Variety (Aug 1933)

MUSIC HALL, N. Y. Some day someone's going to drect a monument to the R'ozyettes. VARIEYW HMNISE REVIEWS PARAMOUNT, N. Y. VARIETY and brovsht tb» •tage'\portlon to a corUnsT clinax. Tha Hala. Qlrls, 24 of 'em. In I Paramount la spltttUier ita stage diefa* get-up, cook up what'a to show IntA aeottons th|a week, first , follow, joa Peni^er makes biv first part tor Itha entertainment proper Certainly there'Q never has been 1 «|ipeara&ce pronto and workQ in and aeoond part, tor the personal a corps at any theatre that's heen I and out ot It with his straight. appearance of the almost-around- more responsible for saving shows! phii Spitalny in a pretentious J the-world flyer, Smiling Jimmy than this Una of girls. Brery time 1 uiusical overture was the real 1 Mattero. 'Pot T«al enttftainment there's any douht-^ring; on ttie atarter-ofrer>wlth a nifty Victor'Uhe house la diepending on Venlta girjs. And It workfl. It works this Herbert, medley, then Tiger Bag* I Gould, Eleanor PoweU and Georges week,'for Instance. | and capped by a well-turned 'Mu- Twrf,tit»« Conglomeration makes The current show Is pretty much ] alcal Tour^of New Tprk. Idea has ^ a fair ahow, which about etiuals a humdrum ftfltalr, thougb plienty been J^k^ the fating of the current picture, colorful from a staging ■'^'^dpolnt boena^^^^ Bodyguard' (Par> ^ Iwayes *8^xt of VaDee's Fleisch- a straight man-narrator, thla run- rlblo dreanu [ nShn vaxtolSr hou^^ readUy re- nlhg Ume Including a. brief screen Show^s in .tw6^ parte, _^ia«ttdy s I ^^l^j^ to the Capitol audience introductory of newareel clips. He Fain* and 'Revue Pwee. ^?\fff^ i with his duck-^soup routme ana i makes a nice appearance »ua, im: tiqn Is P'9S«mnwd as a 3^ delivery. Peftner Incident^ pressioA on his own, but whoever Fantasy and la <4tflte P^^tg;. ^ ip^ I ally aeems set for the air thing as wrote the script just about wrote Philo sings a number and IW^Bow- r 'xurthor bnllder-upper for his jimmy Mattem out of considera- nian does a swell Spanish flance^m I tion for important stage purposes. counte. The up idea by Iiouis K. Sidney, jNewsreei preciKii mo "v-_- i pianologlat and his attractive vm^-. i KnAVino* Af 'Meta:xa. who was Newsreel breaks the thing here 1 pfa^5i5^t^and"hlslltt»ct^^^^ 3,^^. I here this week.. That explains the hd tl ' ~w««.i . .. ..... tarts which Viola PhUO '*®°^r^1t«' songs. Thieir manner of pre-| rjl-rjzri-"i:^'jrH«nni mc Meyer are maWng '^^^J^Sl aentatiln la stUl somewhat chau- MftJ'^'J ^^^^ VhV^Aw^' starte isrlth a garret • window m I p,,gagion ^^th g. aup^or selectton | J^*f . i--.^ aoefe't exolaln - and George I Sf «on.«. Th«ir manner of nre-I months, ag^^but^^^^ d'^Amour- Into a^ duet. lCa» Phllo's | tSlnqua''" and " anti'^cUmatical,'~'al- 1 9l6ct. It harms the show. end Is okay and .the tune la pretty though effective^ In that Miss ] On her voice and from the back enough to carry, Qarret moves up Bailey .first slnga, then pauses as of the theatre Mlaa Gould is Mws plowly, with the couple still sing-I gimg ,^la aome fancy ivory-I West's double In spadea With ing until an entire French can I ^i^jidiQg. ■^Ulcl,^ there is no l iletaxa ahe'a repeating the boudoir scene la visible. Wcely^ staged, | ^jjlgj^g^j,. she then fl^ea that I scene playied by Ketaza and West looks pretty authenie and Plenty particular song presentation with I m the samei bouse, Hany in the flashy. . - ber now familiar blgh-pltched so-1 audience jreco^ilsed It, according Paul Draper atepa out of the | pfanoing. The high-reglBter war- I to the recepUon and response; Pre- crowd to V do one of bla nice tap I bling brought them to attention I viotisly^ Out before the drapes, Miss numbdra and disappears with Miss I when first on the Flelachmann and lGouid bad enjioyed ber usual , suc- Philo coming back to sing .the song I hoW regularly on the Chase tk San- |:cess with the Arlies, Pitts and out of 'Congress Dances' in a ]• born tAbr-coftee hour of Sundays.). ot^er tiOceofCs, but the West French translation. . Anyway, the a. suggestion might be for ber | jf^ai cliikcber. chbrus joins In, there's a flash of to get one or two numb^ra oyer -man^ne^ PawaIL the alrl buck the Inevitable^ apache and the and then exit to permit Sima his" Eleanor Powoii, tno giri stages revolve In what has become Stelnway. opportunities. Thia fain the customary BC faahloii for what I iiy desire for an exact .even^split ft inteidS S Stbe inside of the] tSg of stage chores Is higbly «!om-I ^ay evenmg ^fer~Ex«etJt""ttoa-lt-tioranMriopiM-w^^ and wlitger who dances like a man, would have done more bad, the Fri- day evening audience had. its way lTlfi6IBffifl*ienwt~llOtTa5^lc^^ w,:^ ^^^.t. in front lWthe"insideof anycafeto^^^ r7*lu^'^^'^iii?i-" if^fiSf iSp^^^^ was or will be. L,^*. ^'^^^J H ll.M loges jammed with tags is-I then goes it once aiono. EMBASSY Several .live ones at the Embassy in a program that rates high fbr this, time of the year. It la Well knitted and edited throughout. EUnbassy.