Variety (Aug 1932)

TieBdvf, Aoguet 16, 1932 HLMI liOaSC REVIEWS VARIETY 29 PARAMOUNT, N. Y. New Tork, Aug. 12. Heavy on nataes and salaries, and nght and stage entertainment this week. Word of mouth won't pull them in as much as the presence of Iforma Taltnadge and George Jessel ej] the marquee. With, Mies Tal- znadge just walking on the stage, Bums and Allen falling helow par, ajnd not much support irs>m the i^upernumeraries.. the . butden falls entirely on Jessel. Now Jessel isn't a. bad fellow, to- ha;ve around In « pjnch, but an hQur is 60 mfnutes, and that's too much for even Jessel to carry alone^ , June McCloy, Three Rhythm Boys and a David Bines line fill out. One anen^lc/t)Iackoilt injures the per- formance, and the use of the same plain set for the opening and clos- ing doesn't help, either. The stager was stuck for a finish, and, accord- tog to the finish used Friday night, lie's s^lU stuck. With Burns and Allen It appeared io be a case of the source of .ma-' terial going stale. Since they haVe j4oked the difficult occupation of gag spieling, It's not unuisual that they should ran short now and then. This is one of those weeks, coming «8.1t does after a long period oh the stage and air with weekly changes in material. Th^ team was danger- ously on the verge of being, let oft; without' protest by 'the Paramount audience until their final pun, an oldie and a Burnis and Allen stand- by. That got them away in the cus- tomary manner, but up to then the laughs were scarce. . Jeabel is all over the place, (is m. c. and doing three 4>r four full monb- Ipga with- a coruple- of songs for gopd measure.' .He, sings one, a. love lyric, to Miss Talmadge, and at the finish says. 'What Winchell is going to make of this!' His few moments o; chatter with Miss Talmadge, dur- ing which . ishe Is • graciously, given the punch lineis, are bright, personal and just what this audience seemed to want. The customers doubtlessly flgrtired they were getting a close-up of a milch-publicized romance, and maybe they were. , >Miss Talmadge is handsome in thriee costume changes. Grade Allen flashes a couple of up-to-date outfits^ also,. which nieans plenty of duds for the girls to gaze at this week. Miss McCloy, a- tall bohde with a surprisingly low contralto, has a Bblo spot, for one number, ancl then dopbles up. with Jessel.. She'seems in mostly to build up a gag used by Jessel^with Sddie Cantor and Janet Iteade at the Palace: Three Rhythm Boys, .colored hooflhg^ trio, have been here and elsewhere on Broaldway ibefore.- Theiy landed as their sort of w)trenuous dance act always does, '^iBines girls' l>est Is a toe number channlngly . backgrounded by a rfountain effect and an unbilled vio- llnlste. In their other numbers they are'costuined In this gaudy manner of the early presentation days. iRubinoft conducts his pit crew ibrouish a symphonic medley of thlti year's popsi:' The.heavy hand at the finish is for RubinofC rather than for the orchestra or its music, and. in- spired by the leader's odd showman- Bhip. rather iita,n musical apprecia- tion on the customers* part. It's noticeable that the musicians don't watch Rubinoft very diligently, and Just atf well they don't. Business-good at the Friday ev^n fng show.' No Crawford organlog billed this week- and the program jras whittled down' still further through omission of the newsreel at the performance, caught. Colum- bia's 'Wafr Correspondent' is the zdature. Bige, FISHER Detroit, Aug. IB. Fred Evans has plenty of grief in producing shows for this house. With a budget Of around $3,500 weekly, including production staff, he is limited plenty. In addition this house is noted for its poor re- ception of any and all talent. With the location on the edge of one of .the town's nicer residential dietrlcts, the patrons get plenty upstage with the result, they leave it for the com- Mon. people to applaud. The house has been^notorious for poor busl^ ness in the past year, with the audi- ences down to mere handfulis most of the time. All meaning that the average talent doesn't really get a chance. . This week Evans has put prac- ^ tically all of his budget Into talent, and to fair effect. Titled 'Northern Jjlghts,' the setting Is a scene In the far north with a couple Igloos to fill lii;^ This due to half of the double- blU feature, 'Igloo.' Talent includes Bret Wood, Three White Flashes, Bud and Jack Pearson, and Al Gor- ^on and his. dogs. Bret Wood and Al Gordon walked away with the