Variety (Aug 1932)

Tuesday, Angnet 30, 1932 VAUDE HOUIE REVIEWS VARIETY 37 AUiAMBRA, PARIS Paris, Aug. IT, '' Albambra, a 2,600 nabe belonging to British Gaumont, and thus closely connected with the Iiondon Pavilion, "Is now giving Its few last prograixis with the current policy of vaude 'for the first part of the bill, and fllm for the second. Thlis policy, which •paid handsomely for several months, is to be discontinued due to lack of product, and the houise is going to straight vriude, meaning that this ivlnter in Paris, the Alhambra, the "Xlmplre aiid the. Pavilion will be thr6e straight vaiide houses, besides niany dumps. Curreiat bill is, of course, very ' summerlsli, and' Includes only five act^ though house hiks shown as many as eight. Besides acts, house also has .an orchestra of 30 under Ituden Ctoldy. First part opens with the Puposys, acrobats, followed by iNatal, man made up and acting as an ape. Kcxt come Harris, Claire . and Shannon, dancing trio,. with the boy and th& girl appearing separately and also together. Fred ' (Souln, a singer, follows and closing . of the first iwTt has De Rocroy, conjurer, Vho after pretending to •^cut a girl into pieces in the box where he hides her, gives away his trick by repeating it on himself with a faked guillotine. After intennission conie the Natan newsrecl, and a Paramount production 'Coiffeur Pour Dames;' ,ThiB is booked in by Natan, Who does the house's programming undeir his arrangement for the release of . Paramount pictures, Maxi, GRAND a n. The Grand Opera House is one of the few spots in the world today that still has special.. prices for jwomen. It's 10 cents for kids. Men pay the top. two-bits for a Saturday matinee. The women 15'cents. For this aum customers get two features and an hour of standard vaude. No two ways, about It, the combina- tion offers value at the price. Of . coiurise, the vaude isn't ace ielass, but the acts are experienced and have played the best 'B' spots of the major circuits when these ..were flourishihg:' This list Includes . Bud Carlell and Bosalle; Ken Christy and Co.; Jerome and Ryan, . and the Johnny Tyrrell company. ^ 'Features, 'By . "Whose Hand' (Col) -and 'Doomed-Battalion'-(U-)i- By comparison with the many de [ luxe, spots the Grand Opera House, ; sticking to showmanship funda- I mentals, looks heading forward as t a real entertainment spot where \ solid standards of program value have never'drifted. While. 23d street, both as a resl- ; dentlal and as a business center, has shifted widely on last decade, ; the G. O, H. remains as It always Lwas. Business at this Saturday afternoon show was near capacity, :wlth top shelf half filled. Bill's faults are minor ones. It may bo that Rosalie In Carlell's act . would look better If sh& wore long ;.etdcklngs, but the audience didn't , mind. The desert drop in three' or (two': which Carlell uses Isn't every- ) thihg a de luxer might demand, here it was ok with the customers. tCar- ■lell finishes with his five-rope spin ; and clicks. Tyrell usies four girls In his turn, arranged In three scenes, with drop hangings from 'one* to full, with a : blonde who particularly attracts. 'Tyrell wisely brings her ahead in ills work. Tyrell's gaggy burlesque •to© bit Is excellent, and the trio of girls make a rhythmic dancing group of a routine type. Ken Christy gives evldencie of forcing hij comic attempts. Buddy Brownell, If that's her name; does a neat bit In a sleep-walking dance duet with Christy. The Q. O. H. audience liked them all . and showed Jerome and Ryan,, with guitar and banjo, over stay In their 16 minutes,, but redeem, themselves :.wlth a spirited finish. Their voices don't seem fitted for the lighter or ballad tunies, and their radio bur- lesque, while over handsomely here, «an be overdone. Bhan. 1 PRPHEUM, N Y. TJsual five acts and not a par- ticularly good blend' this week, but the show gets over nicely with a dancing act next to shut and a two-man talking act closing, which Is not according to the ancient and honorable traditions of vaudeville, but with the picture to follow It does not seem to matter a^ much.. As a matter of fact. Jack Pearl, Who is doing a cross talk with a slick ■ feeder, collects the big ap- plause and from that anglie is en- tiUed to the last lick at the crowd. His broken German dialect Is right at home in the Yorkville sector and in spite of its antiquity glides over-nicely. Pearl Is a nice lesson io the school of comics who supply the laughter for their .own jokes. His faith is well founded, for the nouse got him and got him quickly iind even accorded a burst of ap- plause to a hoary wheeze that is not old enough to have been