Variety (May 1933)

49 VARIETY VAHDE HOHSE REVIEWS EDWIN C. HILL (4) News Commentator 15 Mini.; Full (Special) Capitol, N. Y. • Edwin Hill Is the veteran N. Y. •Sun' reporter who, after some 23 or .24 years on the dally, came to. attention on the air ^Ith his engagr ing delivery' In commenting on cur- rent topics. Hill, as with the tother newscasters, superseded the bands and the crooners In mass appeal of late, In ratio with the Irtiportance of events relating to Amierlca's eJo- nomlc stress. Thus, with biank holi- days, etc., these news commentators were avidly devbured for the latest dope oh w:hat'a what* at the expense of the fbrnaer lighter* and more In- nocuous fayorites,. . . Hill won more than ordinary at: tention via CBS and has even at-: tallied'the iihusual for a straight current topics'' commentator —: a: 'commibrclal,' which accduhts for hiai billing dealing with 'the story be- hind the news.' As a stiage entry, ruhhing 15 min- utes inat. Hill is someithlng else again; After all, the undeniable charm of the tfadld, Whatever Its other shortcomings maybe. Is the ease of twirllhg a, dial to silence ahythihg not to one's fancy. Hence, Mr. Hill, vorbbsely re^hashittg three time-honored news events, is some- thing else again, before) an audience of 6,000 who must listen him out, or 'g1s6 ■* • Gatrbo, the ill-fated Hbp6 dlarti6nd and . the Dempsey-Flrjpo fight were the-un-iiewsy subjects recapitulated by Hill. The first sounded like; a gloriflcati bn for_jthe:; Metra-.Gpld- wynrMayer press , dept;; the secojud a rierhash of stuff , which Japic-f^ait has done lor the Heiairst syfi'dlcated Saturday and Sunday 8U]pk>Ienieiits, for-years; and the ^empsey thing a 'topic of dubious'appeal before e mixed audience-tunning largely to femmes. . • , ' ' l^p . gainsaying Hill's aiiral ap- ^ peaU He listens ..well; his diction Is engaging but his style is aca- dettalc. It's not a "stage act. That Hill should elect to- gamer a few extra bucks for a week's' booking atVthe Cap is not . to be chlded; It's the theatre's fault in risking a -straight talk act before' a picture house mob. The presdhtation is ajlohg ortho- dox broadcasting ' studia ' lines. Through the scrim in''deep center is seen- ther man at' the- cbntrol. Up front there's an .announcer; Maria Silvera tops ofE' a soprano chorus which, precedes, the regulation In troductoryof HlUi \(ho .is labeled Americas' 'premier news broad ca'ster.' KING and REVEL Daneing, Jhstrumehtal 13 Mine.; One and Two Palacer N. Y. The King of this iiew team is late of Gordon and King» Revel looks new. It's 90% King and 10% Revel, latter just assisting the former af- ter the opening number. Because of King's exceptional dancing and the manner in which it's presented this is a quality turn for the No Spots. . It probably makes no difference that King has borrowed the daiic ihg. steps and style, of his ex-part ner. He improves on them by in corporatlng. them with his pWn routines, and the result Is about 10 solid minutes of flrst-ria.te-. eccen- tric dancing. Rather than being simply tossed In in the customary manner, the dancing in this case is presented with a. reason. Not a strong one, but a reason, und it helps," A piece of' business in which King is thwarted In attenipts at. a clarinet solo because the mike is 'out of or- der permits the 10 minutes.or so of hoofing' without relief,! .and It sets off. neatly. "When the mike finally is' fixed he's top tired, to toot^ It's a switch on. a former-Gordon-King |>lt, and another improvement.. ReVei doubles at the piano and slips In a little singing while his .partner dancesi Bige. JESSE CRAWFORD: 12 Mine. Empirer Loiiidon Jesse Ci:'aWfbrd> the American or^ ganist, made his English debut at the-Empire, April 1'4, and Instantly proved himself a, showman. The act was staged In a manner that couldn't fail. His opening number was -fOtgaris I Have Played,' which he utilized When he opened at Par- amount, New York, six. years ago. The audience gets his life story via the slides. Crawford followed this with a request' number, yrhich the natives here are familiar with through re- cording. Concluding Was an American song, 'My Wishing Song,' done straijgrht and supplemented with the player's jpersonal Wishing song, de- signed as a sort of affectionate ad- dress to the natives. All this took 12 minutes, every moment of which wiEis apparently appreciated to the full