Variety (Nov 1932)

VAnnC HMISE REVIEWS VARiETY 4» EMPIRE^ ITARIS ,P«xl9,JNov. le, WbiB Bmplte till Ut doing pretty itrmtk by'BlnesB due ''td 'Iaok' o£ blg^ ifarrlne namrt," wK)i' tWb exception .% Meyol. Emptr«' bookings of late have not been dbh*'^rery. expertly. Bo^ne^ of the GkJrtntth tnlnd-reader, .^uridoen, -tfome time to top tfie bill fo'r:=two'w*ekfl, who had ib 'be let oiit after three days, was ' a'mlstake; . •' ,'' The" forthcoiqfhisr bpoklrig of jSilnt-Grahler for a full mbnth-^the last two weeks M which are the holiday "perlad-^fiwo looks like a mistake. Agailnst this, more and niore progress Is made . backstage In the way of preseniliig acts, and frbm the technical side,, though the house is anything but perfect, it is fpr .Ptiris very satisfactory. The impending, opposition of the jifix, Halk's 3,200 atmospheric pici ture house, with - ambltloiis presenr taltlonsr. inak^s - It necessary for . all local shows to perk up.. ' 'I'Ottly oneUinlniaJ^^iiict' in this bill. This Is the Vi'gO Benny Ghimpan- tees, one of which does some neat trapeze work. One dog appearing in ■ Joe - Mara's animal marionettes doesn't make IC-' ah -animal act. ' fhese marlortetteb,'don» by two sis- ters, are- very cleverly Ihtrodueing ^e Idea of' the 0trfhg-pulled d61la applied to aniihalS ''Instead' of hu-i mans,' and - obtained' ipany . laughsi Apart from that 'they are' Just - on th^ same''principle-'as - the- well- knoWn Walton -llarionettes,, cur- rently at the Alhatobrai Bill is ■ topped by Mayol, ■ nOw practically retired on the Riviera; who 30 yeara agt^ Introduced such weJl-known'Bongs^as "Vlens Pou- poule.' He la now-'over 60 ^ and heavy, but he-'has' kept hls' baby i&qe, his bloMd' thafoh and his Illy of the valley buttonhole; as well ad bis celebrated demeanor. His book- ing is 'more or le's^ In the nature of a comeback, but a- vety successful one, and once: more' evidences Pa- risians' loyalty to their stars, how^ ever. old. • ■ : . ' -Some very good'faincy dancing Is done by Jack Stanford; also by Viola Dobos. and. some excellent acTobatlo wjork by the Neumann. Bros.,- who do very efCeotlve ath- letic work; bs also do' the pour Phillips—two men, two •women— who,- despite they clre In closing spot; keep them from walking. mother acts are Bva' ahd Mllo, plastlo poses; Irls' Silburta, 'trapeze work; Balzar, card trickMer;' ec- centrics by the Two Franks, and more ecbentrlclttes by .the.i Klo Brothers. ' It anything about this hill: a little: too ■ Inuch athletlsm. Musical numbers • aa- usuar by the Bmplre orchestra^' " Jfo«l,' ALBEE, B«LYN i Thls Brooklyn bo^ise has an aver- age-weekly nut of 922,000 that It hasn't been able to-beat for months even with the aid of RKO Thrift Book' sales. ■When the Palace/Broadway, went straight films with the Cantor pic- ture, the Brooklyn. Albee Inherited the ace vaud^ rating on RKO, 'wlth-^ out changing Jts established combo policy. Hardly basking in this glory one. week, when .somebody figured 'just one picture on .a program wasn't enough to support RKO vaude. So, along . with 'Ooona Goona' (FD) they have shoved- in 'Old Dark House' (U). And the Albee has an altogether new policy, but it may be only temporary. The vaude half comprises three acts, costing in the .aggregate about liS^OOO^ Including Ben ajid Ray Gor- man, Giovanni, and the Havana Casino orchestra. - ."The films are on' flat percentages.. . .'These three-acts plus the two pic- tures, plus a Pathe newsreel and a pit; band specialty are being sold for 36 cents oh Saturday matinee, «nd the Albee star]ted> eft, .to a good biz, but it's doubtful U-the house piaJces Us nut this -week., "Vyhat is bound to .worry RKO /^^. can the clroult continue. thtis ,itwo-plcture . policy with vaude, especially when a short- age, of product , copfrontd the whole biz? ■ : There were four acts, originally booked,, but Hill and Hoffman were cut after the first ^how $aturday for some reason. .."Tljie .elimination of this act saved the Albee $600 on tlie week. Smalshing established policies 'vvlth Buch abandon looks like a risky .operating move. It may be that-the RKO figured 'Goona GOona' (FD) coming direct to the Albeei, after more than a two-months run on Broadway at the Cameo, wasn't strong enough to lead the bill. Yet If Salturday's observation means anything, it's 'Goona Goona' that's holding up the b.o„ attracting, curi- ously enough, a largely femme audi- ence. That's something to think about in view of the program of- fered. The least and the most that can be said for the vaude