Variety (Oct 1932)

40 VAXiETr VAiWE M#PSE WEVIEWS Tawday, OetobCT 11, 1932 HIPP, BALTIMORE * Btdtl'more,. Oct. 7. The raude show here Is giving proof of the exceptional flexibility of variety entertainment. So much may be seen from com- parinflT the Blanche Calloway show with the Kate Smith unit the prevU oua week,, and observlner the switch in the type of audience. No other entertainment could be'so mobile and so definite In tta reaction at the front gate. lAst week tna bouse was the Mecca, fqr the family chrcle. Kate- Smith was their show. It was elenn, sentimental and sweet almost to a syrupy extent. This week the house demonstrates that there's an- other type of audience, and that thete's a show directly aimed at them. And that they'll come. Hero was ah audience composed almost entirely of nien, and at the .flrgt show, too. It was an audience came for the hotter; louder kind of variety. And the fact that this house can ; cater to and puU both classes and types in alternate and consecutive weeks is worthy of a couple of bows both for the theatre and for vaude. It mleht have been just a luclty accident, but somebody must'^t credit for putting: alongside of the Calloway act a trio of turns. that . bleiided in perfectly, both from the performance standpoint and the type of material. There's iio deny- ing: that Miss Calloway's turn is brlnerlng In a rougher clicntelo> and somebody's shrewdness preceded this act with turns that were up the alley for a brash and noisy audi- ence.-..- ALEC B. FRANCIS .Talk 9 Mins.; One (Orapas) State-Lake, Chicago Alec B. I'Vancis, the white-haired character actor, got a reception on the second show Saturday that woiiM surprise most trade observers and that many a Hollywoodite of supiJO&edly greater sex appeal might wi-'II envy. So cordial was this out- bu'.s; that it gave credence to Francis' claims for consideration as a 'name.' • Jumping to the StaterXAke after only a preliminary dog date in fjong Beach; Cal., Francis followed the same booking sequence as Jose- ' phlne Dunn-Gene Morgan last week. At the same time, to Indicate how ' prevalent Hollywood names are In the varieties, there*s Ben Turpln, Walter Hlers and Snub Pollard, also in Chicago this week. Francis Is an attractive . flgur,e. He handles ■ himself gracefully, re- members to talk loud at least 80% of the time, but he arrived at the State-Lake in a bad state of un- preparation. He has no act. After that welcome he treats his fans to. a dry discourse on pictures that is unflavored/by personalities and un— punched by gags. He needs ma- terial, and in a hurry. An old style 1926 'personal appearance' just won't do. - Francis might sneak, by with five or six good giggles in a bunch of talk, but he hasn't even. that. He ma^' be partly innocent as his own desire to do a sketch was reputedly spiked by his agents, who, however, grave him nothing better,- Land. • , CWY ROBERTSON . Tenor 14 Mint.: Ono (Drapes) Palace, Chicago .Although Robertson . has played one picture house date this is the first, time he's appeared In vaude- vllle. 'And any uncertainties 'on bis part or anybody else's, as to ' his adaptability for the varieties was - wiped away by his effortleisB click. Robertson chose to work at the I>alace. as he did In a St. Louis picture auditorium, from the or- chestra pit. He presents himself on the stage, says a few words, then moves down and stays there un- til finished. Returning -to the stage for his final bows and a few re- marlcs. Robertson exits. There is ho reason why Robert- son should not work this way. : It has the advantage of being unusuaL It's vaudeville license. On the pth- ei: hand it's no more necessary than the microphone he uses and if either the position or the sound box Is inappropriate In any house they can be easily dispensed with. Always personable, Robertson kept his professional dignity with- out inflicting it On anybody. In other words he can wear a cutaway without prejudicing the balcony. A little persiflage, gracefully in- teriSoIated, divides '. Robertson's brace of numbers. His most ex- tended song is 'Home on the Range,' cowboy ditty. Robertson alluded to his being froni Colorado and ranch life. His fine tenor voice, as always. Induces waves, of endorsement.. This combined with poise and classy sartarial setup makes him a cinch de luxe single. Land. DOROTHY JORDAN (4) Talk, Dance, Film Capitol, N. Y. Metro contract player, making a personal app at the Capitol, is her- alded by film 6Ups of her MGM performances, with the ingenue's voice dubl>ed on a. sound-track, pre-' sumably. spieling light commentary' on the osculatory buslneds as the various male leads-T-Novarro, Mont- gomery, Gable; et al.