by the audl- ience, and elicited a speech. Not coiitent with this, after the lights W6re down^ they continued applaud.;- ing iihtil Crawford had to render another number, a,rid before they wpuld let him: go the curtains had to be opened and the picture, pro^ gram Started. • JQJo, boN GALVAN and CO. (4) Banjo, Dances, Chatter 22 Mine;; One and Full (Special) G. O. H. Galvah formerly' rated okay as a sinjgle, noW he's . without that Spc^nish, accent.. Not so good with uhe-.four-'.eartras; two men and-two girls. Everything's overdone, or al- most. ' No polish to the act and, therefore unsuitable as a flash fPr the first -cl&ss ''spots or those that may be left. Itt that class. Galvah manipulates a badly rputlhed act that's not properly timed. He uses a blonde and a boy for stooges. Girl,.does a tap after some crossfire -with Galvan, and the joy finally winds up by dancing to his uke accompaniment. Both only fair and the-chatter employed is not particularly funny or new. Remie^ining pair are a mixed dancing team sp'eclallzliig in a: Mex- can costume number. Two doubles and one i^olo by the. man of the team. Solo is okay and has him bumping a tambo in various jump in^ formations. In descrlbinig the blonde girl tapper as his sister, Galvan goes far astray for customer reception,: be- cause thie girl obviously Isn't. That sister and brother stuff can go okay for. the Mexican, dance pair. Costumes used by this pair and the hanging used In the setting in full are too dull for an Instrumental flash. Galvan; himself, overtalks, That piece about the ddg having picked up the candy, which Was handed a customer to eat, isn't the right kind of material for audiences that care. Bhan. WILEY SISTERS (2) Songs, Comedy ■ . 9 Mine.; One and Two (Special) G. O. H. Nothing', in. the flies on this blonde pair," although they have been seeii' around. Xiook like twins. Their perfoi'mance as caught has the observed effect.of. parlor train- ing rather than the stage. Need to be geared differently for more "graceful Stage lircisence an<l song delivery, Might be; develpped; MANCHESTER, L- A* Los Angeles. April 23, First instance on record, at least on the coast, where principals of a Fanchon ^ Marco stage , unit have leased the property from the pro- ducers: and put it out oh a co- operative basis. Is 'Gobs of , Joy,' featuring Pat West and Dell .Chain, from the original production. Show Open in 'two', against the center had its preliminary break-in at this travel ^pace that shows a trlb with house over the weekend^ The eight a supposed baby occupant While one ' of the glrl lullabiesl Baby Ups and no like the lullaby, preferring hotcha, (SO Inhane chatter follows, culminating In the iexpe'pted kayo from ma. Socks the baby and the crib collapses; travelers fold and the girls are In -one' clad in black velvets". , i lilghts full up and they duet, with some, intermittent cobchlng. That's the tipdff. Good singers can tra,vel minus that kind. Pf stuff. Maybe these girls can later. Presently rthey park against a piajjo and 4p what they call 'Two Cab CailPWayp singing.' Het'e in deuce on a flve-aicter. Shan. REED, GARSON anck Co. (1) Dances, Chatter, Comedy ; 11 Mine.; One and Two (Special) G.p.H. Okay deucer when the chatter I stuff is improved.. Cht|.tter is un- original, besides tending to be blue. None of it took, not even at'the] G.O.H., when caught. "When going to 'two' the: boys do a g'obd takeoff o'n two.'pf the Four Mai^ Bros, hiring a stetiog. Work sloWly :her4 blit fajyr enough, al- though faster timing would heljpi. The girl, a brunet, does her hip | principals are aU iii on a sharing basisi with thie 10: line girls dh straight, salary. Title and five backdrops used by the F&M unit have bften leased from the producers, with special music and dance routines spotted In between a sei-les of- snappy vaude acts, the whole prPviding -clpse to an hpur.of fast moving stage enter- tainment. 