half is that the acts Individually or in the ag- gregate provide' lightweight enter-' talnment force. With two features on the screen, the Vaude means nothing. The Gorman act, compris- ing one male and several girls. Is a slow opener. The act runa too long for the kind ef stepping around that's offered neaplte the flashily-, colored drops used for settings in 'tvfo,' 'three'and 'full.' But RItO is' tied to the act undev booking offlce obligations and the Albee gets It, . . fii Glb'Vluna,' ihe house has one of the circuit's European importations. A,single and drawing $560 for the weelj. He's introed as a 'pickpocket champ' and proves the champ part on the'stage; Giovanrtljg somewhat of a humqflst and helps bring con- sistent titters in the middle spot of the bill, but he's neigliborhood maV terlal mostly. . It's said. of . Giovanni that he was brought over to show at the old Pal- ace for $100 per, but was boosted to $250 the followlng week at the Pros- pect, RKO's regular showing spot for acts. That's another twist in booking pfilce policy. But that the report may prove to be .Just gossip. Is suggested by the fact that Gio- vanni is now receiving more than twice this amount at the Albee. Still, It Is a good story. For a curtain closet the Albee has the Havana Casino orchestra, a Cuban aggregation which all but' lulls Itself as well as the audience tc Bleep in Its 16 niihutes of Cuban music. . That's because the numbers played -bear. such tonal similarity, A mixed da:nqe pair do a ruhiba, but before that -word became known in the States,. It used to be kno^n as a plain cooch. There lis also a colored gli-1, who doe.ssolo cooch,' No que^Uflcatloh.tjier'e. . - ,■ . : Aro.uhd 14 pepple in the band unit ^n4 they.driaw $1,S0Q In the aggre- gate. . The . band, uses a netting In 'full' with ; colorful hangings*, an^ o.he, of. the musicians sings, This : singer can't be . heard .back jof the front ' rows, as i the band .. music jdrowns his voice. : 'He sings in Spanish and when he attempts Eng- ;lleh. It's equally .unlntelllcfele. ; The outfit Js a good enough'fstring ;band with a. classy lustre of Spanish ■viirlety if It would vary, its musical numbers. Enjoyed a class rep at one time, -when the rumba first camo over. That?s a long time ago,. now. , '. . Shan, , HIPPODROME, R Maybe they've got the combina- tion to the Hip. Saturday the lower fioor was practically' full -with a scattered handful In the balcony at a two-bit tap. Anyhow they have $60,000 worth of rent paid and they ought to be able to kill the rest of the. nut,, even with .the 15c conobS'' iSipn through the midweek aftier- :noons. , . Show still offers a stage band of 13 players and a line of 12 girls, lat" ter not bad looking and appearing meat in. what are evidently rented ^costumes from some old production. ;Appcurently they have changed the .master of ceremonies. Last week bo Jhad brown hair and this week It's iblack.. -Loosens up a bit, too, on an- ,nouncements and spells the leader in wagging a stick-at the musicians, but any'm. c la lost motion In a house the size of the Hip. Might be the dance stager .pinch hitting, but an annunciator -would be better. But. the annunciator merely has a permanent sign for the next film feature. Probably It would cCst too much for cardboard for a double set of signs on four changes a week. They have to count the pennies. Show Sat.' was running 44 mtns., including the opening four-mlnute bit by the band. Line followed in green pyjama costumes doing Har- lem Moon.' Man out In front, ap- parently from the dancing act. Girls are no Roxyettes, but they're girls, and 6th av. is not fussy. They are young and apparently new to the business; Mills dnd Shea follow with their aero comedy, which got over nicely with a bunch of kids out front. They make a clean score with the elders, too. . Trey is D*Andre and Donaldson, who do only a tango. It's about like 40 or 60 others In the same line; the type in which the girl wears a long black velvet dress. Tango le hot so hot, but carefully done. Royal Bal Accordion Five, two girls and three inen, work with both. large and small wind chests, but they know better than to line up by the foots and just pump music. They keep on the go in the concerted numbers and offer a variety of. singles and doubles. Nicely bostumed, they take an Interest in their work and they wallop it over for a show stopper here, with so- little competition. They can probably project them- selves In faster company. Only black mark against them was k cur- tain