Variety (Oct 1932)

92 VARIETY VAOME IHNIME REVIEWS Tuesday, October 18, 1932 VERNON 'LEFTY' GOMEZ Talk 7 Mins.; One State A freak attraction. Yankee pitcher has nothlner to offer for vaudeville, but at this time on top of the world's series, with Tiahks winning hands down, he figures es a draw. Gomez makes no pretentions to stage ambitions, seeming satisfied to regard himself strictly as a freak attraction booked because of b.o, and letting it go at that. The base- ball tosser does virtually nothing at all except appear in a regulation diamond uniform and pitcher's glove, letting Mills, Kirk and Mills and June Carr, who mix Into his spot, take care of things. Gomez Is one of the shyest of stage novices. The audience must strain to hear what he has to say in answering simple questions by the M-K-M trio or trying to Indulge in light laughs when the slap- around trio feeds. No one asks him his secret of pitching fame, what kind of balls he throws or anything of that sort, . Speaking of the stage, the twirler says , 'oh . the baseball diamond I know my business/ later on remind- ing again'this isn't my racket.' Pitcher is getting $500 on this as- slgrnment. Char. FOUR BARRYMORES Dancing, Contedy 12 Mins.; In On«. Grand O. H. ' No relation to John, Lionel and Ethel, but since there's no copy- right on the moniker one's as good as another for the billing. The four boys have a bang-up hoke.and tap cohglomeration that dovetails nice- ly with the requirements of the ihedlum time levels. ^^Vs rough, Ipwdown In many spots, but funny, and keeps moving along at an attention-holding, pace. All four strike off a nifty buck and wing, but two In particular un- ;liinber during the rdpe-skipplng bit a rhythmic pattern that outshines the rest by far, j Laugh stuff reaches a peak with a burlesque adagio In which one of the boys resorts to a long, red dress and exaggerated chest padding, which becomes misplaced during the roxigh and tumble. What in some houses may have been tagged a cheap comedy device was enough hefe to send ther femme contingent Into a'prolonged spasm of shrieks. Act uncorks a hovel tap twist for the finish. Two o£ the boys start pushing each other uround. That brings on a challenge. A. second appears with a pair of foils'and the combatants clank foil against toil and gradually slip Into a tap. Rest of the foursome soon joih, similarly atmed, and the act goes Into a military precision that quick- ly builds to a rousing sendoff. Odec. WILUAM HALL. (A) Singing 11 Mins.; One Palace William Hall, sustaining artist on CBS, comes. to vaude with a strong voice and a winning person- Ity. Liike most of his brethren from the ether currents, he lacks the showmanship to -which vaude stages are accustomed, but, discounting that, his showing is okay. Hall uses a mike, but his voice sounds big enough to get along without it, wlilch may bring up the question of whether or not a ihike to hold onto may make the lack of song- selling in person less noticeable. Hall Is a tall lad who spots well He opens strong on 'Without a Song,' which can't miss if half way well done, then announces his con- ception of three pop ballads. It's a medley, and followed for finish by 'Round the Bend in the Road,' a,n- other perfecto for baritones. At the Saturday afternoon show Hall backed away from an encore, excusing himself by saying he had to bo on the radio within three hours. Maybe in Philly? Ohar, •DO, RE, Mi (4) (Ann Balthy, Maybelle and Evelyn : Ro8«) ; Harmony Singing 11 Mins.; Two Palace These three personable misses from the radio pick the three low notes of the musical scale as their billing. They don't try too hard to show oil. their vocal range. Tuf h Is typical of harmony trios from the air,: but does not shape as better than average. They walked'on to a mild hand here. Girls try for novelty In their harmony, doing as finale two numr bers, '31st Street Blues' and 'Please, Mr. Hemingway,' first In a muted manner. - No hill-billy attempt at ail. Fol- lowing opener, 'Honey, Smile for Me,' they go into 'I^radlse,' which is led off by the girl who seents to have the best voice. Diction is at all times good, one point strongly in fayor of the Do, Re, Mi threesoihe. Everything through the mike. No. 2 here. Char. ALLEN and EDDlE (2) Comedy, Singingf Dancing 13 Mins.; One Grand O. H. Capable and promising comic on the Eddie end oC the act, but th^ material and the young lad doing the feeding