for- Eotten because it • has been used fight alone. It's the one about the rabbit leaving no rtirt at the en- r.ince to' its burrow because it starts at the bottom nnd worlts up. At the other end of the bill the Fitzgeralds (New Acts) get the show off smartly with some nice chair, balances and a couple of bar- rel jumps, the lasi off five tables Into. another barrel, which must have cost many barked shins in its acquirement. Second off is George Lyons and his harp. Standard a:ct but gener- ally welcome In spite of Lyons' forced comedy. Hef seems so naively pleased with his comedy efforts that he fools some of the audience and the others haven't the heart to undeceive him. Good enough to be played as a straight, but pos- sibly the comedy does help With a vaude audience. He does well with a jazz number in spite of the fact that thie Instrument does not lend itself well to the tempo. A little less self appreciation would help, but he did a nice 10 minutes here. Ross and Bennett class as a new act, though the, foundation Is the Bums and Allen style of Dumb Dora. May be a new formation, btit not novices. Cian collect with an easy crowd,' but not so simple where they have to work for tl>elr score. Starnes-Kbver. dancers are the closers with their adagio novelty In which a third bearer does a black art and. obtains odd effects with the girl apparently held in midair with out too-visible support. About the only new angle on an adagio Im a couple of years and really effective, Act ' is oddly routined in that a comedy straight fills in the rest with mdnolog material. 'He scored with an ov^riong recitative on ad vertising. which probably would have , been better had it been half as long. Too much of a repeat ais it stands, but the Idea Is good. Orch leader offered a novelty In a different music memory contest. He used an accbrc^loh and played a selection until someone called the name of the performer who had popularized the song. On 'Harvest Moon' Ruth Ktting was first called, but corrected.'to Nora Bayes. A good idea and really aroused in terest. Picture is 'Skyscraper Souls' and Metrotone News. Half a house on the supper show Saturday "with rain spoiling the first night show.. HIPP, BALTIMORE Baltimore, Aug. 28. Advance booking sheets of this and other vaude houses sugjgests the theatres are running out~of--head- llners. A great portion of the houses are starting to repeat last year's names. This house this week has Little Jack -Little, back after eight months. Next month brings In Duke Ellington, here less than a year ago, and shortly after that a return for Cab Calloway, in this spot not long ago. And radio act^; particularly those of national repute, appear to be the choice for return dates. Fine business in on the first show Friday for the current week with Little, though much of that trade must be credited to ^Blrd of Para dise' (Radio) on the screen. . Combo of film and Vaude this week arranges ah entertainment that owner Izzy Rappaport admits Is a good show. It was five acts of standard vaude, starting with the Four Robeys, who have built a jug gllng turn into a walloping opener on speed, flash, and performance, These three men and femme have an- eye for arrangements, getting into a sock tableau for much of their stuff.' Hoop work and balanc ing remain the strong Items, with the. girl doing more than her share One of the neatest audience acts working is hindered by a weak close Jeaii Granese and her two. stooges get them laughing; and as long as they stuck to the comedy they were across likd.Lindbergh. A switch in the style of the closing song might givd it a stronger push. \ , Little Jack Little is one of those ether things; .a fellow without any great vocal ability who coines .over the mike with a personality in full blast for the ladiels. He got a heavy reception here and managed two encores easily. An easy and simple performer, ingratiating and show manly.. And what the pipes failed to accomplish, he mdre than made up for with rapid>flre knuckles on the piano. ■ Preceding Little, who was next to closing, were Forsythei Seamon and Forsythe, who sustain the comedy pace of the. show. Two women and a man, singing, dancing and clown- ing. Heavy comedy came from the woman with abundant avoirdupois. Also displayed a neat vocal array, though if she insists on doing an encore, should have a second tune. Repeating the original song gives the pace of the act a setback. Man sings into bass for applause^ while the third member, girl, is a pint- sized bit who does a couple of hoof- ing numbers gracefully. In. the finale hop Dave, Harris brought hiis stooge, Frankle, and three girls, and sent this audience into the picture happy. Stooge is one of the best &een around; the girls are eyeful and sufflclent, while Harris is on the spot to weld the trio, into a sockful act. Booking ofilce must have been somewhat fearful about the conflicts oh this bill, since every turn but the fli'St uses a piano and indulges in vocal exercises. But on the running, there was no sense of repetition. orpheum/mpls. Minneapolis, Aug. 26. 