Variety (Nov 1932)

42 VARIETY VAUDE HOUSE REVIEWS Tuesday, November Z9^f 19^2 EARL MINES ORCHESTRA (12) With. Cook and Brown, Billy Fr^nk-: lin, Judith Wilspn and Vivian Brown . - . 30 Mins.; Full (Drapes) ^ Stata-Lake, Chicago This act came to: the State-Lake from the Grand Terrae^ Cafe' on the south side.. Hlnes has been broad- castlrigr! over NBC for three'years while playing^ there. Musically Hlnes Is seml-hotcha, enoiiel» to please the addicts,' not . enough to irritate the enemies of syncopated noise, taut in general quickly classifiable, as one of the best colored.prchesti-a around. ' For this date therie were some mistakes in routining, but that was to. be expected' of any turn steipplng oil a flpor in a dtife to play a pick- qp vaude. . date: .Several ° obvious openings fOr ibettermeht of the ruri- hlhg order were; doubtlessly made by thie second show Saturday and need not be enumerated. State-Lake endorsied the turn in a, big way on basic muslcldnship and presentation plus the versatility angle. Cook and Brown, two. hoofing lads, were- the most typically negroid in their originality and zlpi. Boys helped the band, rise to a tliumping good get- iway.- ■ . f Judith Wilson proved a mild sou- bret,. but Vivian Brown. dligplayed a well-rounded conservatory soprapo dnd Blll}^ Frahkliii tenored pleas- ingly. ■ ■ , .' : >ficely dressed and . turned out with' Hines himself a. forcefut and. clear .announcer,' the b<ihd / reglsr tered a nlce icllck all the^ way, with a few minor >flaw8 due to the con- fusion.of «i first performance. . Time could be clipped to advantage. ... -Land. • EDDIE CONRAD (3) With Charlotte Miles . Comedy,'Singinor Piano 20 Mi.ne>; One and Two ' Orpheum- Eddle Conrad, dialect comedian, needs no introduction. Nor does his wildish; mixed "- French - Yiddish character. In vaude many years do- ing various, acts, he now heads a three-people turn which on- tight- ening where needed will be accept- able' and more, anywhere. Next to closing here and a fair-sized go. Conrad carries Charlotte' Miles and an unbiUgd girl doing a mammy character. He uses, someiof his old gags with moderate result, and goes nuts at.the piano, establishing him- self for laughs! About midway of the act. Miss .'Miles comes on in striking evening dress to sing, with usual interruptions before going legit on any vocal attempt. . Even when she sings straight In a number done with , the ma.mmy end figuring ias a- double, Conrad sticks in some sour notes at the piano.' It's an .obvious attempt for Jaughs along with emphasis on Miss Miles: better than average voice, but the comedy is riilsplaced. That's proved by the hand Miss Miles gets on her vocal try. After the k.<ddlng stanza between Conrad and Miss Miles, latter retir- ing backstage, ■ Conrad Is left half In the air until women go Into their duet. Here's ofie spot whwe some strong gaggery-is required. Kiss- ing-monkey biz bit with Miss Miles ahead could be trimmed down. . > Char.' ■ JOE MELINO and Co. Singing, Dancing, Comedy 15 Mirts.; One Academy, . For some time, doing an act with Doily Davis, Joe Mellho now has an unbilled partner wlib works the comedy end with him besides doub- ling for song and dance nurhbers. Not a strong act, but passable for houses of this gr^de. Forepart of Melino's routine re-, 'minds of Jimmy Savo when .he had ^MISS AM|ERICA GIRLS' : Flaeh '- ■. I>i23 Mine.; Full (Special) Academy The first trouble with this , flash Is that It's too ambitious. In trying to entertain. It tires out Its ''audl- , . ence by overfeeding It. Boiled down, ■ -r. i.... -ui „.i. nj,*^ the. entertainment value contained J®*" Fjranza with him, with Miss m the act should set its running Franza showing him how to sing for time at a maximum 6t 15 mlnutel^ pantomlm6 toughs. Mellno, Is: a PtosHy and produced with fair taste, *yP® "°S ""V'^® u*^?' ^ut he. has qualifies for the ;^elghborhooders. If annoying laugh. Appearing first cut down properly h"^ misfits, later on MelmO'drags out There may be a 'Miss America' or '^'""I'M^ ceUuloId front two In the act; biit no one would » Know about It aiid nothing's said.' ^""^ «**"ce specialty while Me Line of girls. Is paraded around In some flashy toggery for beauty or fashion display toiich. At the point whiere they're birpught on and top their little i>a- rade with toe work, with one of the lino Is n-aking the :Change falls to arouaa much enthusiasm,, but as a dancer she's far better than aa a singer. Toward the flplsh Melino pulls a pretty .sour gag, finally going Into a girls featured In-a gorgebus-looklng h""«^"*"f' barrel-rolling, bit with his costume, It looks the flnale has ar- P^i'*"!'" getaway. _ . . rived. Instead the mixed dance team , J^*lXfii*^v. comes on again in 'one/ a sister team doubles ffom the line, the m. c: f""" sings an opera fav. with a nance !»