Variety (Aug 1932)

^fntB9Mjt Ai^t 23, 193^ ^AUDE HMSE REVIEWS VARIETY PALACE, R y. Oisen. f n& Johnson at the Palace Is BO more ne«» thaoa the dog that MteB. the man/ but this week they are the 'whole sho^r and their act gets an edge tvom thkt fact. There is no disturbing element of added vaudeville to distract attention. Th^re is a SC^'-minute show that, is about 49^ minutes O.. and J. and the rest goes- to /Euble Blake and his orchestra. . , Just what they want 'Of. Blake when that salary would probably hire another lOffl^ stooges la aii ot»eii problem. His hot band naturally is right at home playing the crazy show. No bunch of white musl- clane can get quite that frantlCr but slAce they, had him they might have done better by this really good or- ganlzatloli than shut them oCC with a brfet overture In the pit. They are moved onto the stage for the . ^nar tectiour but merely for accom- paiMments. Possibly the name helped' to draw, but that's all Blake got a chance t<) dp. Ji't was Olsen and Johnson's and all theirs. Which was ' -itlrely okay by the audience. The comedians call it the 'Atrocl? ties of 1932,' but; the subtitle is 'tt you've-gotta go, you gotta • go/ Worked for^ several raw gags; but always over. tTsuat line '■■ of girls, the Sisters Kapelle, Htirry Adier, Happy Moore, Holtz aiid' Holtz^ Ford;. Marshall and Jones, Speedy Patterson and Sid Gibson, not to ihention btQoges all over the house until no matter how dignified and '. respectable a patron lookedr his neighbors begau'to view him with suspicion, as' being the, nex£ possl- bUlty to erupt. It's vhe sort of sho\(^ which does not offer points for crlticisin. It's crazy, it wants to be crazy,.aild it , would not .be otherwise if It coutd. Some of the stuff was. not new lii burlesque 30 or 40 y ears ago,, as the water cpoler bit with th.e nance whose' room la on fire. Still the- happy laugh It y/aa when, Miner's . Bowery was a burlesoiue hbuse and- Chuck Connors was the. free list. On the other eiid there' la a. brief gag- on Kate Smith and a burlesque oflLysfstrata.' But it alt goes bver. at the same speedy rate, and there is almost ks much laughter in the auditorium as there- is in the lobby, where they play the Iia.ughing riec- ; brd from opening tfme until the midnight show, is in. Funny part of it Is that outside the stars Blake's hot singer and his three boy dancers are runners-up over the rest'for clean and effective work. The rest is all tour du force,. . f uimy at the moment,^ but remem- ' bered only. as a whole rather than \ in detail. Palace seems to be headed for H happy week, for the house was , itUled on the Saturday swing show ; and they were coming In briskly ' when that broke. At last.,the house ' has something that in a polite way can hold Its own against the- Minsky opposition across the street, with ;; the blackouts rather better played, though possibly not as new. Un- ; less, the band complicates the'salary roll they can reach down the black , Ink bottle If it hasn't dried out. Film -la 'American Madness' (Col.), \ a Paramount short, ; the newsre^ .) . and a load,Of film, announcements. ORpHEUM, N. Y. Effective lobby displays and gen- erally good exploitation campaign by 'Loew's explolteers on 'Blonde Captive' (Cpl.) are the only Items of the current layout that rate more than ordinary comment. Otherwise the houee is running routine wlttt a coBibo bill'that depends mostly oh the fllra attraction. The vaude is only^ moderate entertainment, but leaves an impression of satisfactory , balance with the type oft film shown. • Although Ann Pehnington and Charles Judels head the vaude half, the turn that- shoves most in amuse- ■ ment is Paddy Cliff and his band. • Strangely enough, in thjs turn the opening number Is the beat. Act was forced into an encore a:t closing and deserving, after a good novelty finish- that needs Just some added . colon: atmosphere and lighting to ' bring it up more classy. " That finale might shift places with the ooening number for better returns or maybe take the mfddle. May Joyce, now doing a single in one* against a simple drop with a bench setting and a guitar, pleasest Over easily when caught. Also, openers, the Four Hermans in crack balancing number. Threie men and a looker who Is good at- mosphere. ' * Judels breaks but of the Penning- ton, turn In which he skits with Nick Long, Jr., to do m.c. stuff throughout the' vaude, Judels' trouble, if any, is that he works like ftn after-dinner speaker rather than ah actor, and hie stories lack real laughing punch. Judels, also, dur- ing the skit, lapses in his dialect and takes a straight tongue once or twice which doesn't help.. "The Pennington dance finish lifts the tarn, with Long when caught having little to do in his own dancing right. In the middle of the bill are Angus and Searle, for their usual good returns. 