speech. Stevens Bros, and 'Blig Boy,* a bear, were billed recently at the O. O. H. as Stevens Bros, and Ste- vens; Same wrestling bear gag with the comedy patter, but a slow and painful death up here, though they were a riot at the other house. Comedy gets no chance with a.hard- bolled crowd, and the wrestling Is a missout. Line girls back In split skirts for a dance, and lyArcy and Donaldson offer a ballroom session to work up the hurrah, but not a very big noise. There's also a girl singer, San Sansarlm, with a voice ten sizes too small for this barn. . Picture was 'Wa,r Correspondent' with three old shorts and the news- reel, not to mention about a mile and a half of trailers. -.Ho^use might get over were It not that there's iio crowd on 6th av. evenings, and they won't come In from the outl.vihg districts for .shows no better thah this; Chic, CENTURY, BALTO. Baitlmorer Nov.- 26. As the battle by Loew'a ace- Cen- tury and the indie vaudflim Hip- podrome, growsi more Intense, the real difference between the two houses grows proportionately • less discernible. In the other-days, there was a (Ufitinct variation between the two houses, in policy, type of enter- tftininent and. general atmosphere. Today It would be difficult to tell which house is which. The shows on the screen and stage of either house could be shifted,to the other without seeming out of place. In the days of presentations the Cen- tm*y had flash to sell and the Hipp standard value. Now they are both playing the new-style vaude, which means yaude with a heavy coating of personal-appearance faces from pictures and radio; At the Century Llta Grey Chaplin brings a picture name to the stage currently, while the thtee Pickens Sisters are at the Hipp. > Next week the situation will be reversed, the' picturey -Benny Rubin' at the Hipp, while out of radio comes tlie Baroii Lee band. Competition; however, while-nar- rowing the range of policy, has im- proved the entertainment. Slipshod booking is oUt -with .both houses. Jiist fair acts, unless they're names, don't go any longer. - In' the few weeks pf war' the. quality of the'^ shows-has Improved ppec6ptlbly, de- ' spite the fact that there has been a sharp cut In vaude appropriations. . . TThat it's possible to build'a qUalr; ity vaude bill with, reasonable c**!"- Is exemplified in this'Stahdard ifive-'. acter. It contains everything- that goes to. compose- a 'genuine variety layout.- In the opening the two An- dresens' showed them that the lead- ofC act can be a smash. A perch turn with speed, dexterity A-nd' flash; and something Off "a liovelty in the feinme'taking the leaiS position on the acrobatics. ' Artie'LeVrts iand Peggy Ames have , exceptionally good cross-flre tialk. Their material is 'iga:ggy and good. He does, ho-n^evbr, miSs the full op- portunity of that material by a cer- tain weakness In delivery. Would appear that a more Obvious comedy getup would help; juSt a funny hat doesn't seem- to be enough Lewis' stage personality. They've got a seven-and-a-half foot stooge n^med Dave Ballard, wh,o^. serves on the encorb' as 'a nicd laughter-getter. He's some vai'Iatlbn frpm the gen- eral stodge typ'ei! Llta Grey Chaplin remains a <iuiet and- charminir perfomier, singing her songrS capabljr inA leaving 'em happy. Jimmy Savo is another per- former who knows his showman- ship. He's the sbck ot the sho:^. . Closing csjne Gracella and TheO-^ dore In an adagkf fla«h with fdeas of dance narrative. Itiake excellent ap- pearance, but their weakness lies In the .fact, that they do, too much /adagio and nbt enough, rhythm and dancing. .A superabundance cf toss>- iin^ and jumping weakens this . act. 'There Is, a sufficiency of the adagio in the Gorilla battle number; there is no necessity of additional adagio in the 'Sleeplnjg .Beauty' sequence which would lend Itself Appropri- ately to genuine dancing. "Hoi Saturday* (Par) feature and Metrotone oh ^e screen. Business was good at the initial performance Friday. Fred Stone's present RKO appearances mark his first in vaudeville I"*' three decades. "Tlie comedian and his long-time partne'r, the late DaviB Montgomery, gave their last Variety performance at the Avenue theatrei In Detroit In 1902, a'nd then sailed for Livei'pbol to take part in an' English pantomime; Following' the overseas engagement; they" returned to the United States io appear" in 'The Wizard of Oz.' Other mUsi<!