Variety (Aug 1932)

90 VARnSTT HLM HMiSE REVIEWS ROXY Ifeir York, Aug. SO. Jlm legretMLbl^ as the Rozy*fl dos- ing may have been, It appears to bave fihren tbe ereat de luxe pic- , ture bouse a n^w leajpe on life, The .. Bezy had Co cfoae because It went «taae. It went stale on stage and • aoreen. - Usiylbe tb« month's reet did it 80od. Kstlilng but mismanagement could tave «lo8ed a theatre of the Roxy's . 'caUbre. That mishandling Included . M bad case of receivership, accom- . :panled by falling of the picture «rchea. The receivers had th^ the-: . atre ^t nothing else, and their In- experience restrained them from getting what it takes to keep.a. Roxy open, The new operators, Skouras Bros. ->tbe receivers are now nursing tbeir blistered hands in the back- • aground—are said to believe that pic- tures are what it takes. Their plan la handsome but dignified stage en- : tecttdnment'to satisfy and good pic- tnrea to draw. That system will work sa Ions a* the pictures stay ■ «dod. ■ ■; ■ ■ impeding; or re-opening, bill fol- lows the original Boxy pattern in- asmuch as it leans distinctly toward the classical Aoid maintains an ideh- ' tJcal stafC of dancers aind singers. Roxyettes, ballet s.hd •singing tSiorUs are aeaiii present, and in the saeie nambers. Ditto the^pit sym- ■. i^koey. The icbange Is not so much In the: ■eoBtents of the show as in the style 6t presentment Frank Cambria, the new sta^ produper, Jn addition to being the theatre'.s managing.di- rector, follows the familiar Roxy iit&ge 'Style 'closdTv. hut the change prodiaotioa.petsunfility Is clearly . •uitllBSd in eaoi number. Cambria AaUvered a good job in his Arst' week. If he maintain^ the ..pace, aitiftureB should be the theatre's-only stager took no chances. At the An- Ish the center of the back waH droi becomes a scrim. Lights in the reai reveal a tableaux, of which the headllner is George Washington. That had the folks doing everything but throw flowers down from thp balcony. The Roxy style of splitting up the stage stuff with screen fare is re- tained under the new opera.tlon. Fox news and a Mickey Mouse cartoon. 'Trader Mickey,' are this week's fillers. •The First Year' (Fox), as the feature, should get the house, off to a good sta,rt. . Business strong through opening day (Saturday). Bige. Russell Markeit's 32 Roxyettes ' Dstlov the old custom hy again rcoh- i trlbutlng the highlights of the show. In two of three numbers, they drew •^ffaow halting applaluse, a feat for'a of girla. In one iroutine that rates spotting In a show, they strike -salson postores oti and about a . s eites of trlangnlar'Bupports. White tlghl!B against a .black background on a darkened stage and an intric- aito nutine of calistfaenlcs. It de- MTVes lots more attention than It . mUl ineoeive in a week's run In a pic- , tttrj} house. The same girls are used to close the hhpW III a military drUl . that was good enough to draw In- ' tecsaiOeat applause in addition to ih£ haSLd 'at the finish, pallet (24) . has . Itis >bwh pair of ■ Innings for toe work. The, new leader, with no cinch assignment in following Patricia Bowman on this stage, is Vivia Fay, who Indicates ' with h6r debut that her chances of becoming a worthy successor are . bright. She's doing mostly spins this week,' but appears to be suffl- ; olehtly versatile' to meet the riei- - aulrenients of a weekly change. The girls start th^ . proceedings as animated flowers in a comely ". Btaigo picture. ^Aji offstage an- ' . nounoejnbnt regarding the show, and .'■ Its producers precedes. Another an- . nouncemeht through the same mike followqi as an introduction for .the symphony. Di),vid Ross selected 'SKeherezadb' as the theme for his first i baton workout, and that meant plenty of work for the string sections. But nobody in the hand works us hard as RbsB, who's the Rubinoff of., the classics. For a conductor of this type of musio and an orchestra of this-size, Ross Is unusually acrobatic and demonstrative. But It comes under the heading of >showmia/hship. and the full minute's demonstration' by the audience at the overture's conclusion Indicated that Ross Is right Arturo Imparato from the opera, " singing 'Meflstofele,' gets a spot that. probably, made his studying seeln more than Just worthwhile. Ooeupying a raised pia.tform in cen- ter stage, he has the huge rostrum to himself. The.mixed chorus joins In on the second choruses, but .con- cealed by a black border that hides the stage proper. The Import of the song and the production effect Isn't very clear, but Impariato's. pipes fintUly get 