'Vaude rah 78 minutes against the feature's Metrotdne news, 'Our Gang* eomedy and trailer a fill out the program. That overture num- ber running six minutes is the usual iieighb type as ifsed by everybody nowadays -where pit bands still hold, with the pit leader announcing numbers which he shouldn't In air most eve^y instance. Orph is no . exception. Shan, STATE, N. Y. Mice vaudb for 60c at the State this week.. Borrah Minevitch, sans the, faiK-publiclzed whiskers and plus a sizeable rep thanks to buc- canneerlng Corsican sailors with a kidnapping 'orgo^ tops the , show wltU his Bascals and all but stops the screening the feature picture. Hte.ls a wow aot. In sequence show plays. like very palatable variety Ibre. Happy Harrison's Circus opens with the canlne» monk and equine stuff, but it's the bucking mule with the three Stooges that make the big laff finish. Tvette Rugel, who used to next- to-close .the first halves when two- a-day vaude was Keith's is deuc- ing here, singing three nuinbers in' nice soprano, although Ha are in rather the- same minor key. It doesn't help for punch. . 'Nights ShaU Be FUIed With Music/ 'Lul- laby of the Leaves' and 'Bill EUl' is the eoiiug sequence. Withal U minutes of clean sopranolng. Eddie Hanley treys. Less a d^d-. pan comic than^ heretofore, he. is ^sing expression of hands and fea- tures for good effect. Peggy Gal- Ilmore la his dance aid and Frank Dnke who yodels la the one of the two stooges who gets the other billing. There's a second istooge.. Routined for satisfactory quota of taffs. Stooges pull a. polite finale by changing to tuxes for their bends which is probably the zenith in stobgery. Harrison and Fisher (New Acts) and very good, too. Bnatep. West with pop John West and Dorothy Van Alst assisting was another olicker. The men are In their sam<B saUor routlne; but West, Sr., is more pianolog than foil. He just sits at the ivories for the hoke accompanying and leaves it to Buster to carry eveirything. He does, too, to a . wow finish. Miss Van Alst is a satisfactory flller-in for her spot. Borrah Mlneyitcb closed ' and mopped up." He has the best act of his career on both sides of the Atlantic. He . has routined his Rascals fo^ a sequence of sure-fire eomedy bits and business,, but jele" gates all that in favor of the legit hamioitica virtuoso work, which suggests that Minevitch could take his group into Carnegie' hall and deliver. an unusual, concert as he has threatened to do. He'll prob- ably have his opportunity for classic auspices when shifting Intor the Radio City musio haU for which he Is reported slated... As an act It can play anywhere in' any. language. To one who saw^ Minevitch at the ancient Theatre: JMogador on the even more ancient rue Mogador in Paris during the run of 'Rose-Marie,' when that transplanted Hammerstein musical: was a Paris click three years ago. It Is -forcibly evident' ho-*^ the ar- tistry Emd effectiveness of the Mine- vitch pantomime, supported by the extraordinary musical routines whloh, of course, know no linguistic Mml'tations, can be 'gotten' by al- most any tyi>e of audience. On screen 'Skyscraper Souls' (Metro). Biz n.s.g. first show Sat. m^t. Aheh ALBEE, B'KLYN Nicely balanced vaude with an abundance of good material here. Kenneth Harlan and Al St. John, film actors in i>er6on, would ordi- narily get better spotting than they do here, but bill is so laid out that there's no room for the lads any- where except in the deuce. Bpod and Bood, one of the first of Martin Beck's recent European importations (TTew Acts) starts the show nicely with a novel turn. It's not espejclally adapted to the Americah stage, but is clever and novel enough to go oVer at this early stage of affairs. . Harlan and St. John are surpris- ingly amusing. The couple doesn't attempt to. cash In on the film angle; both boys going right to work on ga^s and business. Landt Trio and White, from radio with considerable. rep and (jnore important) quite a lot of talent, have no trouble in the _center groove, and Clara Barry and^Orval Whltledge have their usual -walk away next to shut. To close are Rosette and Luftman in a dance divertissement which leaves much to be desired but is sufnciently clever for show closing purposes. The girl's toe pirouettes are the particular bright spot of the turn, while some pleasant blues "shouting - by Grace and Beatrice Wylle help. Phil Fabello, calisthentlc pit leader, gets into his stride current week for the first time since his Brooklyn arrival with an extra nice overture. 