^ve kidnapping consid- erable play. While both houses had the return of O'Cbnnell and the warning of the IT. S. Attorney Gen- eral, Embassy used a close<^up of McGree, first napper to get the death sentence. There waa applause when the prosecutor urged coital punish-, iuent be adopted by all statea as the penalty tor thia crime. Fathe gave the O'Connell clip special In- terest when its reporter stated the Albany politician was still under infiue]Kce of narcotics administered by abductors. .. Both houses remembered the rO' cent tropical heat, alhd all reels dug into theii- vaults. F-H, however, made a one-reeler of weather, leiad- ing oiX with new material of kids and fire hoses and winding up with zoos and th3 poles. Fats McMahus, reporter, added con siderable to the entertaining qual ities of this aubject with his gibes. They're laughing - outright at Mayor O'Brien' In the iBmb this week. It's been threatening, for a long time. Like Al Smith's "raddlo' theKayor has declared himself for- omi. Hla pronunciation of aviation reproduces In this manner—aviaa <intermisston) shun. They let the Mayor talk In welcoming James Mattern. But with the l^olUsons, Amy did all the talking, whilo the Mayor wiped bis brow. Mrs, Mol llson should be able to crack AoUy wood, anytime, now. She has i certain kind of 'if new to Ameri can audiences, and th ey like and recognize it^ as proveirbj^the~«Jp>- time°'SnM,Sa?iJJSble**S^J^ to the reserved.seat custom- arTa)i Clalre^MadJette. . Caroline era to wait their turns for seats. Andrews and George Mejrer, Morel AOei. dancing by Miss Bowman and Draper. The Corps de Ballet, the Roxyettes and the Choral Ensemble, thia time spread all along both ACADEMY. R Y. ^ The girls return later to background Leon and Taylor, adagio foursome of three men and a girl, latter of whom' goto tossed around like a hot pota;to. It'a a aensatlonal sort of turii and capable of atlU draw- , ^ , House must depend on 'Double \ ^^S^^f^-^^ienc^ outside walla of the theatre almost Harness' (WB). the screen attraction ^^fi^°,„^*"*f„«? ,Sf"&cl? iip to the—mezzanine.-NoTO of it this week. Little hope carf be held ^«>ner slnce^ lost >«»^fK, tbo good, none of It too bad, an of I for the vaudeville. It offers George Campo Is blued but atoni it quite fiashy—and those K«*y- nothing aa draw, besides playing show at the performance caught, ettes. weakly on the stage. It's one of the No replacement, with ■*>">^ Only really bad flaw In the show mUdest of the RKO shows booked running long enougb, ^fJ^^^;. comea from the least eacpected \ mto thi s Spot, a nd if at a ll, shou ld be The Crawfords^ are back toge^^^^ ^ourceTthe 5rchwtra:-n^ weekHlirr agaln-m-th©-doTiblr conaole; Jesse- credlted with being the^conductm-, at^ad of over Saturday and Sunday. Crawford's was not waving the stick the night T^ey couldn't have talked , about slides are full of ^ caught. But the fault can't beer- ^i^^ vaudeville that auick, but Sat- home' lyrics, specud and otherwMe. cus^ by that. Overture waa^c- JSa^Se^Sin found tli^ Academy »" of which the Pat audience ate cinlana.' meaning a n^ey or Puc- J^JJ^J^^^JJ*^^^ ^^^^f ^^^J^ „p. Between the Crawforda' or- cinl ah^ and_aria8. Beautiful mu- K^ ^^^^ amall audience found I little-of interest.. from indications. Even in the auinmer this hoiise I sometimes gete a pretty good play on Saturday matinees. Maybe of sic with sufilclent yarlatlona pos- sible for anybody. The orchestra, too. Is big enough and fine enough, to allow fbr almost anything. But somebody completely miscalculated l ^ . , t2™theatre's aSoi^ca. With more late they're getting more shopping, than SO violins and a dozen Or more minded and won t come in unless extra 'strings It's • inconceivable | the stage show looks to have Some, that the trumpete and brasses | thing of special interest to arouse should predominate, but .they do. I curiosity. " , , Entire effect' Is harsh and brash. I Headlining are Smle Golden's or- There's a constant blare. The-| chestra and Joe Browning. BroWn- strlngs. even, come out taut. when, alone. With one of the finest the- atre orchestras in the world, the overture sounds