'em;- while the rich tone supplied by th6 invisible. chorus cinches It. The great hall and staircase of a Colonial mansion, preceded by an exterior view of the house, Is the .. setting for the principal present- '^ment. It's a comiiany roundup, with everybody on at the finish. The .week's only visiting act, Fortu- nello, and .Olrillino, is pushed in rather awkwardly, but audiences will go for the contortion tea.m''s tumbling and probably overlook the misplacing. They work on a car^ pet and that this must be laid be- fore they enter, and on a fully lighted stage, makes the specialty more of an intrusion than It would be ordinarily. Beatrice Berenson and Joseph Griffon, soprano and tonor, are on for one ol those love duets that slow down showia, but Just have to be in. , Most o£ tiie ballot work £jso Is planted in this: sequence, which . closes with the Roxyettes' drill, farttsr is a sure-flre clojier, but the CAPITOL, N. Y. New York, Aug. W. Far too much singrlng, 75% of It through a mike, and a wet blemket finale handicaps the cohalderable talent in this week's straight spe- cialty show at the Capitol. But for the roundfUp finale,, the picture house again follows a regulation vaudeville pattern In th% 'rbutlhing of its acts. It runs , to trios, teams and singles until the Ben Bernie band!s closing. , ' The finish Is an ineffective piece of staging and playlnig. A tribute to the late florenz Zlegfeld, it's laid oh pretty thick. The band plays tunes fnnn one time Ziegfeld .shows and £:ddie ttowllng eulogizes be- tween each iteih. It could, have been far more subtle. . The tribute is fit- ting,, but not the method. ' :Dowling a;nd Bemie alternate as m. c.'s In addition , to their own workouts. Former went surprising- ly w.ell :ln his solo spot for a: ciulet mbnologleit in a theatre of the Capl" toTs size, and then ushered on Ray Booley (Mrs;. Dowling). Her kid routine was never In trouble with this audience, flnlshlng on a par with the several, other individual clicks on this program. Everybody sings. Pat Kenned^ and another hoy in the Beirnle band do nothing, else but Art Jarrett sings,, the Boswell iSisters -sing, 7' Fred Coots sings and even Bemle, Dowling and Miss Dooley sing. The DeMarcos and George Prentice are the week's only nbn^slngers: Prentice Is the Punch and Judy show manipulator, here after a ruit lost season in Ed Wynnes 'LAugh Parade.' This ancient amusement device, usually, reserved for' the children, is old enough to seem new again on Broadway and this audi- ence gobbled it as though.they had, never seen Punch get socked before. Expertly performed by Prentice, It Is clean cut novelty for a picture house stage. DeMarcos have ♦he stage to them- selves ;f or two routines, an opening waltz ard a fast follow-up. They made a three-point landing, helped not a little by the relief they, pro- vided from the singing, although there's no doubt that they—wo\ild have done ."bout as well under any conditio - s. \ Jarrett, a good looking boy who can olng, had to hurdle a self-made handicap. His selection of songs was far from happy, making things vnne-^esBarily tough for the singer. He in«.ni^ed to pull through, how- ever. U Jarrett -were crdlnary, the songs tirouldn't make much differ'* enpe. But this bf»" has all the re- nuirements; He spjclngs from a va- riety family, being a son of Arthur Jarrett and a nephew of Dan Jar* rett (Jarrett and D^rymple). ' Bernie's hand is doubling from trench to stagey while the old. maes- tro sticks to the'^ rostrum with and Without his boys. The music rides smoothly on Bemle's smart chatter, as usual. . Boswell girls, playing a quick re- peat at this house, were in from start to finish with their close, class harm ny. They declined an encore, Connie apologizing with the an-, nouncement that .they had to blow out In a hurry to'keep a 10 o'clock radio date. 'Speak Easily* (Metro), the fea- ture. Bige. Wisconsin, Milwaukee Milwaukee, Aug.-19. Although Ethel Waters and ■Rhapsody In Black" played the Davidson, the town's only legit house. Just a short time ago at top prices, the Fox. Wisconsin fouiid enough customers to make the 'n'alls bulge during the engagement of tHe 60-niinute version. The line at the box-office looked like thi gOod old days. ■. Whije there may be some debate as to whether the beat parts of the ^ull-length show vrete retained or hot, there is no room for doubt as to the popularity of the version as given at the Wisconsin. From the opening number, 'Rhapsody in Blue,' by Pike Davis: and his or- chestra under the direction of Valalda, through Ethel Waters' songs, the dancing of the Beny Brothers and the unusual quality of the choir voices, thfere never was a lack of response from the audience. The entire show is possibly more a Russian style of .revue rather than the out-and-out American product fans are accustomed to. There is but one set, a rather somber affair, and the orchestra Is on the stage all through the show. Milwaukee surely went for this one. 