^4% productions starring Montgomery and Stone followed. ^ ;.,' When Montgomery'died, Stone carried on, at first alone (his wife wfis In the cast Under her maiden name), and later with his daughter, Fred's ' oldest child, Dorothy, played a little vaudeville in the interim, but he (lid not. , Thi*ee and lour shows a day are nothing new to Stone, who says that he played as maiiy as nine a day in his early yaude career, about the time Kohl and Castle 'blacklisted' Montgomei*y and Stone put of the variety field. For years afterwards Stone was a liberal conti-ibutor to White Kate funds used against the Keith-AIbee offices. ACADEMY, N, Y. Twelve units to the program a,nd a show of three hours Is the bait hiing out this week, but according to the Saturday afternoon, audience It wasn't having, the expected lure. "Vaude show consists of seven acts, none ot them a wow, while picture is 'Once In a Lifetime' (U). Lower floor was spotty at the sec- ond matinee performance, with no- body seeming very enthusiastic over the show. General apathy greeted, the vaude bill, not a single act get- ting a hand anywhere near show- stopping weight. Headliner seems .to .be Sunshine Sammy, who's .out in .lights, but he's spotted third , on .the seven-acter, with the. Four Flushers sixth. Lat- ter are a group of lads as gobs in knockabout hoke with acrobatics as a base. Next to a dance team In the flnial act, 'Miss America. Girls' (New Acts), the Flushers shared with Sunshine Sammy'the total amount of applause doled out. Sammy, with his two young col- ored assistants, merits a better , spot on the current show. It's a good act if^ for no -other reason than that it's compact and has speed. Up to the closing flash, which tries"^to be a.unit all to Itself, It appears most of the. acts are cut- ting, notably Jones Preble and Ann Lester, both of whom should be do- ing more than they did Saturday. Miss Lester (New Acts). Is an- nounced as the girl whom Paul Whlteman pronounced one of the singing 'finds' of 1932. She appears to be all of that, but was satisfied to do only three numbers. Public address systism dug up some static on her second, which may have been responsible for her decision not to go too far artd take chances. Probie, dug up by the Skourases during the past year through ama- teur night, didn't even take a bow after ijs two numbers.. He has a voice.,ivlth All the quantify that Rudy vallee'/j poB-sesses, but' m'uch Harry Lenetska as personal rep for Molly Picon splits with the Morrl^ office on the . comedienne's Loew bookings but doesn't collect on her BKO time. Latter . decision followed Jenie Jacobs' cbniplaint that she represented Miss Picon. . ' . Miss Jacobs had been inactive a year and a half as regardis Miss- Picon, who was abroad and in South America, but since no release wtis' asked for by the actress, Richard & Lenetska relinquished the act back to this orlglpal agent. Eddie Keller, as agent and, half owner of the act, has waived his 50% of , the $2,200' claim 'entered agdlhst RKO by ^ Nayah Peiarce. Keller agx-eed to .drop tlie matter' after .talking to Martin Beck. Miss Pearce signified she , will- continue to pre^s her share of the claim, with Samuel Spring acting as counsel. This ."$2,200 .18 part ef RKO's estimated $300',t)00. obligation to aots, agents and. producers. ; Maurice Goodmali first represented Miss iPearce.. The _Arthur. Rowland-Wayne Chvisty 'Hollywood poiibles* . unlt^ stranded're,cently in Johnstown,'N. X, was not. the original act of that name. Original Is owned by Hartley and Alvarez, with whom Rowland was formerly issociated.' ' ' • Upon Hartley and Alvarez' complaint, Rowland• was ordered by'tW V.M.A.-to drop the title .after the Johnstown incideht.. New ntime Is 'Motion Picture Doubles.' ' " . ' , .- stronger m every way. His lack of reception down here on No;^ 2 'was a startler after the way he's .stopped, shows .In the past, both hei-e and at the Audiibon.' . Joe Melino arid Co: (Ne-w Acts), fourth. - Melino formerly worked with Dolly Davis in a more effec- tive act than he's now doing with an unbilled girl partner. On a fair hand, THeilho -dld a 'Thanks'- bit Which wasn't- called for; A bow alone was all that was Justified Sat-- urday. . The KItayama Japs opened; a two-people acrobatic-;contortlon act which Is generally-slo-w; offering lit- tle in its six minutes except novelty. : Jo6- Gershenson, new -pit leader down here, has the boys In cbstuntes this week- doing rWhtstleSi' which calls for use of some toy'InstruJ ;ment8,-ete. A vocal bit virhUe the pit is almost darkened is probably idone by Jones Preble, who^the pre- vious half was the band's 'soloist with ia spotlight