won't help lift him oiit of the minor classification. Partner has the natty appearance and the Ingratiating personality but - the knack for building the gag and reaping the rewards isn't there. Collection of patter bits Is of the tried and true kind, showing wide and liberal borrowing, with lots of It of way back vintage. . One bit in particular derives from an old Eugene and Willie How:ard routine, and Included by them in a television broadcast over W2XAtJ. New Tork, the same week (11). Allen a;nd Eddie give their act a fast and noisy entry. It's a parody medley of college tunes that winds up in a comedy tap. With the' ex- ception of the dance bit that takes them off, the routine is given over to verbal exchange. Laugh returns would be of more solid and pro- longed proportions if the feed would ease up the tension he seems to be under and adopt a better sense of timing. Turn is easily commendable for the deuce spots on the secondary nabe setups. Odeo. everytblngr doing two. numbeni anAt warming up faat. Bee Jackqon, who preoeded. foun^; herself outdone In the shiver ana^ shake speolalty. having sone artlstto restraint, which. It tamed out, was not apprecla,ted. Miss Carter's hit prompted Sissle to settle down for most of the rest of the afternoon, a grave error. His final number should t>e the hot band stanza featuring the clarinetist and his long-sustained note. Instead Sissle brought on the hoofing quar- tet again, and then when curtains seemed the thing to do, Sissle him- self launched Into 'Say a Little Prayer,' going through the entire song. In all this stalled the act about seven minutes beyond what should have been its running time. Slssle's down here after a seaison at the Park Central. "Wliy not put those toe-and-heel throwers into the main orchestra number, which is hotsy-hot itself and wind up there? Do-Re-MI trio (New Acts) is Ann Balthy and Maybelle and Evelyn Ross. They're typical of harmony trios developed by the air, but not aa strong as some, and bowed away mildly here after grab- bing a forced encore. The other ether act trying out vaude, William Hall (New Aots)j has the odds much [greater in his favor. He lacks th^ usual show- manship of radio artists, but in his favor Is a personality and a big baritone. The volcej may not have the feeling women talk about,.•but. it has plenty of force and would probably do okay without a mike. Hall scored good neturns, but de- clined an encore,, and listen to the excuse: Tm sorry, I've got to go on the radio at 7:15.' The precise time when he made thai apology was 4:11 p.m.' and the audience in some quarters started to c|huckle. The Tastyeast Jesters, trio, pre- ceded Hall, also working In one, but without a pianist. They do sub- stantially the same .b^ they've been doing in vaudei for some time and get over satisfactorily. While there may be a little inorei showmanship with this trio, it wouldn't hurt any of the three men to try a little makeup . They look . like they walked out of 'a church choir. Llora Hoffman, who once ' took prlma-donnlng seriously in the pic- ture houses, doubles as a butt for Charlie Hill's comedy in his turn, and does it as well as she tosses big soprano. Toward the end Hill gets back in the darkness at the piano and Miss Hoffman has her big moment singing 'Trees.' But why that jazz time and drums from the pit during a part of it? Biz S.R.O. Saturday afternoon at the second show. Char, SHEILA BARRETT (1) ■ibnpersonations 8 Mins.; One .(Special) Loew's Orpheum, N. Y. Miss Barrett, a pretty brunette with a trim figure is trying Imper- sonations. Deuced here on a four- acter and fared fairly. Not very strong. Here Miss Barrett did better with impressions of comedy stage names. Dramatic types like John Barry- more and Lenore Ulric proved mild. That may be a tip to stick to comic personages like Ed Wynn, Bert Lahr and 2asu Pitts. Best bit was the Pitts number. The Pitts man- nerisms and nervous twitches cop laughs In themselves. Miss Barrett plays under a. spot and is accompanied by musical touches on the piano by^ ah unbilled ale pianist. Shan, PALACE. R Y. It's radio week at the Palace, and but for 'Phantom President' (Par) on the screen it'd be a weak week. For once an opener, the Gaudsmlth Bros., vies with the rest for audi- ence approbation, which may prove that dog acts still belong. The George M. Cohan-Jimmy Durante picture will probably be aided some through house luring