show. , Gordon being very much up to date, with Bret Wood being a memory of the past but over very big. Line does a couple of nice rou- tines that help, with one of the girls dressed up as pelican doing a cycle of dance routine especially uovel and good. Pictures 'Jewel Robbery' and ^e\oo/ Business fair. Lee. OLYMPIA, PARIS Olympia bill, apart from a Co- lumbia production dubbed by For- rester Parent, has a stage show which is drawing considerably, though it Is exceedingly simple. Program opens with a few clips of newsreels and an animated car- toon. Then comes the stage show. This mostly consists of the Roland Dorsay and His Cadets, band of 14 working on the stage. Idea is for the band to play halt a dozen tunes, first as they ought to be played, then in this, that or some other manner, ending In a Very good imi- tation of a jazz number as a French village band woiild play It. . This is Interlarded with comedy done by the band boys, who also sing. Roland Dorsay 'himself acts as both bandmaster and as in. c. with considerable success, due to the obvious humor of the , number. The 12 Mersey Girls support the band ir. a very short number. This means that the pit orchestra is out and. pit filled with flowers: Then comes the feature, the <3o- lumbia aviation story directed by Frank Capra and indifferently dubbed. , Maxl. DENVER Itenver, Aug. IB. Ted Mack, home-town boy, is back at the Denver, and what a re- ception he got! No more than any- one expected, but the .house was packed, and the applause made it clear what most of the crowd came for. ' Ted was the most popular m. c. tne Denver ever had. He weht east several tiines, and every time he cotanes back it is the same story— packed houses. He led the Denver orchestra through 20 minutes, and was assisted by two girls in his act. Lillian iRussell, blue singer, fin- ishes with 'Human Thing to Do,' and Ted sings a few. verses of his own on thia same subj'ect. Band plays 'Lullaby of the Lealvea' as Ted sings it: and by request Ted. sings 'Madame.' For the close Ted sings 'Minnie the Moooher,' aided by 60 colored youngsteri3 who parade on the stage as the 'lobsterscope' makes it look like, a storm. . Ted's voice is . richer and he gets his chatter to 'the audience in a smoother manner than when he left His stage personality is much Im- proved, and his local popularity not a bit less. . The stage show, F.' & M.'s 'Bug- house' Idea, is much too long for this bill. Just a fair layout at best, too much competition makes it tire some. If the stage sho^ had been'cut ten minutes, and the film 'Washington Masquerade* the same amount, the program would have been improved. seemingly. A w.ieek ago Lillian Roth had to fight acoustics the same way, Veloz and Yoiande, one of the bet- ter dance teams, stick to only one number this week, a beautiful and expertly executed waltz, with that leading right into Mort Downey, who drags his mike on with him. Downey sang four numbers, en- cored twice, made two speeches, gagged with Berle, pleaded, begged, tut the customers wouldn't let him go, He was on about 25»mlhutes, though he tried to make It 15, so hie can't be blamed for holding up the show. And, yet his appearance killed off the proceedings. Berle sings another of those paro- dies at this stage, but again the po- lite Capitol, audience didn't mind. They forgive easily in this house. Anyway, somebody had to do some- tl)ing to tsike up time enough for Bernle's men climbing on the stage from the pit. And Bernie came on to stay 20 minutes more. During some of the shows' on opening day one or two. of the minor acts (acts that only cost about $1,000 a week, if you please) were sloughed off to make up running time. But the booking/department might play with the idea that perhaps these acts weren't especially needed. There are points at which bolster- ing becomes dangerous. Overstuff- ing results in forcing thing out at the sides. So it comes down to this:, there's quality galore, and' quantity galore, but the combinatioii does not make for a good show. Especially when added to a feature, 'Skyscraper Souls* (Metro), which runs. 93 mlns. Kaiif, TRANSLUX CAPITOL ' - New York, Aug. 12,, Here's something new under the sim. Most theatres, after a good week, will hold over the he^idlihers and change, if at all, the trimmings. Not so the Capitol. Here the head- liners are thrown out and the fill- ers-ih given another chance. . The rostrum current week reads Ben Bernie, Morton Downey, Milton