'Hold 'Em Jail' (Radio) Is the feature, and a cartoon, and two scenics fill out Biz, sad to say, was way off. Kauj, PAVILLO^ PARIS Paris, Aug. 9.. The house now called The Pa- vilion Is the former Plaza, which' Natan took over and farmed put for vaude, but which the lessees turned to pictures. Hoiuse has reverted^ to Natan management, and whatever the show,'it should be put to the credit of his theatre department as a benevolent gesture to profession- als.rather than as a business move. At a time when the Empire Is closed for repairs, and apart from a few acts at the Alhambra and some minor nabes, vaude acts have noth- ing to do. Pavilion is a chance for small-timers. Talent is of course booked through NtCtan's agency, Lutetia. • House' inaugurated a new de- parture here by playing continuous vaude from 2 p.m. to midnight- meaning four a day. Bill, which changes weekly^: Is practically im- material from the audience's point of view, house playing to jpassers- by who drop in as they would in a local hewsreet theatre. Ah orches- tra pit of 10 under Maurice Andre and a sm Ul personnel find a living there besides the acts. Two girls put up cards to announce the acts. Curren show opens with two or- chestra numbers, followed by Bve- lyne Mussey,. singer. Then comes an athlete. Prince Tokio, who does balancintc on three fingers. Next number, Musty,. styles himself, the stupidest, man in the world, but fa.ils to reat^b' that distinction. A would-be tenor, Guy perry, sings with a:: voice confined to the wrong side of the footlights. A couple; The Idols, come In for a double ex- hibition—man first as an. athlete, then the girl In a dance, both con-, eluding in an adagio. The man is skillful, in muscular posifigs and the girl ha.s t good figure. Then comes a comedian, Charlay,- whose stuff has. a lot, of double-entendre, and who miglit be funny If he were playing to a large and sympathetic audience, but whose wit fails on this clientele/ : Next is The Kid, fully grown up, who does some la^ somersaults on a . rather slow tempo. . Best number is Maryse Monea, girl who -sings' and does Imitations in an exceed- ingly lively manner, and oitght be worth exploiting. Oreste Ndverro and Thais are styled gold-faced dancers because they us^ some prepetratlon on their faces and* dress as Cambodians. A singer in full dress appears next to closing, which has a big and small idea, a sad lift of 'Short and Long.' House makes use of Its screen to give a few clips-if a newsreel,. which, being followed by the. or- chestra numbers opening the next show, act as a chaser. None of the staging or lighting woi'th mentioning, but patronage is more out to find a place to sit and kill time than, prepared to criticise., CLAUDE ALLISTER and Co. (4) 'Getting Un-Married' (^medy Sketch 16 Mins.; FuK (Special) Victoria Palace, London London, Aug. 8. CIa:ude AUlster, specially brought over by Erik Hakim for starring parts in a couple of pictures, which sire only so-so, is how engaged on another picture, 'The Return of Raf- flei' by Mansfield Markhaih, liidie. The picture being finished, he Is playing a week at the VictoritUPisil- ace, upon which depend 16 more weeksi for Moss Empires. Opening- night proved the vehicle was good, not only for England but America.- It seems novel to find a picture star with a suitable offering for vaudeville. Story, by Dr. Harold Deardon, Is really a sort of duolog between Lord AHoway (Claude Al- llster) and 'The Girl*' (Sunday WU- shln). V . Lord Alloway Is arranging a 'con- venient divorce,' at Ills rooms, with 'the Girl/ who is to be found, in a compromising position ■ -with His Lordship^ by the butler. Actually it is the wrong girL She is an osteo- path sent by a doctor friend to treat a bone Ir His Lordship's leg. It is a howl from the start. The climax is reached when the real girl in the case arrives, and Lord Alloway puts her out, and pre- vails upon the osteopath to continue wltji her treatment. ; BOOD AND BOOD Clowns 7 Mins-.; Full Albee, BHtoklyn One of the first of the recently imported Martin Beck acts and an Interesting novelty turn. A boy and girl in traditional Europeui clown costume somewhat along Greek