Variety (Aug 1932)

S<S VAKJETY VAHDiE HOUSE REVIEWS Tnesdaf, Auguat 30, 1932 OWEN MOORE Peirsonal Appearanc* i4 Mine.;. In Ons Stats, New York Vehicle chosen by picture player for his vaucle appearances Is well iidapted to his suave, easy-going personality. It's a talking reel plotted around the old domestic trl angle with Moore playing the lover role and carrying on a conversation with the screen figures from the stage when not taking part In the frothy piece's enactment. Idea ia not new, but is deftly handled here^ bringing out the light, debonttlr touches of the Moore acting style. . Opens his turn with : n assurance that he won't talk about Hollywood, an assurance that has become a set routine with the stage entrants troin the film colony, and goes Into a spiel about his ability and urg'e to play a jew's-harp, Returns to this topic for tli« walkoff, at no time making any «ffort to play the mouthpiece. Dull stuff this, but the :creen portion of the act has every element of general appeal. Reel's :'inti-climax in which Moore from ihe stage shoots the characters In the playlet provides the one novel twist and food for a chuckle or two. WHITESIDE, ANITA and BROWER (6) Singing, Dancing 17 Min.; Special in FiiH Qrand O. Hi liOosely knit and overlong for what It actually has to offer in the vmy of flash production, but merit- ing something above amallle rating because of the presence of a couple of standout performers. One Is Sammy .' Brewer, whose hockstep specialty Is the high spot, and the other a wisp of a toe dancer who can take those fast twirls with a r grace and an ease that's u treat. Only other niche allotted Brower Is for his soft-shoe skating number. Would be to. the tum'B advamtage to move this bit up to the fore part of the routine and Insert the hock .'ipiismS^between the toe whirligig and the $u:robatic fan terpslcality by the other femme dancer. Shift- ing of the Items would give pace and direction to the proceedings, and Brower could still bring in an- other hock shuffle for the finale. As the act.now stands that hock spec- tacle .saves tht^ turn from simmer- ing completely out at the curtain. Acrobatic dancer has the figure and the face and makes a fair im- pression with her main contribu- tion, the fan-waving and back- bending fantasy. Between terpsy specialties there's a young blonde with, an Immature coloratura^ but oke for the spots the act is likely to play around. For the finish the lad, who accompanies the turn at the piano aind^ apparently Is the stager of the fiash, introduces his own Ider of whipping up the ap- plause. Calls It auctioning, but the gavel-pounding does the trick. Ob- vlbusly he's one not to take any chances. Otfeo. GENE AUSTIN (3) Songs 11 Mine.; Two (Drapee) State-Lake, Chicago Gene Austin, now moored at NBC's Chicago headquarters for network upbuilding, has a reputa- tion as a singer that goes back for years and several, million phono- graph records. He's a singer of IK>pula,r i3ong3 and of established ability. But it is hardly borne out by the present, act he ia doing. Only occasional glimpses of Gene Austin, known to fame, could be obtained. It's bad routining all the way. Act Is not presented attractively nor sold smartly. The 'coldness' about everything remains. His numbers were familiar favorites; but the arrangements, don't bring out his vocal versatility. There is no lightness or buo^iicy to the act at any point " Three musicians, probably from NBC, carried for support. They wear blue berets and- long smocks of the same color. One plays the piano and is visible throughout. Cornetist and baas violin are heard, but not seen until late, when drapes part to reveal them standing on a second grand piano to which the accompanist moves when Austin seats himself at the downstage ivories. At least, one number, which should have been hot, was hope- lessly messed by the cornetist. Who lost his way. Austin would have done better alone, or just with the pianist. Act played a week In liOUlsvlUe preceding' the State-Lake engagement. In its present state it will not enhance Austin's standing. It is diatinctlir unworthy of him. PALACE, N. Y, The question this week wlU 1>« whether "White Zohible' on the screen, second run, or Arthur Tracy (Street Singer), with an air follow- ing, can be credited with whatever business is done. Week should be above average strictly on the strength of box office lure, surely not as a result of the intrinsic value of what's dished out inside. - House was well populated Satur^ day afternoon, with