'With Hobart Bosworth for a name and with support of Ralph Cooper's orchestra, Medley and Duprey and Frank De Yoc, the current Orpheum show qualifies as big-time vaude- ville. However, It falls short of some recent less pretentious shows in entertainmient quality. The blame for . this may be traced to the ab-. sence of punch and diversion In Bosworth's Qff.erihg and to other details. The show also is somewhat light In comedy. In the opener Herb Larimer, as- sisted by a girl, presents a brief bicycle act. In hobo makeup Lari- mer essays a bit of weak- comedy. The girl, does some solo trick riding ani joins Larinier In several, diffi- cult feats. Including upside-down riding. . Frank De Voe deuces It In his usual debonair fashion. Some of his patter and vocal routine is new and most of the songs and lines are snappy. He c.oes 'Tiger Rag* in a wav that wins audience approval. The same number figures promi- nently in the Cooper act later, but the arrangement Is different and the customers apparently don't mind hearing It twice. 'William White, at the piano, aids ably. Medley and Dupree, occupying the No. 3 position, carry , the show's major portion of comedy and have easy sallln'r with a lively melange of noisy knockabout clowning, dancing and singing. - There's plenty of effective clowning, with a funny stooge abetting the assault on fisl- bilities. The a,ct is kept clean throughout, but finds no difficulty in garnering laughs. Miss Dupree slngB and dances. Her principal task, how6ver, Is to foil for her male partner. Bosworth provides a naihe that undoubtedly means something to the box office, as indicated by the applause that, greeted his entrance. He also brings a pleasing person- ality. But his lecture on the de- velopment * of the movies, with slides, >is hardly adapted to vaude ville and Is not strong entertain- ment. Thfe recital of the history of films from their iinodest beginning is presented iii an intimate, conver- sational manner' and is tinged with humor, but the slides do not hold a great deal of Interest for the aver age lay auditor. But Bosworth Is loved by film fans, and his modiestyl striking annearance and st ory o f his winning battle against tubercuiosis command the audience's respectful attention. In the Important next to-closing spot, however, the act weakens the bill. Ralph Cooper is. a lively dancing conductor whose 12-piece colored orchestra rates as a highly compe- tent organization of Its kind. After the slowness of the preceding act, the hot music and fast stepping go over all the bigger. The speed of the routine in Itself Is Infectious and the jazz Is sure-fire. Nearly all members of the orchestra solo acceptably during the various num bers. Whoever Is responsible for the arrangements deserves credit. A trio of male dancers, Sam, Sam and Sam, are swift steppers. Bessie Dudley, a shapely colored girl, con- tributes some mean wiggling. Com- edy and lighting effects merit men- tion. 'The Blondie Captive* (Col.), a comedy and Pathe News on the screen. A crowded house at this supper show. Rees. CAPITOL, 'FRISCO San Francisco, Aug. 24. Capitol's career has been a. check ered one with legit, burlesque and straight pictures at 20 cents among other policies. Current are six acts of vaude with two pictures sit two bits and Bert Levey's booking office is doing nearly as muph perspiring getting okay acts as Capitol man. agement Is doing to snag okay busi ness. Intake lias been building slowly since Levey started shoot ing talr^nt In hire, but hasn't hit satisfactoiT returns yet. It's a split week, changing on Wednesday and Sunday, with ap proximately $600 the budget for €n tire week. Six acts at $300 means plenty small change for some, espe- cially when one of the current turns has six girls. John Goldsmith ope rates, Morey Amsterdam In as m. c, holding over since policy started three weeks ago. Does a satisfac- tory job a,nd in. addition contributes his own turn of gagging, 'cellolng and singing: Bill shoved off with Edna Bar- don], youthful accordionist, who gave 'em ihree numbers, fairish. Cox and Dalton, deucing with chat- ter and hpoling got over, well with the p^dal work. Trask and LeRoy; boy and girl, were in third with a melange of singing, dancing and sax and guitar playing. Okay when on- the hoof but a second music num- ber was unnecessary. Johnson and Davis, colored male team, also were good enough steppers but rambled through an unfunny line of gab that doesn't heed scissoring but needs abandoning. Capitol Coeds, six girls, closed the. frolic with several routines of sterfiping with one miss soloing and another chanting a pop tune. All. okay. Five piece un'.on band in pit. Vaurto i.