Variety (Jan 1933)

14> VARIETY FILM HINISE ilEVIEWS Taesday, Janaary 10,:. 1933 PARAMQUNT, N. Y-: New York, Jan, 6. Picking up their stage palshlp \7here they dropped It after that Palace run, Sddie Cantor knd Oeorgle Jeasel trotted it out In Brooklyn last week. Currently they're at the New York Par, and pals again for another seven days. best laughs, even though doins over- | lime with seltzer bottles. ■ In the Lewis impersonation MerofC's diction is close to terrible. His hat Juggling is okay, but en- tirely too much of It. It was the band leader's dance specialty, a| mixture of eccentric, Russian, etc., that got him the good closing hand Friday night. Meroff also doubles as m.c, Intro- ducing the other two acts, and pull- They kid each other goodnaturedly |'"g^on -P^^nrdofng fou?*numbers. stopped the show, big house like through the 50-minute show and then reprise their Palace theme song, 'Pals.' Oddly enough, the title of the Paramount's current presentation is 'Pals.* Cantor and Jessel as a combina- tion for the stage and lights are as ROXY, N. Y. New York, Jan. fl. •With the RKO Roxy In Radio City taking the veil temporarily next week, the old Roxy will require no ballyhoo dlstlhctlon that this is the famous original Roxy,' whlcb Is being generously placarded all over the front of the liouse and In the ads. But old or new. It seems to be enjoying a sentimental reflex In increasing attendance, or ao seems to be the popular'attitude. Whether it's the underdog sym- pathy psychology or what, the Roxy this meaning nothing to her. No new songs in the Yiddish star's rep- ertoire and none in Yiddish, though ... it might have been a good idea to has been grossing better and better include one In view of the many In the last few weeks. "While under followers she has who might want an aura of Mlnsky this week with to hear her ln~ the native language, its redllghtish front on behalf of ^ . Three nutty Bitz Brothers fol- the lurid 'Frisco Jenny' (FN) fea- good a guarantee as there Is around ^^^^^ jjigg Molly and cleaned up on ture, maybe it's simply a sign of of entertainment, while last week's laughs, with audience by this time the times that this stand, alohg with biz In Brooklyn and opening day good and hungry for a few rib- the rest of the Broadway biz, is on !^ J u i/i.>„««o thoi^ ^«in,«np ticklers. Picture's heavy tragedy the upbeat. Then again maybe it's trade here evidences their drawing ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ natural for the merely the Chatterton draw, ability. Combo is depended on by | audience to look for laughs on The Roxy's front on BOth and 7th the house to. deliver both •^a.ys this | slightest excuse. Probably held out avenue currentfy Is among the most ,o,i.air TuJth '-Riiiinn ■Dollar Scandal' I Meroff a little, figuring some- colorable any Broadway deliixer has week, y^lth BllUon Dollar Scanuai \ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^ *'y,oxx\A come engaged In to herald its fllcker'fea- along later. ture. The subject matter of 'Frisco Due to length of 'Interlude' and Jenny,' with Us Barbary Coast back- stage show, nothing as filler except ground, will probably Inspire kin- usual H-M News. dred stretching at the Hayslan re Business Friday night at last de- strictlons along the lines of theatre (Par) the picture and the -stage trimmings lighter than usual. Stage shotv is 50% English and 60% Thomashefsky; but the laugh response was heavy fof everything, lu^e show quite a distance from front bally, and exhibs may be which is the, important point after | capacity, but good all. Nobody asked for an Inter- preter, proving Cantor and Jessel are right. There were a few Gen- tiles In the house, too, but not enough to matter. Principal niember of the support Is bave Rubinoff, not in the pit, but Char, IMPERIAL, TORONTO forced to caution their p.a.'s. The rostrum Is more decorous In its stage otterlngs. 