a few standees during the second showing of the vaude. Women were in the major- ity, • This may not explain anything so far a;3 draw is concerned* except that perhaps both *ZombIe,' a chiller, and Tracy should be naturals lor the ladies. ' , Which of the two holds the strongest attraction is anybody's guess, but chances are the picture has the edge. Tracy has been around a lot lately, Including In picture house engagements. : He doesn't have much of an act as acts to: While his voice, which sells him on the alf f or CBS InVites no. complaint, his lack of . personality and showmanship Id something else again when on personals. Tracy's makeup Is also poor, but lighting might serve to cover up both that and other deficiencies the radio has nothing to worry about. Like most of his brethren from the ether waves, Tracy' employs a mike. While doing: so may serve to emphasize air pre-eminence, at the same time It wards oft any opportunity to gauge the actual potency of the voice. Tracy tries hard to sell himself^ but hasn't yet acquired the knack. He did four numbers at the second Saturday mat, but aroused no more than a fairly good response, efforts to bow his way Into a fifth song falling. It's Vic Oliver, In fifth, and Alex Hyde, closlngr, who far outdistancei the air warbler on applause. Oliver seemed in finest fettle. H«i HOLLYWOOD ON PARADE Imitationa, Songs, Dances 20 Mine.; One and Full (Special) Orpheum, N. Y. Act has nothing to do with RKO or Radio Pictures despite the name, same as used by Radio for Its radio broadcasts. It has been conslderr ably changed since around last time. ' It could stand some more changing. . Attractive idea here, entire turn being made up of doubles of film luminaries. Some of the selections aire not so good, however, and the material also' could be bettered. Opens with Arthur Hartley, m.c, at a, mike Introducing the stars, Screed bit of a flash Hollywood opening has been dropped. Intro duced are allegedly Jean Harlow, Slim S?ummervllle, Lupe Velez, Bus ter Keatbn, Jim Cagiiey, Nancy Carroll, Estelle Taylor, Greta Qarbo. Anna May Wong from the previous turn has disappeared. Scrim parts for an Bills Island bit between 'Hartley* and 'Pola Negri,' tlien going full stage for a Montmartre cafe scene, with ape claltiea by all. Lass dolnjg Negri has a cute ac ' cent and good comedy sepse, and the lad doing Jim Cagney is a cork ing good dancer. His hock step routine up and down stairs while Jumping a rope would go over even if he didn't look like Cagney. Sum mervllle (looking more like dharlie Murray than anybody) and Greta Garbo are atmosphere only and the others all sing or dance for no practical amusement value. Best Imitation of the lot, although unmentloned and possibly not real- ized, Is Arthur Hartley, who could call himself Norman Brokenshire with no objections. .He's a per- sonable :and able m.c. working strictly along refined radio lines, quite novel in vaude of today, which usually goes for the raucous 111 this type of work. Kauf, FABER and FORD Songs, Gage 12 Mine.; One {Draped State-Lake, Chicago Harry Faber since the break-up with Llta Wales has been tutoring his new foil In pick-up dates around the middle vvest. Act is of the same type as the Faber and Wales and some of the material is Identical, as is the general style of the new girl, Marjorle Ford. Miss Ford is class. No two opinions there. She carries a symmetrical torso mounted on two Ziegfeldlan pillars well displayed in glossy, silk lights. Faber's taste was always good and his notions on dressing a soubret are show- manly. He has a good partner and a good chance, but with some Im- portant aualificatlons at the present writing. Chiefly he needs smart chatter. He got too much of his present ma- terial out of his comniodlous trunk. M(odern vaudeville demands that de- livery, however suave, experienced and nonchalant, shall be matched by quips Inherently funny and rea sonably new. There was an unmistakable un dercurrent at the State-La,ke In favor of Faber and Ford. They wanted to like 'em, but the gags were insufficiently funny or too widely spaced; Act lacked upward and onward abceleratlon. Miss Ford has a splendid singing voice of considerable power, but In handling her lines is too modulated. Crlsper, more pointed reading Is Im- perative. It will have the additional advantage of cutting down the need for Faber to repeat so many of her lines before giving his own answer. There Is an obvious need for more seasoning. Act la a candidate when fixed. They got three men