-—go into a clinch with her. One of the clii^s Includes a still of a Chester Hale grroup to recall that Miss Jordan was one of. the Cap's ensemble steppers four years ago, before go- ing into pix. I The last of the clips la an en- semble number from one of Miss Jordan's earlier mMsical pictures, and this arises into a stage group, ,as she's flanked by four yonng men in tails and wearing dominoes. That's part of the atmosphere for 'Masquerade,' the - male foursome and Miss Jordan doing aii ensemble waltz, each pf the boys cutting-in on the other for. solo snatches with her. There's also a spiel by Benny Rubin, who m. c.'s the current Cap show, that, not every picture i^layer can be so at 'ease oh the rostrum, in person, and that gets audible audience approval, which is the best answer to Miss Jordan's stage im- pression. . The screen ingenue, is one of the 'sweet' personalities among the younger crop of femme leads, and there's no disputing her sympathetic eye-appeal. : She's a satisfactory enough name for an extra added attraction, as at the Cap, and while no wow, iior yet of strong b. o. calibre for-vital pulling power, she does right well by herself and won't hurt her chances any. Her quartet of male aides ;ln the ballroom stuff are anonymous. AJ>el. BAVARIAN PEASANTS BAND (IS) Novelty Band 20fAinB.;rull . Orpheum, N. Y. ^ Billed as from radio, unit looks like any one of those German bands that used to function in the Ger- man restaurants- along East 86th street and that gained some noto- riety by openly disprading regular beer until the drys blanketed them all. Wear German peasant costume that looks like Boy Scout uniform gone color crazy, play the umph-ha style of music characteristic of the all-brass (save a clarinet or two) technique, two women do gawky dancing and a hard working comic cavorts (Sepp'l Burger).- These and a dolled up tenor who yodels wake up the personnel. Conductor is Karl Weiss. This . German-born . .TorkviUe crowd loved 'em. For that' house it's a good local feature, but It isn't general vaudeville'at all, . Rush. ANN PR1CHARD (3) Dances 13 Mins.; One, Two and Full Orpheum, N. Y. Opens with a song and dance number against a special drop in 'one,' which leaves small impres- sion. Flies to black house drapes in two with one of the two men who assist girl opening with a smart but not unusual tap number. She comes on and sings, going into a legmania and control which has class, but is wasted on the ..family trade. Other male dancer follows with a second edition of taps. Finale is full stage with an ab- surd bit of dialog and then Miss Prichard mops with a ballet dance that even those who cannot judge realize must be good. All the act is right in that spot, for Miss Prichard does a.ballet routine that will stand comparison very nicely with any- thing in a similar line. If she could reframe the specialty to do two ballet numbers, cut but the song and the oftcning and smarten the work of her support, she would have big time stuff. Big time as it is, but handicapped by the trimmings. Chic. MODEL BAKERS (2) Clay Modeling 3 Mins. in Two Orpheum, N. Y. I^ew only in the senise that it is not recorded. Small drop used sug-^ gests they have been at it for some time and evidently in the smaller houses since the drop has to be sup- plemented by a house drape, hardly covering half the area required. Backing is a bake shop with a couple" of flour barrels to complete the local color. V Two modeling stands and the t\^^o men work at the same time, the elder going for comeidy while the younger does Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth and Washington.* The old man is most of, the act, working quickly and getting his effects in a deft fashion with ftags that have been around since the first clay modeller. For the familv trade it makes a capital opener because of the laughs it packs and the sure fire ef- fect of the clay cartoons. Chic. PALACE, PEORIA Peoria, xil, Oct. %■ Whenever a major picture theatre in the middle west chooses to go vaudfllm on the scale Implied by five acts each iialt lira news. Right now the usual seasonal prayers for a vaudeville revival have a slightly improved i^hance for an answer. There is need -for stimulants, for sometliing to sell on top of the pic- ture, that added value to appeal in iiard times ioi the instinct for get- ting a lot .at moderate cost. Peoria Is the second largest city in minola. That means 106,000, with another 60,000 added for the popu- lace within Chevrolet distance. Peoria Is also ,far enough froita Chi- cago, 160 miles, to be independent ■of any. influence such as is evident in towtis like Joliet. That gives Peoria a -self rsufflclency that is the- atrically helpful. On top of which one pleasant and exceptional local lioast is: Peoria has not had a sin- gle bank failure. Several natives of Peoria queried CHARLES AQNEW ORCH. (18) Musicals 32 Mins.;-Ftill (Cyelorama) Palace, Chicago Charles Agnew's is primarily a Chicago dance band. He followed Paul Whlteman at the Bdgewater Beach hotel and just finished ^ lengthy .. engagement there., Cur- rently he's, at the Hotel Morrison, close enough to double into the Pal- ace.- As an entertaining band it needs a little more , seasoning. Btit the things that need fixing are minor. In the es{wintlals Agnew . bas a dandy aggregation which, with com- paratively little i>ollshing, could offer itself for regular bookings. At the Palace there was a stage wait before the act got'going and several small mlscues along the path, yet these did not prevent a: solid hit. . Agnew's bunch as It stood the flrst show was better, than the average run of vaudeville bands that come through. Busty Rhoadea, drummer, has au- thentic data on the proper sales- manship of a song. He has uggh In his work, knows what he's doing, and slaps each syllable with round- ed clearness against the rear parti- tion. Ijess piinchy, more syrrupy, is the tenor <A Clarence Jacobs. To- gether they are the nucleus of the glee club activities. Various novelties of a .musical nature were given a change of pace by two girl specialists. ' First, Dor- othy Vaughan (name may be wrong) contributed a clever bur- lesque on a vampy miss of the gay 90's. Her costumie Is swell and her poise unlnipalred by the rather weak and recently popular song that is the vehicle for her ladylike clown- ing. Given a "better number this would be a, classic. As it was, she blazed through easily. Fast and'snappy was Prltzie, tap dancer, and one of the best in the ladies' field. Audience could have stood an encore and Agnew wanted to give It, but she was unequal to the emergency, and was a little less than willing. Or . so it seemed in a rather unintelligible speech she made begging off . because there were four shows to do. It was the wrong spirit for an opening per- formance. . Agnew personally pounded the xylophone at the getaway, and in general speaks up and out in his announcements. A little nervous- ness crimped a couple of his speeches, but not importantly. Land. KAM PAI TRIO Contortionists 8 Mins.; Three (Special) Academy, N. Y. Loolcs like theise three are a break off of some bigger Oriental outfit. Act includes one adult male and two youngsters, boy and girl. The kids do all the contortionist stuff and most of the fancy platter Juggling on bamboo poles, while the adult male merely stands In. Back drapes and hangings are black with Oriental embroidery ef- fects sewed on. Xighting nothing to brag and not particularly atmos- pheric, which is where the act needs some coaching. The kids do bcu:k bends and twine arms and legs around in any shape and style, offering nothing new but working expertly. Too slow, in the first place, and offers a slow open- ing act for the lesser spots. Fair reaction here on five-act bill. ' Shan. JACK SILVER AND CO. (3) Acrobatics, Dancing. 7 Mins.: Full Gi O. H, N. Y. Two men and a Blri. who are adept dancers, while the two men are good at hand-to-hand stuff on their own. Opens with tho trio in a neat tap number, the men go into their routine, girl comes back and the trio works agralii nicely. . Trio is using full stage here, which gives them too much st'age space and serves to limit their ac- tion. Two-thirds stage, at most is plenty, while a drop wouldn't hurt. They're okay either enders, but ought to work , a bit more on their .staging, only depai-tment they fall down in. Kauf. by 'Yariety^s* reviewer were voaiil- mous in declaring'that thetofm liad been neglected and kept os a skimpy diet theatrically. ' One ex- pressed it; 'We've been neglected so Jong we're out of the theatre Habit.' This playing down has meant the freieseout of everythlntf . except straight pictures, rations that most of the smaller cities grumble a good deal about, although: apparently never enough' to disturb the coi^- posure of Great States, the circuit that did such a thorough jpb