* needs mostly is stronger support flnloh for laughs and the buildup for V^^i * few sock gags, A flnale comes around all over agaln. Fourth here on a geven-acter and • This time the wlndup Is slower over only fairly Saturday afternoon atlll. The girls, do a routine them-' selves, another with the mixed com- bination, when by now on one should be sticking around for more than seconds. The mixfed team at the Saturday I Academy show caught went over for a strong « * » , ^ w ,.. ^ hand; strpriger than meriting. In Before Ann Lester appears behind their ecCientrlc doubles, I her mike, the public address system Among the^ gags in an effort to down here conveys the partial bulld-i The s^me public address system nearly wrecked Miss Lester later when it developed static, as it fre quently seems to do down here, but discounting that, here's a single ANN LESTER Singing 11 Mins.; One MURRAY. MARTINI and CLIFFORD Comedy, $inaino, Dancing 14 Mins.; One Academy Murray, Martini and Clifford are trying to be another Clayton, Jack- son and Durante. With further:ex- perience and stronger material may compare more favorably with the C. J. & D. trio than now. Pending strengthening, okay for the No. 2 spots In houses of this type. One of the three lads goes Durante nearly all the way, the others build- ing him up. With'the Murray, Mar- tini and Clifford act, center of at- 'traction. works 'with ia Hsp and a whistling effect in his singing and talk. The 'hat-hitting businiess, «a with C, J. & D.,"la very much in evi- dence and aids In.building up that rowdy, cutup atmosphere. Majority oiC thia material Is spe- cial,: with a number around. current advertising ballyhoo the best. This song Is also the ..closest approach to C. J.. & D. In both punch and selling. Some of the talk Is pi-etty bad, as for instance 'an - Instrument - you play with your, feet—a shoehorn.' With his two friends backing for violln-guitar accompaniment . the Durante of the-trio does a number solo, topped by a soft shoe dance for the close.' The hoofing Isn't so forte, but act Friday night got across very well down here. Was spotted second. . . Char, STARNES and KOVER (4) Adagio 6 Mina.; Three Capitol, N. 'Y. This adagio foursome, only billed as. Sfarhes .and .Kover, is a novelty in that type of act. In a revue It would, be a class cll6k and, as it Is, !wlll probably establlah.a ne^ vogue in .thattype pf terpslphore. . Threie .pf. the. foursome open In pitch-black stage, as they stand out ;under luminous, paint camouflage. That In Itself is.a novelty colorful effect The 'fourth' member of the act, attired in black from head to ^pot, is. camouflaged by the black stage, which makes' the Illusion more startling as the g|rl Is thrown seemingly beyond the reach of both of her visible partners, and is dp- parently .suspended in mid-air, as she is caught by the unseen fourth member of the act. The'effect isn'.t lessened wben this same Invisible aid slowly manip- ulates her, as she Is .being propelled from Qne to the other male partner. Act opened th,e'.Capitol presenta-^ tlon and 'was an effective Interlude. Attel. LOTTIE ATHERTON and KAY Dancers . 10 Mine.; One and Full G. O. H., Ni Y. Openlnig. the show here, Which doesn't help them any. Travelers part to disclode them standing arm- in arm, one In net opera hose'and black bodice, th6 other in tails. Go through their first dance (in one) still arni in arm' for -a light but formlesi^ soft shoe routine and male Impersonator back to do a drtink dance that's Just a waste of time. Other back, and-to fnil stage for stair, dance that's not the usual heavy soled taps; In spite of her weight the woman . Is very light on her feet and does a graceful num ber. To one again for an aero dance by the blonde member which partly redeems the souse period Some good stuff and an attractive costume. Full stage at finish for an upside dPwn dahce by the brunette with the other on to do a sort of challenge^ the headstander repeating ■ the other's stage steps. Act has the makings but not the