'Llebestraum' Is a conventional orchestra prelude, although the L>Iszt opus Is distinc- tively productloned, with MIscha VloUn, the konzermeister. add Nicolas Kopeiklne, pianist, doing solo interludes, as lAyres and Rene, I Toronto. Jan. 6. With legit competition here offer- ing 'Student Prince' and 'Blossom flddlini alone out in 'one,' being one I Time,' Howard Knevels is taking no | assisted by %isch and Martin," plus of several plugs for the Cantor com- cjiances this week. Fighting the the ballet corps and choir, combine S®^;i*''l./Vi,o^''f^i^^«^Sh^^I'*twch enemy with their own weapons, he Unto an artisticaUy effective produc- None'Of the-showmanship which . hookpri in 'Rio Ritn' tvi« flrnt tion Investiture. The newsreel and ■ ,«*^h^»t^«^ for the Vat few Loew tS^shiw to hit ¥Sroifo. l^l a Krazy Kat cartoon precede the pit of this theati^e for the past few ntraieht se mlnuto:fl of niaea nhow more elaborate stage revue, which ^°„^f the^i?a£*"^He wUrKUlr^isSoL°aSKt 5^ divided Into three portions. Says '1^o'^^^n^\^'txoi"^^o,Sl L\'»Ue^eSrhlz'^r?arL%S^^^^^^^ ' !^_rri_.. n Arxki .«.K/»i.iin the weck s olz as far a^ the other spi? Jh?s SceS^^^ArrciiU^r'tr f^ A* I concerned. As a clincher, the fea- SSlfmSSiei^K'SeriJ c^^aVis^i AlmJl^^ would look like a member of the h^Uh George Raft one of the strong- Mound City 6lue Blowers. T tKw nr^J^T^vA fliHn^ ^«t»r shfgffz t^Cetr *Un'| X^Zt t^l^n^^T in X-eTf^ullSale I Pal. of which Pal Is a cleverly per «on Cuban^^Sba and ^"»» ^ropa in one for scene verse donkey* do their stuff. The wi?tz to SnlnlTh mus?o Imh his changes. There's a Texas Ranger anUcs of the cabby with the break- TcSely bloKartn^^r? jSnSJS^^^^^^ .a Juve In the crowd. I away hansom, the cop and the donk Repeating at this house Pretty ^ ^2?^^ with lu^^^^^ quick. They're a nifty dance team, a 20-glrl dance line who go through Balance of the support Is in the ^T! V° *** Ce^^tf^ft tK^iSf rUSis Khr^^^^^^^^ h^f a dozen"*"?ostumt 1 of pong. Is the alcoholic song motif morn- A BUhway effect, with the Roxy ballet corps, staged by Catherine Lilttlefield, Is a nice sender-offer. The comedy highlight Is midway. In the 'noon' portion, Identified as transpiring at Pairk avenue at the Waldorf. Here- Red Donahue and woii lalCs and salvos. Tamara, the songstress. Is featured In the get.* away, identified as a midtown iieht- house. 'Speakeasy,' a bolero type Hi^ novel flfennlri^ atvle rem^ many months to take evident en- week of Tamara here, still, billed as 5 JlSSy I^^^cfught o^^^ in tt»eJ«- work. That's re-, the late star of 'Americana,' In brought Wm^bic fbSr^lS-enbore • fi^shlng.^ There seems to have been | which she was only briefly, The extta tall Codetta hyaii Is cjitting. The garden scene, Cantor-JesdeTs foil, ahd good ee- "^e floating cabaret and pirate num- lectlon. She gets one chance, but oe^^ the naoonllght ballet and the otherwise plays tag with the=boys. epreeou6 wedding finale are all In. Cantor - Jessel's chief departure Company easily numbers 60, TRANStUX Her contribution is relatively negligible. Ayres and Rene, with Rasch' and Martin (unbilled), In one of those adagio foursomes are most promi- nent In this portion, along with 'Grand Hotel: takeoff, with Cantor 'avish, principals all good, chorus as the dancer and Jfessel 4oing Bar- singing splendid, and dance numr rymore. It's not built for Sunday ^^T^ a delight. In short, a grand SB- school recitals^-yiet not so bald that minute show at picture-house prices, it will «iause any'trouble. In any^ M^t show on opening night saw a one ele's hanas It might offend, but capacity house, a sight that has re- Cantor-Jessel make it funny all the cently been rare. Principals iin- way, and the sting is removed as billed. No program or even a press- they play l,t. i Outside of If he newsreel (Par), no preliminaries, this week. Over- ture and the I Crawfords absent. There was a line in the lobby for the last show Iprid'ay night, which brought'back some'fond memories. Cantor-Jessel are down for $14, COO, of which Cantor gets $10,000, Bige. CAPITOL, N. Y. New York, Jan. 6, 'Strange Interlude' (MG) was shipped In here a week ahead as result of a last-minute decision not to hold over 'Son-Daughter* (MG) a second week. It's up from a long forced run at the Astor and may not be as big boxofflce here as in other cities, where an advanced en- gagement has taken away a certain percentage of first-run patronage. Should 'Interlude' not click as strongly on the Cap date as others up from the Astor have, f tage show show has Molly Picon, Rltz Bros, and Benny Meroff orchestra as aid. Miss Picon, with many followers, should swell the normal intake of the picture. Despite length of feature, stage portion eats up 50 minutes, with perhaps tgp much time given Meroff, who opens what's virtually a three- act vaude bill. No girls, no big sets, none of the embellishments which are associated