'Make Me a Star' (Pat») was a happy-plio,lce' o£ feature. LOEWS PARADISE Bronx, N. Y., Aug. 20. Something drastic had to be done to lift this 4,000-seat deluxer out of the heavy summer doldrums and the remedy decided upon by. Xoew was to move Broadway up tp the Grsind Concourse. That Is, that' seg- ment of Broadway imown as. the Capitol where for several weeks, they've been bunching big money names bh a single stage bill arid doing nicely by themselves, as each successive week's bio. tailly dis- closed.' - Transplanting of the Capitol pol- icy in the: Bronx took place this week, with the initial constella- tion made up of ilorton Downey; Phil Baker, Sert Ijahr and Hannah Williams and Yolez and Yolanda. Tossed in with this array was Metro's 'Skyscraper Souls,' a news- reel and an 'Our Gang? st^ort, 'Choo- Choo,' giving' them something' over three hours of crack entertainment and a bargain at the tap .prevailing here. Loew has tagged the ^ge re- tinue a $15,000 bill and figures that $30,000 will have to be done to break. House : xecord is $40,000. That the week won't come within five grand of this top ' level there is no gainsaying, and as for the outcome of the revised policy it is too early tp predict : . Response: the first two days, any- way, gave some cause for optimism. Friday, never a strong day here,' turned out a boom, with phe hold- out after another tabbed and the eventual countup showing better than a IS0% increase over the pre- vious week when the stage fare consisted of four standard acts and a headllner of .iair .money propor- tions. Saturday started off with the lower' arena practically solid arid the downepd of the balconx thickly settled. But these comprised the 36% bargain hunters, the b.o. call «oing tc four -bits higher after 1 o'clock when the turnstile parade simmered dqwn to a steady trickle. Paradise has .been without vaude opposition, to speak of. In the nabei all summer. It's been, getting the screen fare direct from the Capitol, and despite^ these advantages the house maintainedi a consistent downward trend. Nearest exhibit- ing vaude, (Fordhairi on straight film, for summer),. la the -circuit's own Boulevard, while the only oth- er possible competitor in the wide expanse of the Bronx could be the Crptona (Fox-Skouras). Way the Paradise has gone about ballyhoo- ihg ito new polloy will, likely make Itself strongly felt in the latter two spots within the next week, if It hasn't happened already. For the entry of the new policy the Piaradise put on a corking ad- vertising and exploitation campaiign. Flock of additional space was taken in some of the New York dailies and in papers published in Yonkers; White Plains and other Westchester towns. Truck and auto parades were thrown and the borough wlde- studded -with wlndQWcards and one-sheets. Bright yellow banners strong across the sidewalks for 60 feet on either side of the entrance contrived to make ixi effectively- flashy front Hou^ is one of -those without a marquee, due to an ordi- nance that bans any such covering from the entire Grand Concourse. To even put iip^ the .bann^ a spe- cial permit had to be obtained from the borough president. ''' Galaxy booked to follow the cur- rent 'bill will bring the first week's stage payroll d6Wn to around 10 grand. ' Jamboree of the present week could have been much more smooth- ly and efffKitlvely routined. Pace frequently turns sluggish, but the quiet spots are of brief durajtlon. Regardless, It'? swell and uproar- iously funny entertainment It Should be for 15. grand. For. a .CQupIe of comics Phil Baker and Bert Lahr turned out perfectly matched, with credit due the accor- dion pusher for his neat dovetailing on the stralghting aissignment. Pair worked together as dexterously as any two would who had been teamed for years, scoring unaiil- mpuely in every one of their -lilts together. Policemen bit, with the shooting fray climaxing it and anti- climax tagUne, 'as I was saying about the policemen's ball,' partic- ularly, proved the highlight of the Baker-Liihr npnsensiB at Saturday's initial performance, with the laugh sendoft taking all the payees had to offer. On his own