ether fans _vJa radio acts, but it'll be mostly the feature that'll get house over its hut currently. Chances seem even for a fairly good profit despite that the vaude show on merit is below the average. Four of the six acts are from radio, three from .CBS, one from WOR. Latter is harmony trio. Do Re-MIv spotted second, while Co lumbta broadcasters are Noble Sissle and orchestra, 'William Hall and Tastyeast Jesters. Announce ment is made that CBS presents a radio show as the Do-Re-Ml trio comes oh. This act is in the CBS fold if only through being booked In here through the CBS Artists' Bureau. Stage Is full of pianos and sing Inp. There not, being enough in that line through the ether draws. RKO has Charlie Hill on the bUl with his piano ahd prima donna assistant. That leaves dancing looking lost until Noble Sissle saves the day with his colored quartet and Bee Jackson at the close. Still there's lots to be de sired. Routining of show, also. Is not for best effect, but with only one fullstage action show (Sissle), it's dubious just how the layout could be switched around ^o make it play right It's the. center of the show that's mostly wrong, ends being as they should be. Do-Re-MI girls are No. 2 with a male pianist; Charlie Hill follows with his piano-nutology and p.d.; Tastyeast Jesters then appear in one around a mike, and fifth comes William Hall, with piano and rnlke. While the Gaudsmiths might have felt far from home No. 2, with the Do-Re-MI trio opening, which could have enabled Hill to appear between the Jesters and Hall, the result probably would have been better, Sissle, with his orchestral warmth and a red-hot songstress In Avadla Carter, Is the hit of the six-act ■melange. Miss Carter is announced as from Phllly and station WCAU over there. She walks away with SHUBERT, NEWARK Newark. Oct. 16. Even tf dublied'opposition tiiis solitary vaudflliik spot seems to have no dlfDculty< securing good acts, and eight of them, too. It has no big names, but otherwise It lis as good a bill as has played the former regular spots here. Opens with Mildred Andree and band, six women, all but the leader In evening dress, making a pretty ensemble before a nice drop. Sev- eral specialties are Introduced with Miss Andree doing stunts in black pajamas. Jay Bee and Alyse Cerf follow in an act notable chlefiy for Miss CerTs varlatlohs of handless cartwheels. Bee does some fast dance steps and a weak imitation of Eddie Cantor. In trey Bert Matthews, with a girl and a man, combine a sketch about the troubles of an engaged pair with some dancing. Nothing sensational but pleasing. Much lengthened since last in Newark, 'Hollywood on Parade,' with ten people, offers the screen doubles as before with different characters. The lead now ia 'Jimniie Durante' who Is really funny and eoncludes with effective yodeling. 'Cagney's' trick dance up and down stairs while skipping rope Is strik- ing. The 'stars' do many special- ties. "When Itwt here Irving Newhoff clicked with a colored boy who was a natural In dancing and who com- pletely stole the act. He still has a colored dancer, but If he Is the same one his routine has been subdued and it's all NewhofE. He went big with this crowd. Six girls and one man constitute Eleanor Eaton and Girls. Has Its own leader In the pit though noth- ing In music to demand It. It's chlefiy a series of dancing special- ties with some songs. Begins and ends with four of the dix in a line which hurts as the girls are not matched and give an amateurish slant to the act which is unde- served. Tod and Al Waldman in black- face are still funny and play har- monicas entertainingly. Closing is the International Maclne Troupe, five men and a woman who tumble and spin. An understander holds four, but featured are several varl atlons of spinning a man from a spring board to a chair held high. The vaude runs over two hours but the big house on the opening night followed intently and I'eeelved every act with enthusiasm. Fol- lowed by 'Exposed' (Elagle) which was marred by poor sound, probably due to house equipment STATE-LAKE, CHI I Chicago, Oct. ML Wont they; or cant they; treat the State-liake a little more klndlrT To Jump prices upward while at the same time reducing the number of acts m ight be considered sufll- clently difi cult. To make the change even more glaring the first week of the new pslicy has the State-Lake going not from seven to five acts, but from