with picture house presentations, Meroff heads a IB-piece orchestra outfit, carrying a specialty dancer of the collegiate type, Florence Gast. There's nothing big time about the Meroff act, with the exception of Meroff's dance, closing. Majority of everything else Meroff does, in- cluding display of versatility on in- struments» Ted Lewis Impersona tion and attempt at comedy, fails to assay more than average, ac cording to vaude standards. An overdose of clowning, talk and slapstick exists, little of it drawing out anything but mild grunts of laughter. Two musicians in the band, one annoying the other in various fashions, seem to supply the book for identifloation. McStay. Paramount-Newark A hold-out marked the opening night this week and testified to the sweep of business that has attended 1 the return of vaudeville here. The picture, 'No Man of Her Own,' is partly responsible, and the crowd I was unusually demonstrative dur ing the filming. But the vaude was Paramount, New Haven good and liked. ,.t , - _ J i . , New Haven, Jan. B. Four men and two girls compose , . , i, the Franklin Troupe. After all of ^"^^ "*®'"e weeks of them balance on two ladders, a man stage shows, house orchestra is tun balances two small dogs and ends h-..^ up for their swan song. And in with an even smaller one taken Rolls In a negligible two-chair aero interlude that wouldn't be missed if it didn't transpire. 'Horse Sense,' dull Columbia short, was the tag- ender, following the Chatterton fea- ture. Friday night saw the logos more heavily patronized than in a long time. That new 99c top for the loges Is undoubtedly the answer, and if the general appearance of the crowd means anything the price thing Is an unquestionable factor in deluxe patronage. Besides which, the old Roxy still rates top votes for cinematic deluxe comfort and atmosphere. That loge perch is one of the most ideal van- tage points for pictures in any thea- tre, on or off Broadway. Abel. from a hand-bag. He pleased. Fos ter and "Vane, colored, cross-pxam ined each other with many wise cracks, do smooth stepping, and win A mixed quartet and pianist called Bomby and his Radio Gang offer a long but well-chosen pro gram, and they ^et a reception few acts ever win nere. Abbott and Bisland with a girl and a man as a cop, use a prop auto, repeatedly get- ting the girl into and putting her out of the car. The comic plays a violin, the girl drops most of her clothes, the cop does a flash of loose- limbed dancing, and they close big. 'Broadway Snapshots' appears like a break-in built on two acts. It opens with a man talking with eight girls, but the girls can't be heard. A blackout follows, the girls dance and a girl sings. A man who acts as m. c. sings and is interrupted by a plant in the box with the usual results. Then a girl is brought from audience who punctuates her state- ments with a cooch. Here the dia- log gets blue. She sings and dances solo, followed by a song by the m. c. In full stage the girls come down steps in revue style. They are dressed in elaborate head-dresses and little else. An adagio pair are wildly received. In one there Is a song by the m. c. and he tells the crowd that the act Is over for a "Weak ending. mentioning the house band, here's a feature that will be sadly missed when the place goes straight sound Unit this week attempts to offer a musical show with a plot and every- thing, and it doesn't do a half bad Job of It at that. Opens In true chorus-girl fashion, has a deflnite thread to it, and closes with a com- pany finale that might do Justice to a more pretentious offering. Titled 'Hearts of Broadway,' theme is carried along by Vera Gor- don, who runs a theatrical boarding house aqd who buys an old theatre so her 'guests' (being actors, they can't pay their board) can put on a show. The idea offers an opportun ity to Introduce the various acts in a logical manner, and the whole is blended into a nice 40 minutes of entertainment. Opens In two with line girls in green-and-yellow costumes against a black curtain decorated with gold hearts. Girls do a song and dance to introduce Sidney Page, who car- ries on the musical comedy atmos phere with some chatter telling what it's all about. Traveler parts to show a backstage setting with reversed curtain and girls supposed ly killing time till their number is on. Fake curtain flies to show up stage footlights