'West and Chain are featiirPd, along With . Harry ' Masters, trick golfer, working with Grayce, come- dienne;, Rena and RathbUn, cdmedy hdofers;. Danny BeclC novelty drummer, and Myrna Moody, .Span- ish dancer, sharing in the billing. Opening has entire company making its appearance through the auditorium, and exiting ih same fashion, giving the pay. custonierp two' intimate glimpses of the par-< ticipahts. .West grabs off the com Tuesday, May 2, 1933 PALACE, N. Y. In less than a- year the Palace has had more q'uick changes than Owen McGIvney, There have been siX' new policies in that time, and among those that were tried and died Was that- comprising moderate priced, flve-act, nameless vaude bills; with second or mpte rrun films This week the' Palace, -which, caii make'lip neither its mind nor its losses, changes Again—back to moderate priced* flve-act, nameless vaude bills, with second ot more riih fllmd. '' Apparently RKO, ; dr whoever chaniges'the pdllcles at RKO, doesn't think one.flop is a convlncer. A policy must flop twice in a year to prove it. That this policy , must inevitably fail' oiice more is ob- vi6y$, if the opening show Is evi- dence of -what's going to follow, With, the Palace it's not so much a case of .; the ..pdlicy itself .being" wrongi .as a pdlicy, but a matter of opposition.' In going into direct competition .with the rest of Broad- way for the pop-priced combina- tion show trade, xthe Palace pre- sents the inferior entertainment of the street. in regard to the. dpenlng, .pr re- opening; bill, it appears the offlce figured the feature, 'Cavalcade' (Pox), shPuld carry it. The film is here on fourth run downtown; fol- lowing a two-a-dia,y stay at the tiaiety, twd weeks at the Muslo Hall and . one week at the Rko Roxy. On top of that, it's at the Palace. , day-artd-.date With every RKO "iieighborhdod house In town. edy honors, although he dpeSnIt for At the nearby RICO 68th St, the a minute hog the proceedings,-giv- picturiB is currently half of a double ing all other principals, particularly feature straight film program. This the pther comics, plenty of oppor- eliminates the neighborhoods from tunlties. w;e&t and Chain mop with the Palace's potential drawing their burlesque mlnd-readlng act, territory this Week, so where Is the Chain doing the iaudlen.ce stuff, and business coming- from? Certainly yaving routine as .dnsw^^ to Jinlckly-^prrecting: West (as Mme. rko doesn't figure on a big week >oy's questions;^ The. 'kipd of slu every hew: act uses and falls back on when ih doubt, Apparently that's- how new acts a,re boi-h nowadays, coochy girl, a couple ot ihipersonattons. and a prattfalleh Here they use them all. Bpys open; with falls, then have'-the girl sing a Etarlemanlac number all wind up together,- in a dance. Thd "boys dance okay, with the lad who wears the glsusses ap- pearing to have a natural ability for physical comedy. Bhan, *fHE GOVERNOR'S DAUGHTER' (3) SKETCH 12 Mins.; Full Mirror, Hollywood . Presented"by Mrs. Frank Keenah, this playlet was done by her late husband. Miss Starr has the meaty portion of the script as the madatne yrho returns to confront her one-* time boy-friend,. now the governor 'of the^tate. She attempts to open an.astabllshnient In the rltz portion =^f4«ii*i»-With^the^gov«.force.dwto.=glm her -.■iRnCitection.. to avoid ..scandal. 'Wheci^e lea^hs that her daughter; whom iihe thought d6ad, is alive and ;*rfiB, she scramd. Set Ib rather skimpy and iacttng slightly mellow, but Miss Starr's final spieech has enough hurrah In it to bring a good hand.. Only other character , is the doorman in the -state-capitol-sofllces;--whichis over- played. / Act can rate attention only aXan excuse for a Sheldon Lewis pe'r^ ELANE and DOUGLAS Banjos 7 Mine.; G. O. H. The young mah of this banjo team announces between numbers" that his partner is the world's greatest banjoist. The most siatis- fied observer of this act could naught but hope that somewhere in this world thiere Is a spot where customers will agree -with him. Otherwise just an act. The lad opens the turn with the lights full on. He lets his fingers sprinkle a fast tuhsj^nd then bows off Wlth~"an afindiinceffient of the .girl. It's sad to relate that when caught his buildup fell on unap- ,preciative ears at the Grand Opera House. The girl while playing looks into his eyes. Not a snaaU girl. Light hair. She spins her banjo for a minute while sitting and isihoWd a strange flair for spotlighting. A two or three color spectrum revolves over her as she plays. That's the only color to. the act.' -P'or^ " flnale t he-man~ annuunc es- that the; tWo Will play a Sousa march.. They dp, and the pit almost drowns them out. Opener on a flve-act bill here, The kids liked it Bhan. ' ROBERT WILLIAMS and RED DUST Dog 6 Mine.; One Mirror, Hollywood According to the young man Who works this hounds it is a member