siven to four. No amount of hocus-focus can persuade lay- men to regard the Weaver Bros, as two acts. A little more imagination In New York as to the probable mental re- actions of Chlcagoana would help a Ibt This is & different town. They count their acts and their change here. And got a deal less of both thia week. The very least the new policy should have deliv- ered the flrsi; week was a full roster on the vaudeville end. Time will, af course, divulge whether the new style at shows will be echoed in the clink of coin at the till. Meanwhile what la per- haps encouraging is the undoubted recognition by RKO that the State- Lake Is a problem. The house has been atrociously booked In the past two months. Last week, the final seven-act sample, was possibly as bad a vaudeville bill, as. a bill, as Chicago has seen since the Academy went burlesq^ue. ^ it needs to be refuted In sten- torian tones that the State-Lake'is failure during the past three months has been a failure of vaudeville. It has simply been added confirmation that any old kind, of vaudeville, flung across the counter like a sloppy mug of coffee In a lunch- room, Just won't do. And to declare that.-it was the best that could be had on the budget available Is to confess that' RKO can no longer book a good small-time show. But that's post now. The budget has been raised. The policy and the lessons of July to September are historic. As a four-act bill the present one Is a good one.' No quarrel with its quality. It's budgeted around $5,000, with four-fifths going to the Weav- ers. Gary Ford Family opened with a half ton of class. Half ton be- cause the oldest is 16. These four youngsters have been trained by someone who knows how. To that someone in times to come they will owe gratitude, for they have been started on the road to a long and prosperous professional life. Jointly while together, individually if in years to conie they take separate paths. Clean-cut throughout, fast unusual, nattily dressed, the four- some constitutes a natural enter- tainnient for any theatre anywhere. The tot who sings has a style and technique as rare in one of her years as pie a la mode in a bread- line. Carlton and Bellew, more hokey than of yore, but still a class team capable of tainting a composite grin on an audience's physlogomy, deuced brightly. Marshall Mont- gomery a good editor, because he selects old gags that were never kicked around a lot worked up a nice score with his ventriloqulal comedy. An experienced straight woman Is Just aggressive enough to point the dummy's gagrs. Weavers closed. Columbia's 'Night Mayor' on the screen. Biz poor. lAind. DOWNTOWN, L. A. Los Angeles, Oct. It. Two youthful acts and a whale of a singing trio miike this bill worth while. Opening with Ethel and Ward Shattuck, oldtime Juggling act Interlarded with feeble gags, Wllford and Stevenis help to pep things up in deuce spot with fast hoofing, a neat trick for these two oldsters. Paul Jones, fresh from a Fanchon & Marco tour, cllx with his roller skating, unvaried from last year's routine. Boy knows just what they want and gives It Marlon Wilklns and Co., three people dance' a6t tries hard, and pleases, but needs more .playing to get the most out of its. terpslcho- rean turn. Numbers can be short- ened without hurting the act. and Miss Wilklns should change her facial makeup to get a more exotic effect. Orange Grove trio, long-time standard on the coast, cop top honors in a walk with their lusty male chorus type of delivery. Can stand up in any kind of company, as the boys know their pacing and ease off Into novelty encores to get light and shada Into the turn. Again demonstrating that a few weeks' playing time would round out and polish up an act, Talmack and Harris score high with their knockabout acro-hooflng. With more seasoning and improved rou- tining should be a wham act for the lesser time. . Edith Kai'en and Boys, closer and headliner, failed to make the open- ing show, arriving from San Fran- cl.sco too late to go on. A navy propaganda filler vamped till the feature, 'Tiger Shark' (WB), was ready. Vltaphone short, 'Nickel- ette,' provided as much amusement as anything else on the bill. STA5rE, N. Y, Both th* aoreen and stage win draw better than ayerage buslnesi this week. Feature Is %ife Beglnrfi (WB), properly sold by Loew's otf this engagement, while stage com« bines radio and baseball fan lure through Rusa Columbo