Baker,- too, went big on the l^ugh rewards, and, strange to say, it was an all clean batch of gags that he and his annoyer, James Muldowney, retailed to that nabe audience. But the a:pplause honors of tlie occiaslon easily went to Morton Downey. Tenor did three numbers on his first entrance, and returned later In the proceedings to do a fourth, to the accompaniment of the Baker accordion. Hannah Williams didn't have them coming her way in full accorol until she uncorked a number asspclated with her from away back, Yolez and Yolanda were limited to one number, a Spanish whirligig, which they fash- ioned into"" a. thing of perfect grace and rhythm, meriting the noisy sendoff dished out to them. Odeo, EMBASSY First ride up the new Eighth ave- nue (New York)" subway is, ol greater Interest to Embassy fans, although the talker debut of the German Crown Prince Wllhehn 'is of greater Importance In the ria- tional release. Both clips are F-H ezcludlves. Another scoop xtC moderate, inter- riatlonal interest is the coverage of the Diuke Of York living with com- moners at their suriimer camp. The l!>uke does his' best before the camera to register that democratic manner the English talking reporter dubs In. Death of Rin Tin Tin -was ob- served impresslveiy at the Embassy, Foit digging into the vault for news highlighte In the dog's career. Fox belatedly presente a clip of (3ene Tunney signing up with, the Demo- crats./ The Translux covers a colored bathing beaut contest at Lido Beach and Fox took in a' show staged in the Bronx, with Daddy Browning picking an , Italian win- ner, ■ ■'" ■ One of the most' entertaining of all hot weather zoo pictures is that presented by F-H of all'kinds of bears and wolves eating out of the same dish hi a Milwaukee animal home. In the Gold Cup speiedboat race off Montiauk Point X.orig Island, F-It does a: Job va,stly superior to that of the Xiuxer. A bird's-eye view enables the. Fox camerainen to show a perfect rectangle whipped into the -waiter by the course shaped by the contestants. .Huge klt<» flying In Japan and Shanghai's first amusement park both lend Interesting , far eastern color to theu program. : Australia's first big storm of the season Is well photographed, idea of t.e-. power of the. -waves being ac- centuated by using a liner anchored In the harbot>;as a background pivot, . Among other Eriibassy. excluslves are:/ Magellan pageant in Spain, Australian ballet, Vienna girl ath- letes, Canadian log roller, three- TRANSLUX The better.>times-are-here-once-i more campaign continues at -the Translux. This week Universal showfi .addlHorial employment in cheese making^ California pilning and Washtngtbn lumher, while Pathe takes to the hat and steel in-. dustr|es arid gets the head y>£ the American Federation of labor to point to favorable business signs. Pathe led the ^'street 'Saturday with the MolUson flight. Most of the footaere was tin the take-off, but It got sufficient of the English flier's arrival in the Western World to give the subject a scoop tag llpe. Considerable space is given to other air events. The landing of ari 18-year-old flier in Mexico arid the last test flight of Boardman (not the one in which he crashed) are iricluded. The 'most* Interesting alt'-minded family is reviewed by all of th^ r^lSr This has to do with Hutchin- son, his wife and two kids taking off cn the first leg of .- an Atlantic hop, - Pathe got a cute camera slant of a dog lookiriff out of a glass chart house just before, ttie ship lifted. Views of the Tlying Boudoir' are caught by Paramount .on the ground as well as durlnfr re-fueling aloft. Huth Nichols testing her hew plane and Norwegian fliers are shown before Pathe adds the aerial voyage of one of Its owti camera- men up the. Hudson..to Albany and hack, ■ . An amusing view of a, false fire alarm detector :ln Toledo exhibits a small boy finding himself hand- cuffed to the fire box until the ap- paratus arrivKis. Both houses have their supply of political subjects, including the Robsevelt-Gamer talk.' Pathe takes in one of the Hooyer fishing trips. Closing of the Olympics, dedication of French war memorial and the ■harness race at Goishen are seen alike at the Embassy and Luxer. Woly.. year-old boy swimmer, Cossack chorus; aquaplaning in New Jersey, unveiling of the Cardinal Gibbons monument In Washington. Waly. IMPERIAL, TORONTO Toronto, Aug. 10 . It's a lay-off week for the line girls, but the Howard Knevels six- bit deluxer prite on an s.a. bill thait riiore than makes up for the absence of the pony ballet Trlxle Friganza