showmanship and it will take a'lot of .rearranging to get anywhere. Chic. FOUR STEP BROS Dancing 11 Minis.; Two Orpheum ' Colored quartet In a fast routine that's every bit.a,find of buck, rhythm and soft shoe ^'^s Lester does blues and bal- dahclng. Of nice, cle^ncut appear- l^ds equally well.. . On this engage- ance and presenting ■ th^lr act ef- ment she c.hose three numbers,, with fectlvely, boys rate the best time P'^es on either end and a ballad'Say now existing. Should fit Into needs [It Isn't So,' in her version, in the for picture house units nicely. middle. Men, youths and . of about equal Making a nice appearance, the build, wear, white fiannels and green singer has a voice and selling ability ji'ckets. On opening they launch to back it up for vaude today. Spot- into a soft shoe, following it up ter fifth down here and over fairly with a rhythm'buck. From latter, 1 well. Char. dancers drift Into a challenge, here individually displaying tricky, rapid, buck and wing work. SIX OLANS For a finish, one of the boys an- Acrobats nounces a conception of what they 6 Mins.; Full call a new dance craze, 'Hlttln' the I Q. O. H, N. Y. Bottle.' They go Into character for this and launch Into song. "Vocal •^ability Is pretty low and diction bad, but dancing offsets it for . a favorable getaway, Five men and a . husky girl in an acrobatic routine with about six teeter board tricks including two , doubles to a chair (one is announced Opened here Tuesday night and Us a triple), and a nice single to did well. Char. 1 two-high. One three-high is built with the girl as middleman and ^ ' she frequently acts as understander, Ground tumbling in the same class smooth and rapid, 'I Men wear yellow Jersey sweaters with blacic troupers and ties and Girl D'AMDRE & DONALDSON Dancing 0 mine. Hippodrome, N. Y. . Dancing act that looks more like I present a neat appearance a floor show turn than a stage of- looks bunchy In fiounced .shorl; fierlhg. Not seen to best advantage skirts. She would look better in here, as they dp a tango solo and the same jersey but with shorts then later an acrobatic ballroom Should make some, change for more diance against the line of girls for a Important dates. Finishing here Ifnish to the show. and over to an unusual final , hand. Nothing but of the ordinary in Its Cle&n cut and attractive work that present shape and strictly small is not seen at Its best down here, time. • Chic. ' .Chic. SMITH and HART Talk and Songe 12 Mine.: One G. O.^ H., N. Y. Back in '96 this team carried an othef man arid a lunch wagon set. Three years later they had dropped the man and made It a cigar count- er/'Now they take any set the house offers'. They are still using the same music, but they keep the talk freshened. . The girl works in a demure cos tume that gives point to her slight' ly . risque jokes. Gets over very smoothly and solid with the audi ence. Man contents himself , with feeding while the girl collects from this easy crowd. Little dancing, and that the weak spot. On fourth here, and holding it. Worked to a second encore bit. Chic. SMITH and FAUN Comedy and Singing 15 Mine.: One G. O. H., N. Y. Gets off to a good start with threat to do a double violin num ber, but that's Just for a comedy bit, with the jgrlrl using a break away fiddle. She goes into what she says is an imitation of Flfi D'Orsay, but It's merely one of the latter's songs. Fairly well done, but not an Impersonation. Man kids With some piano bits, rather heavy handed, like most his comedy, and the girl back do a spuse :>ong and some chatter. Mostly talk. Gets by with it here Good[ enough deucer for the family . trftd{B^,bV(^ about its Utnlt' Q'^^*. LOEWS STATE When the State toanagemeni ap- parently is Instruct^'d.to feign astig- matism to avoid recognizing official company passes, It's the tlpolf^ that the b.o. Is clicking' above average. With or without the Palace running vaude, the State would have done good biz this week on its current program, 'Red Dust' (M-O) and a slx-acter headed by Irene Rich. . However, anybody with' Pne- eye half open can grasi> that the elimi- nation of vaude from the Palace has benefited the State. -The latter doesn't have to shout that fatt—it, goes ■without' saying^ Any house that's, established as long .as the. State, as a combo-spot doesn't have; to brag a,bout being the only vaude stand oh Broadway.' ; - v The vaude at the State takes care of Itself