much smoother than seemingly possible. , Phil Fabello,-pit leader, is in his second week with the lobby Still plastered , with those telegrams. He's in the house-with a reputation, maide uptown in another theatre, for versatility.. His opening week > he couldn't-do. very much because Buss Cblombo was on the bill, -and :they didn't want to take , away any of Buss' steam. This : week Fabcll.o doesn't do so very much oP; gen^ii'al principles. Next webk the head- liner'is announced eia Fred Waring. Look^ like Phil will have to hold off hi^ ekhlbltion. of versatility, and kbllity (as far as Brooklyn Is con- cerned) for some little time. 'American Madness* (Col) on the screen and. a Pathe newsred round out Kauf. I - . ' ■ ' .- •'■->":; ORPHEUM, MPLS. Minneapolis, Aug. 8. " A first-rate bill with a name, Alicfe Joy, radio's 'dream girl,', to top it off. Nothing but standard vaude- ville fare, but siiffieiently good and diversified. Patrons here, 'who hardly radiate class, found the old stuff much to their liking, ^t. John Brothers, Opening the show, are a trio of young gymnasts who don't look like professionals, but who perform a succession of sensational-' balancing fbats which provoke plently of applause. The flhlsh finds the, trio atop one, an- other, supporting each other by their wrists and the hnderpinner's body raised off the floor, . in the deuce. Hall and Erminle provide .comedy and music of mod- era>te merit>. The man demonstrates some versatility, contributing an eccentric . drunk dance, commonr place.1 ordinary acrobatics,. a clever lighted cigarette mouthing bit, inr different cbmedy patter and a cake- walk ahd dance on'a,'unlcycle. The wbman performs, at the piano. An . aCc^table act; but not calculated- to arouse much'enthusiasm.; Allfce Jby, i-kdlO^Slftglng star, get^ a hand on her entrance .and. then proceeds to warble' pop numbers through the mike in . a deep .con- tralto voice that' pleases the cus- tomers plenty, her own pianist and the-.orchestra providing the accom- paniment : NiSit lb closing, pillaird and Hll- Her,- assisted by a young -woman* offer old-fa-shioned slapstick comedy typical of the burlesque stage. Pil- lard is a German dialect funster and Hllller,* a good-looking, well built young man, and the girl, do* ing straights, feed him. It's pretty rough stuff but it garners the laughs. . . Five people take part in the danc- ing revue presented . by Colby and Murray. It is a, well-staged and tastefully costumed offering and all the members exhibit considerable terpslchorean proficiency. Colby and Murray themselves have an especl-. ally pleasing 'follow the leader' nm- ber. The long-legged Colby also does a neat dance with Miss Mur- ray suspended from his shoulders. Another young man clogs on one foot during a bit of skilful step- ping. The young girls bffer some fast'-acrobatics. On the screen 'Winner Tiake All, Eathe News, a local news reel and a cartoon comedy. A fair house at this late evening show< Eees.