and a drop repre senting audience, and girls do i This 26c drop-In house, a pretty comfortable place to while away a lone hour, has reached ft happy me- dium In mixing short (subjects wlt^ newsreel matter of a varied descrip- tion. Result Is a diverting program of both novelty and news. Even In the news material novelty exists. Policy seems to be ideal so fiar as building of the shows Is concerned, making a whole of a miscellany of Items that are designed to amuse. One can get spot news at the house providing Pathe, Paramount and Universal reels haven't missed up on it, as well as a lot of trimmings which serve as entertaining' side dishes. This week. In addition to clips from the three major reels, dressing Includes the Columnist Newsreel (Educational), 'King Neptune' (UA), Disney cartoon short, and revival of an old Charlie ChaQlin two-reeter, 'The Rink,' reissued by the Van Bueren Corp. with release through RKO Radio. Opposition house, Embassy, tops Translux on news coverage, .but on show the Translux has thie edge. Plan apparently is to avoid a.surfeit of straight news matter, '^hlch In the past at both houses may have made It necessary at times to show 4 lot of unimportant and perfunc- tory clips in order to flU out.' Running time of complete, turn over here 68 minutes, whild at the Embassy It's currently £5. I:atter house Is straight newsreel except for weekly issue of Mkgic Carpet short, running around 10 pilnutes, Pathe is long in the Aumber. of clips on this show with a total of 12 and Universal short with only four. Paramount Is represented by a total of six. Pathe leads off with a special on Calvin Coolidge's death, going Into the flies for outstanding moments In connection with his personal and public life. A running offscreen narrative accompanies, Pathe side- stepping any material that has the late ex-President talking. Maybe as a mark of tribute, though FoX' Movietone didn't look at is that way, With hot news apparently light outside of the Coolidge death, next items of Importance dealt with Gov, Lehman and Mayor O'Brien Inaugu rals. Par coveredi Induction of both into ofllce, but no^ as thoroughly as at the opposltloni house, ^ar m^y have gotten something on Al Smith's little say at Albany, as F-M did^ but it isn't on the T-lji screen. Large shipment of gold to the U. S., including part of British debt, Clifton hotel fire at Niagara Falls, -a. swapping market at Nyack, N. Y., explanation of technocracy princi- ples by a Columbia University prof, and the Coleman-Plummer wres- tling match are Pathe items Which the Embassy does not havie. On an idea, digging up .major sports events of 1932, Pathe brings out a compact collection of file shots that make an interesting subject,, even if it isn't news any more. Stretch of assorted clips covers vir- tually everything of note in major and minor sports during the year, and very interesting. Pathe also covers opening of the skiing season at Lake Placid, one of the other reels at Embassy going after a trick skating exhibition, old stuff. Skiing isn't new either, but in a newsreel the Pathe clip looks more legit, and it's well photo- graphed, particularly as to spills. Universal, with a clip on 1,700 Chinese slain in sudden Japanese warfare outbreak, apparently fitted shots from flies to this late news, while Par and Pathe, with one each, are represented on non-news clips, Pathe with a look at 1933 fashions, and Par with a staged dialog be- tween Oracle Allen and her brother, U covered both the So. Cal-Pltt game and the tournament of roses In Pasadena. Columnist Newsreel quite novel EMBASSY House leans heavily to political figures, some of whom people may be getting tired of seeing. Or tired of hearing the stock stuff they have to say. Leading off, as at Translux, with the Coolidge death, which broke in time to give all newsreels a hot No. 1 item for programs. Embassy follows up with the Gov. Lehman ahd Mayor O'Brien Inaugurations. While at the T-L Pathe kept the Lehman clip'down to a shortle, F-M goes in for mbre of the gab handed out,- Including Gov. Lehman's open- ing and a few words from Al Smith. It's good audience showmanship, perhaps, to Ii\9lude anything on Al wherever found, a polht on which Pathe may have erred, F-M gives four-minutes to Cool- idge, going over some Incidents that Pathe left dndug on going into the flies, including the Col. Lindbergh reception In