bn him; Preble seems to be a ^general all- around man down here, getting a spot this week -with the show puffed out. Char. STAT&LAKE, CHI Chicago, Nov. 26. Labelled as an 'RKO-NBC Show,' the cousinly hyphen la there bet cause East and Dumke and the Earl Hines orchestra are. both radio broadcaajters. What Is perhaps even more important. It's a good show. Because Saturday night Is the big hotcha session at the Grand Terrace cafe, it was an inescapable obliga- tion for the £;arl Hines band to he on band for business out there at an' early hour. So RKO'obliged by. al- lowing the band to bpen the show for Saturday only. Thereafter It closed and the Four Hmerald Sisters' took the reverse-exchange of spots. Hines (New Acts) opened the show well, if perhaps a trifle too long. Harry Savoy picked it Up from there. Savoy is <>rlvy to the secret that it's how, not what, you sell. His cohglomerate of gagS from Joe Miller, the almanac, ahd a well-indexed memory, were dexlerl- ously slipped acros!^ '^Ith able inci- dental help from an experienced lady In white stain.' Daphne Pollard, who seems to have cut away much of the superflu- ous material of former turns, more than delivered in the trey. Her gro- tesque knockabout was. timed better and clicking more smai-tly than heretofore. Harry Savoy worked with her In one bit. East and Dumke are on the mar- quee and In the ads as 'Sisters uf the Skillet,' their radio billing when formerly employed by Ivory Soap. Now they are working for Armour, who, by rejport, would prefer them to call themselves East and Dumke. Boys and RKO seemingly were of the -opinion that they were best known and most potent at the cash- ier's under the informal name. Any- how, whether Armour is sore or not. the State-Lake is recalling Ivory Soap, to the keener memories. Presenting the same turn as th,3 Palace a month or two ago, East and Dumke got over easily. Emer- alds closed nicely. Current picture Is 'Oka.y America' (U), which was held up several months by ccn.sor trouljle, biit finally got ihroutch pra'-.-tically. uritoui bed. Land. Da>VNtbWN, L. A. ' ■ Los Angeles, Nov. 26. Five acts used are All of the tyi^' that gets big audience response a'n^ comprise a stronger combinatlo^'' than seen here recently. Esbalahte- Trlo, bar act, opens arid goes over to- big returns. . 'The two men and- <glrl are solid in' <e»i.ery department;' ^except the' oyer-riiugglng' of %n^' 'comic. Johnny 'pove,". standard skating act, is hampered by working' :in 'one,' b'iit his" efforts'arb .mairilijr conflned to acrobatics and t'iimblihg bn rollers, and he Scores. . Flaph hlll-bUly act; ,Crockett'« ;Mountalheers, displayed' a lot more jshpiv^manshlp than most of its type. Aggr^egatipn. claims to.bec from east^^ :ern big time arid CBS, /and loc^s like It has acquired a lot of stag*, deportment without.losing that In- genuloasne'ss that Is essential to an- apt'of this type.'. All-string^ in'stru- mental numbers and vocal efforts score except, a guitar duet that Is overiorig and non-.essentlal. Father of the troupe Is a zlnger for Cook Idge, . . • . UUs and Cliark repeat after 4 year, the girl stUl ollnging tb • (Serman dialect ' opening ■ that la Greek to. southern (California audl> ences. > GagS'remain practically the same as last time, and then ther were a.k. Capps Brothers and Sisters, neat' young dancing quartet, close, doing the-«£«ae routines with'which they scored at the Parampijint, a block away, a month ago.- Feature -Is 'Three on a Match' (WB),, and house capacity second afternoon of the run. BiUy Cliflford's £stfite In Recvrship Over $^9,00(^ '(7rbana, O., Nov."28. The estate bt Billy 8. CHltord, stage cbmediiah and producer, has jgohe into , the hands bf k receiv<ar, the Hbmb. lioan .Co., having filjed suit in common pleas coturt tof $19,000. : !,: During Clifford's lifetime ihe spa«' clous' theatre hb built in Urbana. w^S destroyed by. fire and many projects and Investments went on the rocks. Clifford' died suddenly more than a year ago and is sur- vived by his wife, who was in one of the Gus Edwards companies, and a daughter. F&M'S STICK DATES Unit Breaking Jump Via Flock of' One and Two-Niters Seattle, Nov. 2«. Georgia . Minstrels, Fanchon A Marco unlt^ Is booked in Kelghley- Roscoe territory for one and two- day stands in Bellingham, Bremer« ton, Tacoma, Olypia, Yakinaa,'Wen- atchee, Pasco,. Spokane. Then sWlngrs into Montana time, returning to reg- ular' F. & M, showing at Madison, Wi.-J, This rthow is fllllrig in oke time I9 the fitJt'ks to break long jump.