is. the headllner, and, acting as mistress , of ceremonies, she's on and off. the stage -whenever she/cares and* can stay as long as. she. w^nte to. There'd a full-stage garden set, but most of the work is done In 'one.' The flash and speed of the various acts puts the prez. over. In cpntrast'to the ill-tlmlng and slovit riess that marked the bills of the past fortnight ; More and Yaconelli open. They're a couple of wop comedians with guitars who have no difficulty in getting over.' Stadler-Rose ti-lo tiulLln an ad^o and a triple waltz that scores.' Then Paul Howard in a contortionist bit and 'Bunny Bron- son out for a toe number. Keeping up the swift tempo, Ruth Larie dashes on for a tap dance that has the peasants pounding and Mark Pet>per on for a baritone number as Keene Twins turn out an. acrobatic. Ken Syner finales with another tap. Th«) bin might seem to be all dance, but Miss Friganza . is on and off with five numbers. . Still doing the satirical strip act. ^he's .doing her 'Not Getting Old' number, too,, but the high spots of the turn are her Kate Smith imitation and a burlesque rumbio. She's doing, the peel'-offi behind a wlcKer- settee and closing with a mildly. routined tap dance in rompers. There are five costume changes and few variations of the old standard act. It's still a swell bit that has no difficulty In spicking home. ck Arthur takes the baton for a 'Girl Crazy' medley and there are the usual screen fillers. Feature is 'Devil and the Deep' (Par). * McStay. McVickers, Chicago Chicago, Aug. 19. Mindful of the side street location, Balaban & Katz has invested What looics like about $15,000-$20,000 in a new electric marquee. It makes a dull block glitter with life and Mc- Vickers a focal pplnt for mid-Loop crowds. ' -. Auguring well for the extended run policy, the house, now pegged at 66 cents afternoon and 76 cents nights (tax included), opened to smash biz on Friday. During the last season and prior to its going into summer eclipse for the first time, McVlckers was very spotty as a grosser. Often discouraging to B. & K. was the failure of good pictures to do buslnes's. In conse- quence both McVlckers and United Artists opening next week "will b0 watched for their pulse-beat. Marx' Brothers' 'Horsefeathers* (Par) had 'em linM up at 11:20 the first day on a 10: 30 morning-geta- way. In midafternoon there were scattered seats; but near-capacity. At night another line shifted haunches patiently on the curtr out- side. This was considered most heartehing at B. & K, There' was a spic-and-span at- mosphere on the first day that wad not without its beneficial psycho- logical Infiuence. . Chromium- trimmed lobby displays brightened the cavern and there were new liveries for the staff and flowers banked in the foyer. It was a cheer- ful spot in an increasingly colorless Lpop. Sam Sobler is again. managing the house. Charley Kurtznian han- dled the opening. Shorts included a Paramount Pictorial with a laugh during a lingerie display for a model wearing 'Mahatma Gandhi panties.' Land. PARAMOUNT, N. .New York, Aug. 1>, Ed Lowry comes to his first week as m.c. in a Broadway de luxer un- der especially happy circumstances. Show that surrounds him at th9 Paramount this week may riot b* in the vogue-for: overpowering col- lections of riamei3, but it works ou( into highy so^tlsfactory entertain- ment, arid Lowry in his coriipero capacity deals with it handsomely. Fact that he compromises cri several crude, devices detracts, somewhat from Ills start, but this young man's efferVe.icent style carries him through triumphant. State proceedings get a .spirited ^start with a novelty routine of the 24 Alton-Bines girls. Half of tho girls are prone ori their baclts, each with a girl astride her waist, an ar-- rangement thai makes for leg drills that give the effect of impossible feats of contortion. Whole group Is on its-feet revealing." long skirts of tans isind yellows and green waists for the usual legmania. Striking costume marks the first design foi' these units by Montedorp, down from the Roxy where he formerly was designer. Girl number ends in a trick en-" tranc^ for Lowry. Girls hesitate, looking each other and ^xplana-: tlori Is made that Lowry ought to make his entrance here, but is miss- ing. 'Does anybody know his tele- phone number?' And the gag an- swer is chorus of all "Bryant B97C.' Girl huddle break.<> up revealing Lowry in clinch with one' of th4 prettiest. . M.c. goes promptly Into .first in- troduction, bringing on The Dixpns, mixed dance team, last mlnutd (Contlaued on pag« 32)