of a ferocious Manchurlan breed and four months old. Dog looks like , a cross, between a.chow and-a red fox fur, iand his accomplishment con- sists of relazthg under any and all clrcumStancesf. Therefore. Williams tosses him about, rolls him Into a ball and balances him in inany po- sitions. Snappy -chatter and the cuteneSs .of the pup aid in setting the act solid, especially with the kids and Women. A .neat opener that requires mdre work in front of an audience to get full value out of the routine. heny. KSn-Do), who Works on stage. Xhio also has another bit, where West clowns for Hairry Masters whilC' iatter, is; making trick golf shots, with. Chain stooging' from the bal-, cony, and. ribbing- Masters. all the way through. Danny Beck, with dumb pan ihakeup, clicks solidly with his drum and', traps manipulation, and Rena and Rathbun put on a stew dance that's a darbi Grayce, work ihg with Masters, is an outstanding comedienne and is up oh all the tricks. Miss Moody does a Spanish I routine garbed only in a floWing scarlet red robe, with the girls, like Wise well exposed, serving as a background. FemmeS do a tap rou tine atop emply beer boxes, which draws loads of appliause from the thirsty customers out front. unit is wiBll routined, moveia with a fast teinpo and should haVe no trouble going right back into tpwns where It played last seaspn. Jerry Balderas' pit band proves satiisfactory, and the capacity Sun- day night house ate up the festivl- from-'the. boys, who stand- in front of the .Palace. If precedent counts those boys will continue to istand in front of the Palace. They'ye stpod off more-than one change of. policy lately. ' The highlight of the Palace re- opening' is hot on the . stage or screen. It's in the aisles, i.e-, a regiment of lookers serving as ush- erettes. The former boy attendants here: hav,e been replaced by. wi^at looks likie the second defense line from the.'Follies,' In the call for Palace .usherettes the orders were for 'shdwglrl types,'. and the girls oh view here Saturday afternoon Were a-pretty good answer- But still not -worth the price of admis- sion, and the other Broadway houses are featuring shows, hot ushers. Along, with 'Cavalcade' and th© usherettes for 66c top there's a fl.ve- act vaude bill. It's what most bills are nowadays—^Just a vaude billl It starts With a Chinese troupe, winds up with a stage band, and ther0' ties. 'Great Jasper' (RKO), comedy are twP teams and a single in the and news on screen. EdiDa. LORRAIME and DIGBY. Comedy, Dancing, Si 12 Mine.; One Mirror, Hollywood , The. girl In this act is a bet for a musical comedy comedienne spot/ She's limber and nimble, shining in comedy acrobatics and clowning. Her partneir makes, a good under- stander and catcher, but is too prpmlhent In the present act. Cur- rent turn starts out In a very ama- teurish, slow manner, and contains, sonie pretty raw gags which are not needed. .. One swell piece of business occurs In a hoke adagio, when the . girl's shoe catches in the top of her part- ner's trousers. Subsequent panto^ mime is good, for a twd-minute laugh. Leny. - LOEWS MONTREAL Montreal, April 28. . The best vaude show this year, following on a succession of good shows past few weeks, is putting Loew's right back on the variety map. Bad weather hurt at the start. Opener was Homer Romalne on the trapeze. Who gave the fans the wil- lies -with some of his swings, while front-seaters opined he would land, in their Iaps< He tapped out a nifty line of patter while working and the act got over big. E. D. Blum and Sister in the deuce,, with a walldp of a . xylophone turn, sec- onded by the orch, a speedy act that never let up foj a .minute. middle. Nothing much happens, but nothing Is expected to In vaude any mdre. George Beatty has. the next-td- cldsing . spot, deservedly, and ho alone pf everyone; in the show. re- calls for a few moments the vaude- ville that used to be. His monolog was very much liked Saturday af-. ternoon, and at its conclusion the customers asked him to piit another head on It. Ahead of Beatty Is the new. combinatidn of Al Slegel and Lillian Miles. At this stage Slogel's hew protege doesn't look or sound like another Merman, nor even a Lillian Shade, because she Just hasn't got the vocal power. But there's a deflnite something In her method that may develop, and there's always those Siegel arrange-: ments td make , even