Berle, Lilian Shade, Four Casting iStars, Veloz. and 'Tolande,' and Gor don. Reed and King. Meaning a show that costs about $16,000, and maybe it's smart booking. Not that there's any quarrel with the people in the show. All do their stint and do it well. Nor is there any quatrel With the idea of running them off In regular' vaudeville fashion. But the thing runs close to 90 minutes, and it's almost impossible to make it any shorter. Which is a terrible lot of show and which just about tfixes any audience's patience. Ben Bernie closes the show. Ber nie is a polished showman who knows every little audience quirk and knows how to get the most pos sible out of his every appearance. But for the first time in his Broad way career there's a question aa to whether he's selling himself for all he's worth. The answer is the fact there's entirely too much up ahead. Newcomers on the current bill are Bernie, Downey and Miss Shade They replace Abe Lyman, Lillian Roth and Zelaya from the week be fore. . Milton Berle continues as master of ceremonies and doesn't bother changing any of his lines. Probably doesn't matter. ^ The audience FrI day night thought his every word was a gem. They liked; him so muph, in fact, that they ieven for' gave him his parodies. Berle is a clever and ever , effer- vescent youngster. He has that rare something that for lack of a better word is called personality, and he knows how to sell—whether he's selling himself or the rest of -the show. As a week ago, the show gets go ing in usual vaude fashion, with the Four Casting Stars followed by Gor- don, Reed and King. Both are ex pert at their particular type of work and so over nicely. Lillian Shade fol lows for a trio of songs and doesn't get half the break she deserves. Acoueitlcs of this theatre are a bit too tricky for her type of voice, STATE, L. A. Los Angelesi Aug. 12. Despite a break-in at Long Beach, F&JiA's condensed 'Irene' is, etiU draggy, but showing evidence of speedier tempo being Injected. Thilis promises excellent stage fare when tinkering is completed. Whether customers today will rel Ish the revamped verislon .Of - the 1919 musical hil; is a, question. Among older patrons it Qhbuld. click, and if enoulErh speed, jazas and modern comedy are added It may prove satisfactory for younger gen eration • Tab, running 86 mlns., can staiid more paring. . Original . 9toiy re talned, with extraneous dialog elim' inated and two new- song numbers added. 'Alice Blue Gown' retained as thenie and principal solo number; likewise 'Irene' and 'Talk of the Town.' - Snappy dancing of modem type, unusually effective' staging and cast principals mostly rating oke help put musical , across.' With 20 line girls and male dancing and singing ensemble, . unit contains about everything expected in a pic- ture house presentation. Dale Winter (Mrs. Henry Duffy) Is Irene, role she essayed with orig- inal company. Two other members of first production and Bob)>y Wat- son and Walter Ragon, former as Madame Lucy and patter-, playing Mar^Viall, patron saint to Irene. Air satisfactory, witli brunt of com- edy up to. Watson, who stands out prominently and is at. ease in'every scene. Miss Winter handles.,lead in a way that wins h6r new admirers; Another comedy high spot pro- vided . by Betty. Harrington .as Irene's mother.' Sidney Reynolds and Anolyn Arden are the' two girl friends, and Dorothy LaMarr.'Diiffy stock standby, is Marshall's mother. Specialty numbers by Wanda Allen, toe dancer, And Karsen aiid Isabelle, with routine of fast stepping, have been interpolated, latter aiding In speeding-up process. "Bachelor's Affairs' (Fox) and newsreel, on screen. Biz opening mat about normal. Pathe figured the Walker case bigger than the Hoover acceptance, so it led off with the former. Al- though not containing so much of the President!