lines. Hard to define their work. It's actually dancing, though of a burlesque nature. Starts off with a dance satire on wire walkers, then Jugglers, and finally weight lifters. None of the acrobatics are actually used, painted dumbells sufficing for the weight- lifting stuff, etc. . Nicely routined and tlmed> turn Impresse,^ because of its novelty and trim execution. KauJ. DOWNTOWN, L. A. # * Los Angeles, Aug. IS. . Anyone bemoaning the good old days of vaude should -visit this house and get a load of the -current vaude bill reminiscent of 1920, Seven acts, opening with wire walkers, closing with a fiash turn and sandwiched between tJnem rag artists, a; mixed blackface duo, Ohatter act and a four-kid fiash, the bill looked, like the family time in its hey day. Budgeted at around (800 has plenty of entertainment if the audience's memory isn't partic- ularly retentive. Manning and Glass, tight wire walkers open satisfactorily. Turn finishes strong with the man spin- ning a 60-foot rope while doing hocks on the wire. Lemarr Bros., looking as if they framed their act for this showing do a mixture of tap, acrobatic and off rhythm .danc- ing closing with straight hand lifting work. Boys hiaye good per- sonalities and should be able to frame smpother routines. Four FTankenbergs follow. Kids played 'here. about two months ago for RKO. Work of the youngsters im- pressed, btit the act contains too much, hoofing particularly follow- ing the Lemarrs. Brown and Wllma, rag artists next. Rag pictures haven't been seen here in years. Three^ pictures were well received. Act could be spotted in a Fanchon & Marco Unit. Benny Nawahl, Ha-waiian. uke and guitar player just got by with three numbers. -Nawahl lacks stage ap- pearance and is no better than the score of Similar instrumentalists hereabouts. LaFrance and Garnett, maii and woman blackface team In the next- to-closlng spot. Pair use antiquated material Including an old fashioned laughing song. Latter was so old It was . a novelty. Marion DeVrles Revue, eight people flash act plosed.- Offering Is the average of this type that has the chorus work interspersed with tap toe and ec- centric routines by Miss De Vries and two unprogrammed men. Business off at the 7. p. m. show despite the addition of 'Tiger Shark' (WB) preview, and the regular fea- ture, 'The Crooner* CWfB). Novelty single reeler and ' Universal News clips filled the bill. Call. THELMA* WHITE and BOM* AGNEW Comedy Sketch 10 Mins.; Special .. Drop in One Metropolitan, Brooklyn Both players have been to vaude- ville before, but not as a teanr.' Open with a. film announcement flambuoyant in tone. Agnew works in neat white flannels throagboUt, holding the stage while his partner, changes. Her first dress la white, cut pcsU- ously low. Second Is ta bodiee, aaA last a pyjama suit of black chlffpBi with -highly transparent trouaer* that are a treat to the eyes; , Miss White sings rather sfacll^, but dances much better than she sings. Agnew. has a better ^ofeav but a poor taste In storteo. Most «f them are older than, be -Is. \ After the film brag they do not capitailz* their picture exp^ences todheovHiy and eventualy forget about iti : Did very Well in the deuce spot.: Louise GfiOODY A Edvyard ALLEN Sonost Dances 1& "Mine; Two OrpHeum, N. Y. .. After trying three or four dlfferi- ent. types of acts, one with Neville Fleeson' and another with Hal Skelly, Miss Groody la back dolng^ a two-act with Allen, her first vaude partner. It'ia. an oke . combination except that: they could well use some material. Mii3S Groody Is as fetching as ever, and Allen is the same long- legged lad he was in 'Hit the Deck.' Incidentally, lie's still wearing that sailor'suit, though there'd no spe- cial reason for it. Maybe It helps set off his gangling form. Couple of songs and dances and HARRISON and FISHER <2I Dance' .'.■ Three and One (SpecraF) State • ■ Harrison and Fisher are a cor]t«. Ing dance team. They can bo)I. much of . their stuff down, send -taKe^ it to a class cafe floor sncb as tim Central :park Casino and do Just aff . well as on "a rostrmn. - A nice looking pair, their opea-: Ing rhythmic tango discloses girt as'-,. an exbtic, ^omerwhat CarboSsh. blonde, and he Impeccably tailored^. ixy tails and dancing pumpK It fir this good Impression which oervm- them In good stead for the- rather^ artistic finsJr>. the Manhattan sere- nade,' an ultra-modem Interprefs- tion which brings bim on In sheea- satin femme pyjama-Uke t rou sersf ■to conform with his partner's- riff- . vpr-clothed costume,. A femme assistant; In 'onei.