the same, as good vaude al- ways sells itiself. Loew hlgherups- know this,- so the picture, gets 99% of the lobby display and plugging,' and rightfully so. ^: They've even dragged the red car- pet down from the Capitol to lay it in front of the State, where custoni-. ers; besides looking, up at the red lobby placards and -panel- displays bulging with the Hdrlow-Gable s. a. angle, can walk oh it.' There Is no doubt that a multi- tude of customers came to .see and hear Irene Rich as well as the pic- tures. Actress is' charming and presents a.loVable personality on the stage. The. [sincere welcome Miss Rich gets on her entrance as well as at the close! of her skit, 'Ask Your Wife,' is sufficient testimony of her b.o. worth, ' " There was a bit of rainfall Friday (change .day) night con. Broadway, when the show was caught. That rain dtdii't hurt bi? for the State with its ' 65rc6nt top,' but rather helped the b.o. Customers who mi^ht rash' for shelter would nat- urally, hie into tiie State with Its low top and largest* b.o. value on the street. Miss Rich was fourth, on. Bob Ripa opened. His clever use of the ball and stick tricks was a' good start for the stage entertainment. Working alone against a 'two' stage setup, this youth plied through eight minutes of fancy ' Juggling that brought repeated applause. There are others in vaude who ply the ball an$ stick tricks, but It is doubtful If this gangling youth has a su- perior. He made it easy for Calvert, Irving and HIrd to step on in deuce with their planologlng and cdmedy singing, but they couldn^t take ad- vantage of the assistance rendered. Trio: fared mildly.'. Also preceding Miss Rich was Carl Shaw, assisted by Frank Gallagher and Bernlce O'Neal in a laugh act that gets its high point from Shaw's terrific dance numbers. Still doing that cooch dance number with a dummy, but it's, pie for the audi ences like the. State, and Shaw was forced Into a bow at the finish. Barry Whitledge closed, tickling the customers from start to finish, Betty Jane Cooper and the Lathrop Brothers, taking a 'three' stage with fancy lighting, reeled off nifty and highrclass dance routines, in the next-to..iahut .spot. That Cooper Lathrop quartet rates top classifi- cation. Shan, ORPHEUM, N. Y. Running true' to old vairlety form In both texture of the individual acts and the general makeup of the blU Is this show spreiid before the York- vllle residents for the first half of the current week. Splitting the headline honors are Jerry and her baby grands and Bob Hall, the ver. sifier, with not a single intruder from the airlines or any other realm but staid vaudeville to cast a ray of newness upon the auld lang syne atmosphere: What this* quintet of turns unllmbered seemed to pass muster all around at the first. Sat- urday performance, but the zip and tang, of nroyoca:tlVe up-tp-the-mln- ute entertainment was lacking: • . Business was Just about average, although the paltry number of juve customers -was decidedly noticeable. iProbably the picture, -'Rain' (UA), With: its theme likely not to the kid taste nor .jof the ntothers, as far as the youngsters are concerned, ac- counted ,'for the-, slim; attendance from that source, but the chances are, that the two-bit tap was the ihPre. important. factor. iFor the YorkViUe .district the quarter call looks a little stiff. Introductory . staiiza brought Ar- chie and -<3ertle Falls, with Archie- doing the falls .and Gertie a smooth aissortment i^t gymnastics. on the web and trapeze. Tumbling bits they both participate.'in proved so much encore here. Turn could have easily closed on the optical Impress the femme partner made on the rope. In Yorkvllle they-like , theni well rounded, - and the Gertie Falls figure gyrating on the web came up to specifications. 'MPDonald and F'aradlse took over, the next lilche and gave It lots of action and smartness. Nifty pair of hoofetrs these from their opening . sandpaper nPvel.ty to the sendoff of- eccentric .taps. Giggles and. chor- tles greete>l most Pf the I>avlB and- Darnell patter. They're doing the auto .agency, script. . With her now Jerry of the white, enameled pianos has ,the Earhardt . Brothers, the Phelps Twins and a caroler of scat dittiesi Sylvia Pol-' land. Standout impress of the per- formance was made by the brothers with their fast and Intricate pedal, druniming, while the twins, per usual, proved, a treat both to the ears and eyes. Film accompany- ing the- 'April Showers' number went awry, but otherwise the ease, class and smartness were there to lift this one 'over the hurdles for hefty approval. Odec, UNITED ARTISTS, L.A. Los Angeles, Nov. 26. 