and 'Vernotf 'Leftjr'Oomes. Latter Is star pitch* er of the New York Yankees, "^thrf type of freak attraction Loew's goes for now and then, - Gtomez (New Acts) Is more of freak act than ihany others in that he has little to offer. ..But he a4)-< mlts it twice reminding the ouA^ ence'this Isn't my racket' Virtually no material at all baa been provided for Qomiez, whose, stage shyness approaches the ultl-< mate among freak turns for vaudOk j He's mixed up In his act with Mills. ^ Kirk and Martin, who do both tha feiedlng and selling of what few laughs there are. Mostly it's rather clumsy, witK Gomez not trusting the roughneck M-K-M trio any too much after the pass one of the boys made at him. Friday night uhexpeetedly. Oomea couldn't take It and, realizing that kept his distance, with his back al- ways to-the waU. The boys finally assured the big league twirler they wouldn't pull any fast ones on htm, but he wasn't even so sure about that. Gomez worked in regulation uni-. form, including the glove on the right mitt He forgot his ball, and no effort was made to have hint tlemonstrate or spill any secreta concerning his ball-tossing prowess. Pitcher was, spotted sixth on a seven-turn lineup in between Mills, Kirk and' Martin's regular routine and the Russ Columbo band. So it anyone feels Gtomez as an aot is a cheat Loew's can still Insist the usual six acts are there anyway. Slap-arouha, roughhouse biz of the M-K-M ^rlo, fifth, still sells, but it's beginning to lose some of th» kick it had when a lot of acta started introducing It There's con-> slderable talent among the three lads In this aot They dance capa,>: bly and also do numbers, plus in- strumental work. Perhaps they'd be smart to tone down the smack- ing stuff and tone up the rest. A surefire comedy act giving Mills, Kirk and Malrtln a run on audi- ence appeal, if not topping the trio, worked the fourth spot This Is Edgar Bergen and his produc-. tioned-up ventrllo act Bergen Is a smarter and probably a clevereir ventriloquist than most. His dummy virtually lives, but it imlt that so much as the laugh material he uses between himself, tfae dummy and the girl. The generally entertaining plat- form portion carries anoAer strong entry la June Carr, whose song-and-dance imrtner, Dan Har- den, takes billing outside only* Miss Carr mixed into the Oomes ajct for a bit further proving sheTs there as a comedienne as muoh as being there on the O'Sullivans. Harden, doubling at piano, features mostly on the singing end, savlnjg his second number to bring out tb0 best he has. . Columbo, who's fast developinff showmanship and pOlse, doses show with his band of I'S pieces. The NB(j' crooner has bis orchestra Bet tastefully, and he himself works with modest restraint The violin comes in toward the close. Besides better stage presence and more showmanship, Columbo Is acquiring' a sense of humor. He announced, one number as Tm Between the Devil and NBC Got across nicely here. Yates and Lawley registered okay second, but hardly were warranted In snatching that encore. Chapelle and Carlton Im .tbelr slick endurance routine opened strong. The four-minute act buiidd to Its finish aa the man rolls hlmseU up the etalrs supporting girl In a very showmanly climax. Business close to capacity Friday night at the 9 o'cloclc showing of the vaude. Chofk EMPIRE, PARIS Paris, Oct. 4. Empire doing big business agalfi, this time with Luclenne Boyer, French cabaret dlseuse, topping the bill and getting a tremendous hand next to closing. Girl has given uP her Clochards cabaret engagement and doubles at the Empire from the Mlchodlere cabaret. She Is a hifi drawing name in Paris, thanks to the recording of her songs, best known being "Parlez-mol d'amoup,' which, of course, she sings from the stage. She exploits popular favor, since her voic^—fit for cabaret—Is scarcely heard in the big house. She is supported by a band of four—one piano and three strings. Other number clicking big is the Three Swifts—jugglers with clubs —who work ti,t a fast tempo. One of the three men acts first of kll as a plant in the audience, then comes on the stage. Other numbers are Jack Shea and his Rltzmore orchestra, remindful of Charlie Abeam who played the Casino de Paris, except that the Or- chestra is all fuli size men Instead of freaks. They close the show to good effect. Other numbers biUed are ths Corby Trio; equilibrists; Miss Har' I (Continued on page 34)