on bases but couldn't bring in a score. Lafl<f. HANLON BROTHERS and WOLF (3) Comedy Aerobatiea, Singing 16 Min.; Special in Full Grand O. H. J^^ ballyhoo a lot lately, but the tied up the works cold after butldingi evenly-to a high .'point of satlsfac-j tlon. It's Oliver himself tEbrougttout,! Avlth ills Instrumental'work, clown- ing and gagging that digs deep furi-ow of favor all along, but. It's the gags that go with the violin double for the walkawa^y that pre- cipitates the heavy mitt. Hyde and his Charmers as he dubs the 12 girls with him, had smooth sailing all along, with the house strongly his way. Barly In the proceedings, he brings forth Ruth Burns who does numbers with «,.tftMqh,JJis^ »i^,enouBb^apBeal. to anybody.. She works petore a mike, her voice finding it^ way through the amplifiers so well It suggests she ought to be good oh the air. Hyde himself, a little dynamo, wastes no time. He has one of the fastest novelty entertaining orches- tras aroUnd; Nothing seems to be overdone, although Miss Burns has two stretches, nearer the clos.e, giv- ing an Impression of radio stars without names mentioned, TschAlkowsky'a 'Fourth Sym- phony' makes for an Impressive fin- ish, li sent Hyde over high enough to have warranted an encore, which he deigned after doing 30 minutes. Sharing the comedy burden with Oliver, Daphne Pollard did nicely third. The ^hort-legged comedienne does four numbers, winding up with the park bench'm^n-hunting bit she once made Into a Vltaphone short. In this she's assisted by an unbilled man as a cop. Audience liked Miss Pollard mod- erately well; going strongest per- haps for her 'Miss Reno' song a:nd dance, third In her routine. Bud Harris* three-act spotted sec- ond. In his lately acquired unbilled partner Harris does not have a strong ..team-mate, but with Harris constantly on watch to see that nothing starts to slip, there are no casualties. The new. partner Is weak on the singing assignment and a trifle stlic on crossfire. His younger brother, the nimble kid dancer, is still tvlth Harris and to him goes mUch of the credit for strength of the finish. Three Olympics (New Acts), roller skating trio opens. About as nicely presented and executed a turn of its kind coming to notice of late. The Palace has been going In for Hanlon clan are around again with the old set of tricks, but dressed up a little differently. Locale for this fast whirl, of. pantomiming . and_ skeleton chasing Is iibw the lobby of a hotel, with the lad. Wolf, on the talk and song lnteri>olatlng end. Mirror doubling bit is still there as well as the hocus pocus of the bead chopping and the capering on and off stage of the bony crew. Mirth-making stuff that la ele- mental, but still timeless for the kids t'.nd the adult mob that haven't outgrown that level. Respons* here was pretty, unanloxous; with the simple katzenjammers drawing a steady flire of chuckles and shrieks. Two warbling interludes fit into the proceedings acceptably. Odec ROSS and BENNETT Comedy 13 Mine.; One Orpheum, N. Y. ' Man and woman In a Bums and Allen style act, which will get over in the family trade, but lacks fin- ish for more ambitious bookings. The woman works almost too hard, over-using her facial expressions and using too many bodily contor- tions. If the stuff Is there the audi- ence will not need a tipofl and If It isn't the mugging does not help much. In spite of this the woman has a gingery etyle that was liked at thib house. Does a Dumb Dora style Of comedy.' Interfering In the man's work, and making a number of good points. The man works with more assurance, though he is largely a feeder. coffin gag on 'Zombie.' which was in evidence in the morning, -was taken out qulckljr. It had Zombie stalndlng - over a'bbfflh - from which at woman as though dead suddenly "appeared rising In the air. Trimmings on screen Include Pathe News and 'Hollywood Beauty Hints' (Par). CAor. THE FITZGERALDS Chair Balancers Mine.; Full Stage Orpheum, N. Y. Not a new act, but apparently not caught around New Tork. It does not appear in 'Variety's' files. Plural la used, although there is only one performer, a man, with a brlght- fa<:ted girl assistant hustling props and dressing up the act. Familiar, but assured chair bal- ances, one on tor of a pile of five tables and another on the necks of two glass bottles. For variety the man leaps tb a table, into a barrel and but Into'another while blind- folded and In a bag. Itepeated with the blindfold from the tbp of the five-table •nvramld, which makes