viery much like that given by a circiis bEuidi ■N o " Marriage Tie s' (R adio) on the screen., 'Kaufl Ing was standard for years, but he has'done that sermon thing so long and so much -of it is old istuff by now that the Saturday afternoon audience down here failed to relish it. CAPITOL, N. -Y. Browning has some new material, Including . a. preface around such topical matters as the president's eiE£ort-to ..create- more jobs,-bomblng , , of New York stock exchange, etc., Emerging from the final show or ^ut most of the old monolog still the opening (Friday) night, one of gtickg, in the selling. Browning the asst. managers made small- j^j^ ^j^^nged. talk with the girl in the box office Golden brings forth his radio and that 'it's certainly been a busy day recording orchestra, well Hnbwn and sure looks like some swell busl- around. Including in vaudevlHe, and Afn? Hm?- while a fairly good musical outfit, replied, 'Yep, its about time. it failed to show to best advantage Plenty of trade at the Ciap the h^re. Golden's outfit is set opening day; from 11:30 a. m. on oh a pretty bare stage is the first and should hold up, possibly into Ij^g^j^^jgj^p j„ entertainment appeal a holdover. At a half hour b^ore Uj^g attraction is also at odds, the the noontime opening the cop ^^^s, gp^^^j^j^ people carried being con squawking . to ^Manager ^Bmmett ^i^erably this side of sockful that the Une was too long^oundj trofhr^n a, the comer and Manager Bmmett suggested they make ' it a four - abreast lineup instead of double. Robert Montgomery is the two- P"?»v *f Pe^on and on^ the i batlc danper and a singer, neither of screen. Helea Hayes la co=BtaCTed I ^^^^^ iVi^Wflfl M -othef than mod- with him in the fllmlzation of 'An- other Ijaiiguage' (Metro) Ted. and Katbryn teamed up, do a couple dance num bers of which the shlm-sham-shlm- my is best, but not excitable. Two singles are also In the act,; an acrb Whom impf ess as "Other than mod erately fair. Joe Kelso (New Acts) is in the Show is very .oke all round, and center in his novelty magical three- tops the recent weeks hlgh-cal- ^^^^ comedians for laughs; ibred presentations at the Capitol. I ^^^jg^j seemed to get over better Something has. been happening to of the other four turns on the Cap stage shows of late for tJjg'gj^.^ they've been perked up surpr^^^^ 3„ ht comedy With a beaucoup value ImpressiorL l ^^^^ Browning's droll chat I. what Kelso dished out was LKSts of behind-the-foots' . d'ouvres and aU quality. Montgomery, Irene Purcell, Joe P6nner, Sims and Bailey, the Ches- -=---=t^--Hai3" (5ll'la=SBrd^Phil" Spitalny maestroihg. the Capitol orchestra are- the presentations "components. It bullda up nicely to Montgomery who finales with the fight scene from Noel Cbward's 'Private Lives' which he did on the screen. Miss Purcell, front stage and plx, who appeared with Montgomery in 'The Man in Possession' foils capably in ter, about all there was in the way of I laughs. No. 2 act.: MargQt and Ll.bby Robr, [bin (New Acts), two girls doing Irapressions without: much finish or finesse. Their diction is particular I ly bad. Opener, Five Wonder GIrls; dance quintet, who scored pretty f^IV I winding up with a fast group nuni bee. This act looks like one. that has been around ijhder another this scene, which . Is capitally done I name. Char. ^anlog and the pit overture con .ducted by Emory Deutsch, who solos on the fiddle, lies much of the strength In the current Paramount show. Rather than trimmings this \\-cek the house stuff la the most important part of the entertain- mentv Biffe. MET, BROOKLYN They're looking to Prime Camera to do big things for them here this week. He's in on a aimildr deal they gave him at the State in Man hattan four weeks l>efOre, |2,S00 and a percentage. Judging from the at- tflndaince a t the second Saturd ay matinee the big boy should do well by both the house . and . .himself, ipppulatioh of this borough Includes lots-of his cOimtrymerf and at the- aforesaid matinee they were there In heavy percentage, with a goodly portion of these made up of a class not doing the Met at as a regular thing. He even drew the gray- tressed femmes of the tribe. Along with the champ they've booked in one of thpise sO-so bills. For those whose main point of in- terest was the mastodon plier of the dukes sitting through much of what came-before likely proved an ordeal. On the screen there's "The Stranger's Return' (Metro). Presentation of the Camera do ings is not ais stilt and formal here iats at the Stiate. There's more Of the fierce grunting