of freezing through Illinois and In- diana. Peoria does not think of itself as a bad show town. Natives remark that a stock company of some time back did good business, that thto WliS Barn - Dance mopped' up re- cently, that Peoria will spend when thei attraction is there; and that they fork np ^2 to beior a single opera singer in recital, which Joliet. Au- rora, Slgln,Rockford, et cetera, will not do; They didn't laugh very heartily, at the. Palace vaudeville, but, then, there wasn't much to laugh at. The first bill, was poor. Possibly the' town is i^sty, unaccustomed to flesh, and performers might class it as 'tough.' That Is Ihsufnciehtly supported by evidence. They cer- tainly did fancy Frank liibuae. Palace, Peoria's newest house, represents the later epoch In thea- tre building. It came after the royal: sumptuousness of the Rialto, Joliet, and other gingerbread dreams. It was built with an economy of .deco- ration, a measured use of anything more costly than stucco. It's su- preme* embellishment is a fancy chandelier, which when illuminated with small purple bulbs hidden in the heart of the cut glass, gives a certain flashlness otherwise lack-, ing. One of the smaller overhead lights in the balcony was hung with glass tassels which kept tinkling to- gether'in a faint breeze. Thls'dis'- traction was most annoying during the feature, Warners 'Big City Blues,' ~ . A peppy and capable pit orchestra of eight gra.ve the acts dependable support. Theatre is oblong and,, in consequence, proscenium measure- ments are narrow. It seems like an easy enough ho.use from the per- former's standpoint, although in the balcony Sibylla Bowan could scarcely be beard. That Is more likely her fault, liowever, than the auditorium's. . Coniedy weakness doomed the in- augural bill to meagre response. Monroe Bros, got pretty good laughs opening, but Sibylla Bowan was a letdown, obtaining only scattered giggles. After so lukewarm a single it was deadly to follow with Made- line Patrice, a straight soprano. Miss Patrice has a quivering voice of the type which can slam over one good number, but is a wear-downer as a complete act.. Her gestures and movements are stilted in style. She did poorly. • There was further sameness when Llbuse and his formally garbed femme stooge looked like more music at the start. Later the bill was closed with Roy and Romero, and again the style of feminine at- tire was. the same—satin' evening gowns. It was a bill heavy on femi- ninity, but not sufficiently assorted. Audience sprang to life with Libuse, but the concluding act was too weak to cap the program with any mem- orable punch. Lots of passable spe- cialties but no sock in the Poy ond Romero flash. Land. PALACE, CHICAGO Chicago, Oct. 8. Guy , Robertson and Charles Agnew's orchestra, both locally popular, give the name strength to an exceptionally well balanced and smooth playing vaude line-up. Rob- ertson and Agnew are playing their first dates in vaudeville and are reviewed under New Acts. Astonishing to find White and Manning opening a show, but as booked it was the only spot for them. Their success was not less notable for the move. White and Manning and again Billy House, who was fourth, are reckbnable names for vaudeville and anybody, familiar, with vaude would know them. Actually the only un- known quantity was Forsythe, Sea- men and Farrell, deucing. This is of odd rnembershlp, a male slngei*; an oversize kibbltzlng singer of Kate Smith girth, and a girl dancer. Together they make good vaude- ville. Man has a splendid voice of baritone-bass register. Heftlg ma:ma is full of sparkle and whams across a number in a manner that predicts expanding reputation in time to come. Girl dancer handles some goof comedy well and fiashes through in the end with de luxe pirouettes. She wears white. Black would be better for her colorings. Her costume is not attractive, espe- cially with the sloppy sash on the hip. Billy House was remembered and welcomed like a victorious football team. House Was always in clover here. He's still cheating on his missus but somehow the familiar set-up always seem fresh, maybe because House changes the scenery and the cast. Unlversal's 'All American' on . the screen. Land. The opening act was okay, though largely by-the-way. DcWolf, Mad- cap (it used to be Medcalfe) and Ford. It's two-glrl and one-man dancing organlzatioin that's dressed well, while the big punches are the contortion bits of the man and the challenge interlude at the close. The fact that both the girls