<; hi-jncing into house many femme.s kept away by previ- ous burlesque policy. Smoking ali over. In addition to six acts of vaud€ and orchestra overture, screen had two features 'Guilty Generation,' (Col) and 'Sunset Trail' (Tiff) with a pair of short subjects. Bock. ORPHEUM, DENVER Denver, Aug. 24. ^tage show opened by the Harris Twins, twin act and novelty dance, pair working so nearly in unison one wonders if one Is seeing double. Loretta. on for solo control number and then into classy adagio number for all three.. All are easy to look at and nattily dressed. Finish is a three-high novelty and a capital finale. Cole. Brothers, ban joists, play a bit and then depend on only fair crossfire. Denver audiences laughed longest and loudest at the oldest gags. Princess Wahletka convincing In 'mindreading' test, Assistant goes through audience picking out those with questions. Question whispered to stooge, then princess tells both question and answer. Chas. Hill and Miss Laura. Hoff- man use the absent partner open- ing and go into chatter, Laura es- saying to sing, but efforts end in more comedy. When she is finally given a chance, she sings 'Trees' for good audience response. Harry Huffman, manager of the RKO-HufEmah pool in Denver, makes nice introduction for: Jack Dempsey. Jack Dempsey headlines. Many of .the big-nanie acts try too much, and fail to make it, but Jack's act is simple. Jack and pal, on way to races; drive Into filling station, kept by sports editor of the Leinon Grove 'Gazette,' an ancient citizen. After ragchewing in which gas man tells about knowing Jack and be- lieving he could lick him, Dempsey comes from behind the newspaper he is reading, gets a big hand, and sports editor, also gas man, begs for interview. There is the usual Inter- view chatter—and . that's the act- called 'The Roadside Razz.' Clips from some of Jack's fights precede the act. 'Baoltstreet' on the screen saves a weak layout. DOWNTOWN, L. A. —" Lo3-ATigeles,-Aug.-25. Current bill is a good job of book- ing by Bert Leviey. Budget runs, slightly over $800. Opening is Ross Girls, six-femme dancing act. Looks as if It came but of a daiice school, but. pleases In this spot With the girls doing tap, niiHtary toe and Russian routines. Costumes are fresh and girls wholesome looking. Billbrew !Pour, colored quartet who have worked radio around here for several years, deuced. Singing Is elementary harmony, but voices are good., Shaw and Farley next. Team Is a man and a six-year-old girl. Seen around here in several other houses, act has improved with the chatter eliminated. Younger carriies the turn with her 'tap and acrobatic dancing. . Sybilia Bowan, an ace mimic new here, was next. Her comedy possi- bilities for pictures are good. Some- thing new In the Impersonation line is her Dietrlch-Garbo argument over who's picture should run first in a double billing house. Garbo wins. Six Candreva Brothers next are still tooting the same numbers on their trumpets and trotting out the same tap routine as they did a year ago. Boyce Coomb, next-to-shut, still packs plenty of punch and as ever closes strong with /Kissing Cup.' Large and Morgner, acrobats, both one-legged, close. Monopedic acro- bats stop the show with ace hand- to-hand balancing. - Doctor X' on its third run, the main screen attraction with "Vita- phone short and Universal news clips illling in; Business fair at the first evening performance Thurs- day, Call, MICHIGAN (Continued from Page 35) two numbers In a nicei youthful manner that will get the flaps. He driew a generous hand. Forbes Is fast getting sl local following. On the stage a newcomer Is Edith Griffith, an Importation from night clubs, but has th6 stuff necessary for theatre success. Her principal lack Is appropriate material. Using her night club stuff here, she offended with one of her lyrics, but not fatally. A looker and young, the girl would be a find for produc- tion. Other talent Is Coles Peterson and Livoff. For some reason trio 'was booked for three weeks. Offering class dancing and pantojniino It Is a bit 'arty' for this house. Fuller Rawson and Dauville offer a pleas- ing comedy Juggling act that gets over. Logical routine for the show would be to switch the middle pro- duction