Washingrton, with Cool- idge talking. As a topper for laughs and other- wise, F-M on show here has a clip of former Mayor Walker. When title flashed, saying Betty Compton is the typist. Immediate reaction was a laugh. The former New York mayor gets one laugh out of ref- erence to 'Fun in Bed' (book) and dictating as his first letter one to F. D. Roosevelt, gagging it up by flrst making the address Exec Man> slon, Albany, later- correcting It to read 'Please forward.' Jimmie also pictured on the golf Hnks with Miss Compton and others. But It remained for the best laugh on the Embassy shdW to be a wholly unexpected one. It arrived when Mayor O'Brien was making his inaucrural address and someone in the audience gave It the Bronx cheer. In a political way Embassy also has a F-M subject on Rep. Rainey and Mrs. Rainey which gets an un- intentional chuckle €18 the missus asks the probable future Speaker of House to tell of his New Year resolutions. Another Is with Hoover on his holiday fishing trip off the Florida coast. Against T-L's Columnist News^ reel with its convict dip, Hearst- Movietone provides this house with a subject oa.an Ohio convict talk- ing over the radio following release from prison and urging that society ' give him a chance. ~ • ^ Outstanding news items on bal- ance of show the Toklo department store fire, well shot, and a German motor train averaging 76 miles an hour. H-M credited with former. F-M with latter.: In a fashion way Embassy starts the new year off by giving 'em a glance at new styles in footwear. Miniature stage used -and the cur» tained raised only far enough for the models to be seen from feet to knees, John Masefleld's arrival in New York, Toronto - Rangers hockey game, outboard racing at Long Beach, Cal., small craft yachting and surf-boatlni: In Australia, Mummers parade in Philly, German target practice, Kaye Don's air try after 10 years, Tuna flsh haul ofC Sicily and air patrol over the Khy- ber Pass are other items not to be seen at the T-L. Close to capacity when caught Sat. afternoon. Char. With Leo Donnelly doing offscreen honors, issue currently Includes pos- eiblfe new romance for Charlie Chap- lin, Thaw-Nesbit team 25 years ago and today; Paul Whlteman with the avoirdupois off, look at Constance Towne's school for girls, Gloria Swanson's lives and loves, and a very interesting visit among mur- derers at Sing Sing, one of whom does a little spiel. Business good Saturday after- noon. Char, routine with their backs to real au- dience. Nice hand despite fumbling of their exit. Two of the Four Normans on next before stage-door drop for some ball Juggling. Sidney Page anl Max Ler- ner enter for some dialog, then stage does full for set of Gordon boarding house with full company on. Ler- nev does an oke tenor ballad under a spot on a subdued stage backed up by swaying troupe. Nice recep- tion. After a line girl routine, cur- tains close as Vera Gordon steps to foots _'or a scene from 'Humoresque.' Four Normans then on for their full turn of club Juggling. Boys work fast and draw a lot of laughs with comic stuff. Close with a criss- cross trick which is good but too dangerous to be working in two. Some day the boys will miss, and they'll be removing the front-row customers with a mop. Line, on again in blue-and-whlte ballet costumes for a routine in a nature setting. Boy and girl off- stage voices add nice touch. Girls clear for toe dancer, then return in spangled costumes as nature scene drop flies. The following set, a flame curtain, is attached to bottom of nature drop and lifts into place as drop files, while girls go into a dance on a red stage. Whole thing is colorful, and novelty oi shift got a nice hand. Page follows in two before a blue- and-white scrim of N. Y, waterline scene. Page uses two femme stooges, Peggy Earle and Topsy McMahon, who go through a routine of nut stuff before closing in a couple of classy dances (Earle in a tap and McMahon acrobatic). Page tosses in some chatter, a tap and a vocal accompaniment, and makes the combo an oke next-to-cloain,.- turn. Finale has a musical comedy touch as company sings "Hearts of Broadway' on a full stage In a mod- ernistic setting with Vera Gordon center stage under an amber spot. Henry Busse 'Musical Calendar* overture, Eddie Weaver orpanlog, news and 'Farewell to Arms' (Par) completed bill, with biz ol<.iy for holiday week. Bone.