^ vtskt contrasts an ante-bellTim gftTptte;:^. with 1932 fapt-cha and snake liS»g\ '- for a brief spell, permlttiog Hsnf<.- son and Fisher ta change flor s fiailt' production gavotte- Tha. wonuuk |* not secretive about her two good, reasons . for nether dtq>liqr, -«hldbv< sartorially, pepa .^np^ the stsatgM- terp - number. 'H.cmevtT, Wm •mm- done. As with the flra^ mate- their entrance in 'thretf ftron* tttoCt a short flight of prop steps., - . - ^ Another taps interlude t^ 'thta girl assistant and the .special, vit- maestro then heralds 'lEaniliattiw Serenade' for the strong flaSsiK: t^ -' Adolphus credited for' the' tianee; staging^, okay all around. Good Tierformers and good -vAidr with ppssIblUtles for other brancfaUp of show bl^ including prodnetfciB> and cQasB hotel or cafe dates;" ^&c2L-' Into the 'Tea for 'i*#oF thing;, wfUt Miss Groody again singing It a» abtfi allegedly heard It In France- maO., later as done In Cfalcaga Latter„ with the. hip movenienta esxtphat-- sizedr Is, of course, the'high spot e£- the turn. Kvnf,. : ORPHEUM, DENVER Denver, Aug. 17. Al Trahaji headlines with his standard comedy. Act is long, but full of action all the time. Don Sahtos and Exie occupied the deuce spot. Nutty scenes, clothes, chatter and songs. Man's carica- ture ot Maurice . Chevalier his best. Edith Evans, in impeccable dress, is teamed with Ray Mayer, dressed like a cowboy, but doesn't look It. Edith sings 'That's My Idea of Heaven' and Ray reads a letter from his dad—full of wisecracks. Their chatter is only fair. Dave Jones, and Peggy, aided by Dave Kraft and two unprogrammed girls, offer 'A Little Show.' The girls act as mistresses of cere- mony and get into the routines. Dave and Peggy please with their ballroom tap dance; Kraft does a fast acrobatic novelty on twin stairs, and all five do capital rou- tine for finale;. Bobble May's Juggling act hasn't a dull minute. Starts with comedy, pr ceeds with comedy and ends the ea:me way. May comes on singing 'Happy ' ays Are Here Again,' and walks Into - rough-house with his foil, Joe Holmes, working from the pit. Joe stays in the pit for most of the act, and while Bobble is doing the juggling with clubs, balls, etc., thpy keep up a running fire of chat- ter. Hat and cigar trick 'is good, and l.e: is fast with the tennis balls. The orchestra, directed by How- ard ' Tillotson, accompanies with vigor that makes it a feature to vaude fans in. Denver. Josephine Pullo, winsome lass, who acted as mistress of ceremonies. Introduced Tillotson to the audience and he got a big htnd.- Miss Pullo had a few Wot^ds to introduce each-act, and a new costume ea^sh time—and she scored. West Masters, .organist, featured •While the World Sleeps On,r by a local composer, Blanch M. Tlce, Man > /ith baritone voice sang the -words. pyu^E, cHicAca ; Chica^fo, Aag. 30J' . Rus9 Coumbo's box oflSee strangtlr was in question locally and the jper*- plexlty will remain due t& the pfe*. ture, 'Hold 'Em^ JalT (Radio), doubtedly deserving the Ifon's por- tion Of 'credit. Meanwhile like a- sore thumb, Columbo's Inadequacy upon the stage stands forth. - It's a dull band act,. nnreUeved and unexcused. For the finale BcEtfie- Nelson rushed on for a bit of clown dancing. It . was a Vealizatiba on some one's part that tbeict was no finish to the act. From start to bows the tempo Is the same anid the public reaction swerves sharidy downward. ColUmbo got an ex- tremely; warm welcome bttf at the' end .a markedly indifferent reward/ "This was a first thne In Chicago for Columbo and until he has some- thing to sell It should be the last time. . Whatever possible hrre or flapper following he may possibly possess will be both exhausted and enervated by his present engage- ment. Too slgnlflcaiit to be overlooked were the walkouts on the .first mat- inee Saturday. ; From the rear row j not less than EO eustomers were* counted' leaving. That is tentaTe, for at the Palace they usually like stage bands. Or are they growing weary of RKO's insistence upon giving them a band each wezk with clock-like reguarityr During the summier the Palace has had Duke Elington, Ralph Cooper, Beniiy Meroff, Larry Rich a;nd Columbo. This week's layout is unsatisfac- tory. Nelson does pretty well but he doesn't top the show as next- to-closing requires. Jane and Kath- erine Lee are facile and attntctSve and Strictly okay but hardly -a bill- puncher. They are third. Heavy laughs and comedy strengtlr ye» (Continued on page 92>