are lookers, and onei in particular goes in ,for opera hose for her pony tap, made it OK No. 1 for the male mob in here. In the next turn were Brooks and Murray, who were an ui^iexpected show stopper on some cross-talk and songs. The two girls talk double-entendre for laughs and sing sentimentally, but loudi for ap- plause. It's an act with a touch of crudeness,. but for this audience it was great stuff, The Brooks and Murray turn has a swipe of burlesque fiayor, and the same goes'for Summers and Hunt, third and neixt to closing. That hoopskirt and gay 90's costuming gives these two a surefire opening Into innuendo comedy talk, and covered up a lot of bad-tasting stuff +'iat would have been brutal if (■ -.^. cd straight; But oft-color, indi^'j-edged or whatever, this turn got one of the best sessions ever. The more double meaning the louder , this house whistled. HENRIETTA'S AFFAIRS («) Dancing Flash IB Mins.f One and Full (Special) Academy . Henrietta is -an Ann Pennington type, but dances fresher. Maybe the same Henrietta who started with Gli Bpag's 'Almanac' some three or four years ago and since has teamed with partners in vaude. Here she heads a unit of six tal- ented dancers in a fairly fast mov- ing piece that offers a fit finale 'or middle number for outlying house programs. One particular piece of graceful- ness! and charm Is the back bending and slow acrobatic dancing of Gloria Lee, brunet with a figure and face. The girl does two numbers, isecond a high kick, but her charm and personality besides her grace- ful dancing go over big. Looks worth production consideration. So does Henrietta, who does a stomp number for a specialty and other- Wise announces the numbers. Cute trick affd knows her dancing. A striking piece and maybe new is the phosphorescent adagio numl)er by two girls and a man, a reversal of the usual adagio turn which may have two men and a girl. "They Jump and dance and are swung to- gether or single by the boy in the middle against opaque backgrounds and multi-colored patched cloth cos- tumes. Opening bit Is a rehearsal scene that's only fair but from that point the specialities by the sextet bring the act Put. Second man of the group does a Russian knee bend while playing a hand organ for a slight comic angle. Otherwise the act's devoid of laugh.s. Closed a five-art bill here to good apnlause. Shan. And then there, was Blanche Cal- loway, with a close-cut dress to emphasize the wiggling, the Harlem rhumiba, the torch ditties. . It's a loud act on the colored band order, and good in its class. It's hot and fast. The only trouble here on the first show was its overlength. Ran at least'three numbers too long, so that the audience started walking. i In the turn there's Pegleg Bates tor a surefire dancing novelty, and the Three Brown Buddies, who offer nothing new in the way of colored hoofing. It Is another detail of smart book- ing to find that the picture is 'Hell's Highway' (Radio), Richard Dix f flicker dealing with the horrors of ^ a road chain gang. Besides the feature the screen j had Pathe news clips and a Clark ] and McCuIlough (radio)' short, a Business was good. J ALBEE, BROOKLYN | A case of mistaken booking at the 1: Albee this week. Lew Leslie's j 'Rhapsody in Black," a tab curtail- fc ment of a legit musical with en- ■■[ tlrely colored talent, occupies the i stage end. It's not a vaude show, 5 and doesn't fit in a vaude house, I but worse yet, the entire outfit | played at the Paramount, across the , street, only a few months back. Im- f mediate effect was felt at the b.o. Oh opening day, .with the evening performance Saturday night way off. ; It's a good picture house unit, this I: 'Rhapsody in Black,' and has gotten t- nice results In most of the theatres: ; it has ■ played.- But it's too quiet, | too restrained an entertainment for il music hall consumption. 5 Ethel Waters is at the head of the J show aind has things pretty much 7 all her own way. The Berry Bros. i aren't allowed stage time enough to > do much, but in their one dance im- { press nicely, and Pike Davis' Con tl- • { nental Orchestra., dislies out some < sweet rhythms. Cecil Mack's choir | goes through several numbers ef- ! fectively. Some question of taste ^ in their choice of 'Eli Eli' as one of ' the songs, but it probably passes as a, novelty. ij Entire thing shapes up more like | a genteel concert of negro music j' than anything else, and that's i)rob- ably not what vaude house piitions pay to see. '"Vanity Slreoi' (Col) on screen. Kauf. •j