considerable of a! Juiivp. . Not hurt by abortive com (.ay efforts and work Is done rapidly and with sure- ness. Possibly from the circus or carnival field, but a good opener in the B houses. WINNiE and DOLLY Acrobatics 9 Mine.; Full (Special) Orpheum, N. Y. Winnie and Dolly have been around for some years, but they now have an act which ought to pliace. them without trouble on either end of most vaude houses. Special set represents a boat with the man fishing. He brings over a mermaid, nicely costumed, for a good opening effect. Nice swing and perch work follows with both equally adept at handling ropes and the swinging bar. Kauf, THREE OLYMPICS Skating 4 Mins.; Full. (Special) Palace Maybe It should be the Three Olympians for correct grammar, but nonetheless, here's a roller-skating turn that tips the scales high In their favor. Has enough finish to merit picture house booking if it can be conveniently, spotted. Two men and a girl comprise the act. They whirl through only four minutes, but cram & lot into that running time. Much of the roller- skating routine., built around pirou- ettes, carrying, and some dance work, contains originality. Trio is effectively costumed and carries a lighting plot that en- hances act's showing. Char, DONIA and WHITE Comedy^ Singing, Instrumental 11 Mills.; One Tri-Boro, Astoria Frank Donia has In his new part- ner a comely girl whose personality and ability strengthen his new twbr act. Mies White, in her work, over- shadows the comedy material. She saves the act at the finish with an impersonation of Ted Lewis. Turn ia not strong material, but it was spotted next, to closing here, possibly due to the fa!ct there were two full-stage attractions 5n-4he STATE-LAKE, CHI Chicago. Aug. 27. . An enervating bill with' yayrhlng chasms of dullness a mile wide. Jackson and Gardner's hoke ' was the most successful In rousing en- thuslEism while the headllner, Gene Austin, due to a badly routined act, barely sustained his responsibility. Rest of the acts were fair to middling. An almost complete lack of finesse or imaglnatioh In book- ing made the result Inevitable. For a picture th6' State-Lake has Columbia's 'Hollywood Speaks' which at least has a better title and subject for public attraction than most of the features the house, has been getting. However, it will be only a fair week at the cash regis ter. .Vaudevllla commenced with Edith Karen and her boy friends. This is a carbon copy. Those three male hoofers in their not-to-be-escaped 'contests' are getting awfully stale ou,t here In the hog .belt. True they are reasonably distinguished ex ponents of their craft and Miss Karen does okay, but the act de- pends too much on Its whirlwind finish. This speed clinches the ap plause, hut the entertainment qual ity before is less authentic. ' Harry. Faber with his new and spiffy partner, Marjorle Ford (New Acts) deuced quietly. Act requires two things; a little more breaking in and a lot more material. Kay an'd Jack Spangler treyed with about an even split between their smart moments and their stage waits. Despite the elegance and eclat of Miss Spanglers' con trol kicks, the act couldn't pick the show up and give it the push which it .finally got from Sdgar Gardner and Wally Jackson, hokesmiths of considerable facility. Piano player with the Spanglers worked In badly soiled wardrobe that a stagehand wouldn't be seen wearing on the job. Gene Austin's act is a hindrance to him. He would do better out there alone, squatting at the piano, and making, himself more Informal and ingratiating. He carries three smocked niusicians who clutter up the stage and completely ruined at least one number. His turii is re- ported more in detail under New Acts. stronger a bet fot<^ the big niche!" Donia previously worked with Stella McNeal. Prior to that his two acts were Donia and Clark, and Donia and Mack, Ohar. Sidney Marlon, still drenching orchestra leaders with his sputter- ing dialect, w.ls next to closing and bill, and Mary Marlowe, second, w^ [ ^J^^ J^'»e , State-Lake usually no stronger a bet foi<~ itha blir n^che^ t^^"*^*^^- -B"' he couldn't make or ,ve the bill and the Clemeons- Ballings tiirn closing was regarded as ^Jraply the final wait before the picture Land. STATE New York, Aufr. 27. ^ . Lota of schnoasle on view thl^ ' week. It's there on the screen, ' 'Speak EaSlly*^ (Metro), with tha Durante landmark spread across a '' mile or so of celluloid and It also ' makes Its .consplcuousneas felt in a couple spots on the vaude bill. One difference