ii mediocre songstress appear to be a comer. Trey held Smith and Hart, mixed team with the girl the standout. I Miss Miles Jiist ndw has comeHness There was plenty variety in this | mostly THREE SHADES OF BROWN Singing . -7-Min8rf40ne- (3) one. from; comic ventriloquy Imita- tion to grotesque character acting. Fourth Was Norman Thomas Quin tet,^ colored, featuring good instru mehtallsts, trap drum, trumpet, fld .die, piano, and a trick .stepiper who got intermittent applause through out the act. Everything at tpp speed and the drummer almpst stealing - the shpw with his antics. The Chinese opener Is the Chung Tee Wah troupe of four boys and fpur igirls in juggling and bends against an. exquisite native back- drop. A 12-minute slice of this Is a bit too mucii, vbut that's easily cor- rected.' A dancing entry In the deuce;. King and Revel (New Acts). Two boys, one ot Whom (King) has COVERED WAGON jOBILEE (7) Instrumental, Vocal 13 Mine.; Full (Special) Downtown, L. A..'. '' Garbed in 'dude .ranch*, cowboy garb, this outfit from station KMTR, Los Angeles, demonstrated plainly-.-at-4ts^.opening-^performance. that stable ether acts do not always prove outstanding stage clickers Bpys all play stringed Instruments, and harmdnl^e well enough, with -the lead voice anything but. suited for present-day vaude;, ■ As a radio act the seven boys would seem to flt in better, although they give promise, and ppssibly by the' end of-the^eelr will have- mas^^ tered some of the intricacies of the stage, which ought to help them materially. Most of tlieir . songs artS sonal or else in- the smallle spots/j of the unfamiliar variety to vaude Mirror^ Hollywood- •■ For tlie coast a new - and tip-top Idea. A trio of smart looking col- ored girls who bat out hot arrange- ments, pf three plop tunes. Vocal | orchestrations are of the Mills: Bros. T ir^hf o«>i ntoniof oiift^r I Playcd ths Paiace many times as ohlSL^n^ K«M l\fAi^^L^}^ZJ^^ ^ar t of Gordon an d King and .Gor- Another act that hit on high and | the'bell. The Palace Is still a push- over for No. 2 hoofing, as always. Band closer is Rimack's Havana instrumental and dancing turn of 11 nien and twd women. It moves at a fast clip through music, the got a couple of calls. Abbott and Blslahd are fifth and play : a motor-car Set against a back drop of New York. The two. men use .fenime foil who is smartly dressed and a looker; .Lots of clever I— - -— patter ahd build-up situations that work of the ladies and some capiiai type and are class, being better _ _ i'i!t?JS!JS^tt'tl,<.^«')or.? Soafi'i^l evoke Srthe'Uught^V;Th^^risTn I ecTcefe" dancing by "one^ of tlie accompanies at the piano, massag- ^jj^ audience. Again, a call. Harry saxophonists, who is the bulwark of. ir^r, » and Frank Seaman, sixth, tumblers, the act. The leader, who also dou- cpver up the start of the act With bles 1ft dancing, answered. the apr good character gags and then go plause with a speech before the into their stuff, Frank acting the I traveler. He said it always was his ing. a mean keyboard. Top sdprano gets , real torrid,, but at. times her actions are Just too coy fpr words. Costumes might.-be snappier and more^uniforjn,i=and=act-^ca;n=stand, =4umb"cluckT=MPhey=team--weU-to5^ =ambltion=r'to---^^ Leny.' ' audience. Edwa. more stage presence and assurance. Trip passed up an encore the audi- ence would have liked to hear. Leny. TliiiTBton's Boad Show Chicago, May 'l, Howard^ Thurston will put out % magid rpadaKpw after' coihpretnig his radio contract for Swift In about, two Wei^ks. William Morris oSlce Is laying out six weeks. gether and the flnish, with Frank headfirst dPWri Harry's ^Ide pants, had the crowd rocking. Closing act, Renoff; Renova and jBekefl, adagip dancers with couple extra femmes Who stepped and sang during changes, was dne of the best costumed .acts ever seen here, with full-stage presen:ation. Russian dances^and-classic poSeBrat=flnish of= act swept crowd into more enthusl- {ism. They had to take a call, mak- ing it one or more for every act. Feature was 'Clear All Wires'- (Metro). looked, like the leader, but _lt sounded like a ghost. Or mavbo he was. only kidding. Bige. ~ Defer Amos ' ' Andy Show Chicago, May 1. Amos 'n' Andy roadshow which the Willlain Morris _offlCe has fl§r- uted oh"bunShgnr6r^"the Stic^^^ postponed, May be put out sothp- what later. Abe Lastfogel conferred with the team here Saturday.