number to. opening tfie show and eliminating the opening routine. Then straight succession of specialties to the production finale as. used here. Would elimi- nate about 15 minutes and .speed up entire .show.' Lee. , , ORIENTAL, CHICAGO Chicago, Aug. 26. Oriental has forgotten about stage celebrities for the past sev- eral weeks and has been presientiiig' regulation shows composed of Fanchon & Marco units, Simplified' or altered in some tnstahces, to- gether with the third choice fea- tures of B&K. McVickers-United Artists get the. first choices, Chi- cago the second rights, and after that the Oriental. Survivors of this sifting Arrangement probably will continue to get a first-run in the otherwise, foiirth-run Roosevelt. There was an indifferent turnout of citizenry to view. Paramount'^ '70,000 , Witnesses' . and 'Happy Daze,' whose best name was Peggy Bernler, once. a favoi:lte under. the Paul Ash regime. Most of the gen- eration that yielded Ash and asso- ciates their loyalty are now grown to adulthood and aren't vaulting; any fences to welcome back for- gotten favorites. Unit provided plenty of laughs, thanks to Stuart and Lash, who work hard and arouse strong ap- proval. There is very little of a production or flash nature, but In houses like the Oriental, long aigo satlatedi this simplicity will not be noticed so long as the entertainment thwarts boredom. . ' . Miss Berriler Is, of course, an ex- perienced and clever soubret and gave a good accounting of herself. Pops ;Whittier,' a colored lad, was hardly strongh enough for' solo prominence and two routines, both long. Eddie Meikel at the pumps had the always-lyrical Orlentalltes lus- tily singing. This remains the one classic event that has survived time and change at the Oriental. There has been ho diminution of the bel- lowing. Land, , PARAMOUNT, PARIS Paris, Aug. 17. It Pays to Advertise,' Rol Cooper Megrue and Walter Hackett's stage play, which Paramount Is showing this week on the screen under the title, . 'Shout It from the House- tops,' Is proving that it really pays to advertise. Despite a terrific heat waVe, a double week-end breaking the 'vacationing record, the slump, and a considerably reduced hut. Paramount Is doing good busi- ness. Reason Is that thd hou^e has always given fair value for money, and also , that it' is one of the few big houses In Paris where re- frigeration Is effective.' Show opens With a mixed newa- reel, followed b^ a- musical over- tux*. Then comes a Paramount short titled 'One Way Street,' and then the stage preisentation. This, titled 'Ladder of Roses,' la done by Francis A. Mangan with 24 girls, a couple of dancers and h singer. Presentation Is put on In such a way that only somebody of the house. can tell that costimies and props have been revived from .stock, so as to permit giving what looks like a very elaborate and suc- cessful show at a cost not exceed- ing the current email appropriation. Then . comes- the feature, 'Crlez-Ie Sur Les, Tolts,' a Paramount Join- viHe production. Maxi, ■ DENVER Denver, Aug. 24. Week marks the ?,000th appear- ance of Fred Schmitt as musical di- rector and violin soloist Week in and 'week out, Schmitt and bis small orchestra produce overtures that are talked about and enjoyed by the house regulars. Schmitt has been at this theatre since soon after the opening. Mayor George Begole presented him with a hand-lettered scroll signed by musicians and mu- sical organizations, and 7,000 ap- pearances In on<9 theatre Is prob- ably a record. Stage show la Introduced by four femmes, who In turn Introduce Monte Blue as m/ c. After a dis- course about a party he attended In Hollywood, where the feature was a circus, states his stage show will be a duplicate of that circus. Curtain goes up on such a scene, with sev- eral of the line Introduced wearing clothes worn by various stats In different pictures. To carry out the circus Idea, the line jumps throus'h a huge hoop and goes through rou- tine changing steps when Blue blows a whistle. Ted Mack, local m. c, is spotted and topped for applaiise. Mack Is using an audience plant. Trapeze number by glrla for the finish. WARFIELD, FRISCO San Francisco, Aug. 25. Keaton and Durante in Metro's 'Speak Easily' sent this initial mat- inee off with a jump, customers, fill- ing seats up to the projection booth and over to the exits. Screen and'^. stag: combo was a nicely matched 60-mlnute frolic and, aa .staged by Peggy O'Neill, packing plenty of wallops. Rube Wolf and house band out and new m.c. is Jess Stafford with the dance and stage orchestra he's had around here for several years. .Stafford'.^ bunch, now augmented to (Continued on page 40).