'Buddy' Rogers is the ace draw at the house this week, appearing on the: stage as an added feature aside from the regular Fanchon & Marco unit. Former picture Juv has gained a lot of valuable stage ex perience during the past year, and in his current offering presents some really worth-while stuff. He's as- sisted by Clyde Lucas and the Cali- fornia Cavaliers, a hot rhythm band, and Jeanette Loff, the. whole com binlng to provide 26 mins. of satis lying entertainment. Lucas band is the background for the Rogers act, with the boys being put throueh o red-hot number for the opening. Rogers,, when Intro duced by Lucas, starts things going without a hitch. He plays a trom- bone solo, warbles a ditty, and then duets with Miss Loff, and for a hot wind-up re-enacts the scene from his piicture, 'Close Harniony,' where In he plays most of the'Instruments in the band. His. stuff is clean-cut, snappy and not overdone. F&M unit is 'Big Tpp,' a group of circus acts which gave the holiday house a tieat. Unit was produced in the east several months ago and is now running with clock-like pre clslon. Jack' Sidney m.c's all the way through and handles the assignment nicely. Acts Include the Happy Harrison dog and pony, turn, in eluding Dynamite, the bucking don key; Flo Mayo Is an aerial bar act Eee-Hee and Rublat, a sextet of tumbling Arabs, who' introduce sev eral new stunts; an unprogrammed midget femme who works with Sid ney for cpmedy, being particularly amusing with her high-pitched baby voice; and for the wlndup, Adel Nelson's performing elephants. Capacity lower fioor this after noon Joined heartily in the com munlty sing promoted by Henry Murtagh, featured organist. Jan Rublni conduct the overture. , Screen feature Is 'Sherlock Holmes' (P«m:>, with new0;£or filler, LOEWS, MONTREAL Montreal, Nov. 25. Jimmy Adams gave them plenty on the 16th anniversary week, with seven acts of vaude as against the usual five, most of them above average. A couple of turns stopped the - show, and word - of - mouth brought in crowds to top price last show of the grind. Picture was an also ran on the bill, with vauds away oUt in fronti Opening was Maximo, wire-walk* Ing act nicely built up to sensa» tional rope-rocking stunt and imi- tation drunk- staggering along the wire that pulled squeaks from femhies and got a nice hand at finish. WiUon Sisters deuced with blended blues. 'Voices pleased, and solo drifting up into controlled high alto collected plaudits. Piano and fiddle in catchy dance tunes con- cluded act,, with girls tripping off in Siamese twins effect that made good close. Bertollno pattering French and imitating Instruments and baby crying in third spot started the crowd laughing and applauding, and went on to'smart ventriloquist turn, using hand as face of dummy' with clever use of cigar clipped be- tween knuckles made up as mouth. Etms' response was heavy, and by this time crowd was warmed up. Vernon Rathburne followed with bass and treble sax, two pianos and a brace o£ dancers. - Crowd some-, what listless at first, but woke up for specialty dancing, and ensemble of four saxes playing lilting eirs^i This act got the good returns, but solo sax as encore was slow. Willie Solar, known and liked here, came on fifth, and Immediately got a big hand. Stood put In cen- ter of stage and let voice do every- thing. Imitations, falsetto, runs, trills, discords put everything in his voice and had the crowd all het up. Stopped the show, although songs were old, but he can get away With anything l^ere. Took call, and told crowd how pleased he was and where he was going next six months. They took -it and shouted for more. Biggest hand in weeks at this house. Cass,. Mack and Owen, two men and femme, slapstick tumble acts, had a Job holding customers after Solar, but did it and ended with slow motion dance that caught crowd's liking. Closing act. Rosette and Luttman, started with well-dresseeid adagio dance that left crowd cold, although well handled. Slipped into black Pierrot and Spanish pirate dances, which got across. Picture, 'Six Hours to Live' (Fox), comedy short, newsreel and trailer made up three hours, pf which 90 minutes was Vaude. Latter ac- counting for most of gross.