between, the latter exhlbii. - tlons Is that the schnozBle plays an important part in the garnering pf ,^ the laughs for the Mlila. Kirk arid Martin madhouse, while in the case ' of Lew Pollock the posing of Uia profile becomes an Incidental phas^ of the act. ' ' Schnozsilo ahgle of the show la. also made the grand motif of th^ . decor In; front of the house, and in- - cldentally one of the smash lay* ' outs on the street this week. There to sock the glimmers of the passer- . by is a huge papier mache cast of - the Durante pah with the probosclal projection extending a goodly way . over the sldbwaik. while the photos in the Vaude frames add their share to the schnozz f estlyaL Stage array offers nothing, sure- fire in the way of b.o. nathes to help . yank them in. but once inside there's enough to keep them atten- tive iand to. send them away well entertained. Runoff hits several slow-rdovlng if not dull stretches between the opening acrobatic sock- erino. the Four Casting Stars, and the knock .'im down and drag 'im out mad waggery of the Mills, Kirk and Martin trio. Popping on and off of Charles Judela between the acts didn't help . speed things any. Besides being teamed up with Ann Pennington in . the middle of the bill somebody had saddled Judels with a m.c. assign- , ment on a setup that could have easily done without the intrusion. Not that the dialectician incurred any voluble objection, but It was the same gfig over and over again with - each successive ajpipearanoe and It wasn't long before the thing palled. In his own niche with Ann Pen- nington Judels landed hard and unanimously in that part of the act that had them together for a black- oiil built a-bund the'inevitable trl* - angle. Script Itself has been In shorts, revues and. myriad vaude turns, and although it was obvious that almost all present knew the answers Judels' deft comedy touches built it for far" bigger returns than it otherwise merited. Skit, at least, had Judels in his metier. Filling in as the third member of the triangle was Roy Roberts, whose mugglnff as the embarrassed spouse seemed a little too indefinite for vaude. Roy's style Indicated he is a recruit from legit As the frau filling in for the maid and the nub of the ensu- ing complications. Ann Pennlngtoa does a fairish piece of line rbading, and makes an .ample foil for the fast-shooting Judels. But what im- pressed the customers far niore was the old Pennington, shaking and wiggling all the way to the hips and then some. Paired with her <lurlng the dancing Interludes was Waddy Coyle, a personable youth gifted with a flexible pair of legs and a personality besides. Scored nicely, on a tap exhibit of his own. Instead of the usual radio star the bill this week has a picturo . name. Owert Moore. Hard to tell through the session whether Moore was coming or going, though the vehicle was tietllor-made for this suave fellow's slow-moving person- ality. GMmmlck he uses la not novel. It's the personal appearance celeb carrying on a conversation with some one on the screen. In this case the reel unwinds a triangular plot, with Mobre in. the lover, role, one moment on the screen and the next on the side of' the stage kid- ding the celluloid enactment. Wraps, around this a lot of chatter about his ability and urge to play a Jew's hat>p, but the thing at the curtain remains one of those unfilled de- ' sires. Reaction at the finish hero was more.than.satisfactory.. . Mills, kirk and Martin, ticketed for next-to-shut, lifted the show into high from their very entry and made it a .merry slaughter for the next 15 minutes. No gainsayins that here's one of 'the' rowdiest, gooflest and funniest hokum char- ades playing vaud6 nowadays and a dead certain successor to the Clay- ton, Jackson and Durante mantle. Belle Blanche followed: the Cast- ing Stars with, a parade of song and talk impersonations that clicked solidly. Set herself in smoothly with the Bthel Merman takeoff and showed some fast voice and man- nerism adjustment in the anti-pro- hibition meeting conceit, with the speakers including Bert Lahr. Ed Wynn, Gracie Allen, Marie Dressier, Molly Goldberg (Pepsodent's 'Rise of the Goldbergs') and Ethel Bar- rymore. Impressibn Was enough to bring her back for four bows. Closing assignment went to Lew Pollock and the patchwork of war- bling and terp numbers built ia,round several of his compositions. Good, diversified dancing for the most part, likable warbling and a neat piece of . Imaginative staging throughout. Went strong on the sendoft Odec