^ speech,-- Luxer..niade- a more interesting subject since it covered the preliminaries as well as the meaty paragraphs in Hoover's declarations. Luxer is whooping up for better, times. Workmen and their familieis are infervlewcd along with stock shots of moving trains, ships and mines to bring cheer to the jobless that jobs are back again. Both theatres run the istatement of Roy Chapin, new secretary of the U. S. Dept. of Commerce. Incidentally, Pathe never overlooks a chance to plug Radio City as one - of the eneinles of depression. "With Labor Day not far ,bff both hOuises are making a rush for the finals in beauty contests. Earl Carroll's Brooklyn pick, as well as a tourney In Belgium, are the latest. In the same vein the Luxer goes for another peep at the endurance dancers in Coney Island. Audiences axe inclined to laugh at the Indiana mine trouble. The way a spokesman for 60 defenders describes routing 4,000 employes Is probably the reason. George iBemard Shaw is presented with seeming pride by Paramount, which calls attention in titles that the subject is an 'exclusive.' This time Shaw talks and actually says nothing. . . . Boy jBcoiits giving a fish to the President for a birthday present would get cackles were it not for the Hoover tact In acknowledging the Eentiment of the occasion. Both theatre's have clips, on Roosevelt in .d s.wimming|f pool, Davis Gup tennis contest in France, King George winning a re gatta. Prince of Wales dedicating a soldier meqibrlal in France. The latest Olympic events, including swimming, Marathon races and sprinting are equally covered. Interesting views of the llrst ship going through the new Welland canal are offered by Pathe. Same reel rcvieWs another Hon cub epi- sode in the St. Louis zoo, which, interests the you^er picture fans almost as much as the spectators. Walv. : FOX, FRISCO San Francisco, Aug. 12. ! Lilyan Tashman and Ken Murray on stage ought to hold the big Fox up to a fair level this week despite lack of draw in ^'Passport, to Hell.- Openihg -mat's biz was about iaver- age, and the screen duo deserve credit for at least holding it up to par. ■ . Not known where Misd Tashman got. the shifty little skit she appears in, but it's the same as Gilda Gray used on this very stagie three weeks ago-'reporter, stooge in pit and all. Murray works as the reporter seek- ing an Interview, and while Miss Tashman . answers stooge wise- cracks, and most of the time latter's stuff Is pretty weak. However, film star, pleases the ferns with two flashy gowns. Murray brings into play his years of vaude experience and revives his old act with Milton and Helen Charleston. Plenty of ^laughs, many of them for blue gags, but he even gags the gags when a phone rings every time he tolls a shady one. F&M's 'Star Gazers' iias Muriel Gardner, WalUn and Bariies and A±henas, with Collenette ensemble. Walt Roesner and band do 'Over- ture Petite,' selections from oper- ettas of Karl Hoschna, with vocal chorus serving to build it up. • 'Scrappy,' Columbia short, and Fox nCws complete the show; . BocTc. EMBASSY The most inveterate, of the Bmi- bossy's patrons Saturday got their greatest audience reaction surprise - since the house opened. The ap- plause was long and loud for Sea- bury , but t here was nary a hand, iiot even alilss, f<nr-Walker. - — - _ Matinee attendances, however, were exceedingly slim for the Em- bassy, the house being oiily half filled, which may account for the freeze accorded the Mayor, At the Translux there wasn't a murmur one way or the other.. This also. may be attributed to the fact, that ; Pathe wais satisfied to use a talk- ing reporter, confining its original recording only to a short statement made by "Walker upon coming but; of the Capitol. FoxrHearst. on the other hand, recorded all original - moves. Tlie two houses, continue to be off on their esthnates, Pathe credltlner the Chicago fire with, $^000,000 over the Embassy calculation. This sub- ject was thoroughly covered by both reels. Another audience reaction : with seeming significance, in view of tho - reports that Walker may put hls' ■ name up for governor, was the a.p- plause greeting the announcement .' of Iiehman to Roosevelt that he ^vlU seek the nomination. The Holman-Reynolds case to finally )>feaklng into the reels. Botb houses are iistng it with more de^. tail coverage to the Embassy's .credit. Embassy couldn't, get Libby, - so it close-upped two of her old stills. It got .a brief interview with the prosecutor, a birdseye view of the Reyhdlds estate, courthouse, an<( young Ab Walker; ■Where F-H caught Mayor Walker greeting Mattem and Griffith, Patb9 passed this up to interview them on future plans. ■ - Novelty subject caught by F-H was that of the SS Manhattan steaming out on her maiden Voyage. This is oh6 of the first, if not the.j^ first, newsreel views of a liner tak-;!:' Ing off in the dark. Searchlights, were played upon its sides and the gangplank. • . . Other ;Embassy clips included: Italian soldiers skirmishing tn the Alps; Count von Papeh; Dixie kfd choir; Isle of Jersey flower pageant; German costumes; Alaskan girl swimmers;* fUr .fashions; - Cokst' Guard regatta; 18-year-6ld aviator taking, off; MolHson-Jphn'son wed- ding breakfast In. London; New Hampshire horse race. - Waly. CHICAGO . Chicago, Aug. 13. Well-booked, well-built, well-re- ceiyed. . .Happy trianglei Will Mahoney, Nina. 6livett& Arnaut Brothiers, Joseph Griffin, air seasoned and reliable .'talent, wei'e surrounded with a tasteful - and imaginative production by ■ Leonl- ddfl, whose'bag of trices is a cona- modious valise. ° That MabioheyphOne, as usual, made pieOple applaud who liave a' constitutional aversion to express- ing enthusiasm. They never whis- tle in the Chicago, but Mahoney made them. It is the Oriental, where whistling as' a method of ap- preciation is more standard, 'When speaking of getting a'saw frons his father, a hammer from, his uncle and a chisel from his agent, this niore or less 'professional' gag was greeted with a bonaflde. belly laugh, How've you been, Famum? Nina Olivette has developed her hoke adagio into a classic of its kind. With the 10 boys for back ground,, she has a turn that is plu- perfect for picture houses. The big- ger the better. It's all sight stuff. Great for saps or sophisticates. Arnauts are eternal repeaters, and Consequently all comment has long been reduced to a stencil. It Is a habit in picture houses to build part or all the production around their bird episode,. and Leoni- doff was orthodox in this particular. Goblins,. Mibkey Mouse and wonder ducks . were introduced and ^ade an attractive dido. New costume of red feathers: by the 'dame' is de- structive of . the feminine illusion the former costume had. Ought to have a skirt at any rate. Tlglits constantly remind of the make-be- lieve. Lots of laughs throughout. ■ Joseph (Srlflln, who must hold some sort of riecord for dates at the Chicago, was quickly identlfled and welcomed when stepping through the drapes. He tossed off a pair of ballads with his customary facility. Leonldo*' put the Chicago show together by using Miss Olivette and .her 12 boys from Fanchon & Mar- co's 'Buddies' unit, which was lay- ing off, and took the 'Mickey and Minnie' number, With the Arnauts from another F&M unit. It was skillful plastic surgery. 'Devil and the Deep' (Par) with Tallulah Bankhead Will be the weakness for the current stanza. Miss Bankhead'g local popularity runs lukewarm as a rule. Land. WARFIELD, FRISCO San ^andsco, Aii^. IL Chlo Sale at $8,000 plus a spllC of everj'thing over $16,000 is coumM upon- to hold J^arileld iiji to -the- swell pace it has struck in pasp fe^/ weeks, . Opening mat ifrash't eia heavy as last "Greek's; but it's d clhch to : «o'several -grand over thtit IS thou. 'Which,'will mean sweet sugar in Sale's pocket, . Inl.tial show ran a lengthy 90 mln^' utea, and afterward producer Peggy ■ O'Neill had to shear it dpwh by doing 40 minutes^ glvlhg fouif char- acterizatibiid — wise gtiy, minister, recltini; schoolboy and the «ivll war . yet. Made his entrance in straight street garh, without the. handlebar mustache, q,iid 'gav9 the customefs a pleaspint surprise. His .stuff wae heartily, received, .; Rube Wolf and band did. a repeat of a/hoked-ul) .'Orpheus' overture that clicked solidly. Lament fanolly closed the show with their gags, wire work aiid. hoofing. Joaquin Garay, in his fifth week, chanted Three on a Match.' Emily and Bo- malne with their pirate dance rounded oiit the acts. Line of .10 girls ttld three niimbers, all winners. • Picture was 'Crooiier.? (WB).' Bocte. . FOX, BROOKLYN New Tork, Augi .ll!. Optimistic management had th4 tapes .up at the Fox Brooklyn. Fri- day, opening 'Congorllla,' but up to 8:30 the house was only half full downstairs lii spite of a vigorous iiallyhob with a loudspeaker relay- ing, the talk and jungle sounds from the animal picture. They were com- ing briskly then, but probably not enough of the late ones to tax ca- pacity. Stag0 show was Fanchon A Marco's World's Fairest Idea, plug for the Chicago Century of Progress. Girls supposed to have been picked from that city. The routines were rather shy of trained dancing. Opens with a drop showing the eyes of the ivorld on Chicago, Na- dlne, a snappy little dancer who acta as m. c, sings a verse and the drop flies to show 14 girls on a terraced pedestal, draped In pink costumes. The skirts are tossed back to reveal legs. Drop down and they come on In 'one' to do an arm manual behind Nadlne, who offers a contortlonJstlc dance. Followed by the Russian Canines^ (Cont iCd on page 30)