an^. scowling and general, conveying, of the freak facets of the attraction and less of the silly quizzing about, age, predl lectlonsjand: whatnot.. „Harry, Rose doubles over with the next to clos ing spot and helps lift the Preem's contribution to the proportions of a wallop of a. comedy act. For the fadeout punch Rose dons a pair of trunks with a big red ribbon ap- pended and clowns with Carnera through a set of fisticuffs. Rose here fully Juatlfled his InclusIorTTn the bill. In the preceding niche Rose did well enough b>r himself arid gath ered the giggles. , :Deuce-innln g. had .Smith^.and JHart Working" hard at their tomfoolery and frequently scforihg. Filling' Ih as the fifth act, was the Carrie, Eddy and SarnofC filash,. with mixed trio uncorking some deft adagio acrobatics, Alfred Brower still specializing in the hock step and a Russian dialect m.c. doing an unfunny, job for the major part of thb act's proceedings. ' , Vdee. pXaaad. At the Luxer Pathe has an ex- clusive map study and lecture, by Mattern on his fiight. Embassy Sat mat, audience mjust have been in an irreverent, mood. It received Alraee'a blessing from Los Angeles with giggles and it roared through several clips at the honeat popcorn vendor in Rye who found a pearl necklace, tiirnbd it in without know- ing its value, and finally decided to let reward money rust in the bank. Probably the most sensational of tennis subjects brought to the screen was the fainting of Ellsworth Vines. Camera followed him from "Srtall to-tho-TCoUapse. -Openlng-o^ track at Saratoga Was alao weai covered, crew getting focal range so as' to have audience feel it "waa riding neck and. neck "rtrlth the win- ner. Vanderbilt yacht race at New- TRANSLUX stirring views of striking Penn- sylvania miners hurling stones arO in marked contrast to the NBA sen- timent and insigiua widely public^ ized by Pathe on tbe Luxer screen; Benefits of the new deal are told by various employees. Covering the other side of the story seems a com- mendable habit of the Pathe boys. .. Everyone suddenly remembered Pussyfoot JobnsoA when Pathe re- vived him this week. His prediction Jiat the country would go on 'a flve- year drunk' and then return to its senses would have bieen better ap- preciated in the Embassy thaa the Luxer. Paramount's coverage of Agua Caliehte'a first ostrich race, witb jockeys being precipitated at every other foot, provided a different aub- :ect and some worthwhile laughs. Chiropractors' idea of a T^nus, like French. Jousting and McPhersOo. is getting to be as regular aa beauty contests. Any gymnast wHo will go In for oddities is certain of attracting Universal'a attention. Currently it has a muscle man doing tricks above a Colorado gorge. While In the air U also caught the plane which picked up mail at Washing- ton while trskveUng at great speed. Pathe sent a cameraman dowii to view the wreck of a treasure ship. Either it cut the footage toQ;£lose^ or else the worker didn't have many, opportunltiea. The audience found It nothing like Hollywood's under- water depiction of wrecks. Citre- mony of the King's awaos aAd a glee club were English offerings. Pathe included in the program a special on the World's Fair. This is the moat complete coverage "yet turned^jn ^rom_Chibago.^:.It lncor-._ pbrates- many- slants which have been seen by aindlences before and at the same time has originality: Subject of this kind, however, (Can do more to sell the Fair than all of thb billboards and publicity. Ws7i/. port waa also exciting and an |ex-^ cellent camera Job. Embassy led off with arrival of President and Mrs; Roosevelt at Hyde Park. It followed this "with an appeal by Mrs. Roosevelt' to ^.the small employer on the NBA pro- gram. Other Emb clips, and a Magic Carpetr-^Alpine - Echoes^^^ncluded j Al Smith and Joe Laurie, Berlin cops, international police chief con- vention, rodeo, French Jousting, Schmelling and trlde, champagne. Woly. ALBEE, BROOKLYN Brooklyn woke up thia week end; with all theatres coming out of the slough and grrosses jumping In all houses. Albee got Its share, Sat- urday matlness business being big. Good deal of that Is due to George Raft's Brooklyn pull, film being 'Midnight Club' . (Par). Show is comparatively .ordinaryr Phil Fabello, for his overture, puts on a masterly musical Interpreta' tlon . of Paul Whiteman'a career, which is in good taste on the 'week ^hen-Whlteman-realized-One- of-his greatest ambitions, his Orchestra being combined With the Philhar mbnic of New York for_a^tadium concert; ~~ ' Sammy Krevbtf starts proceed ings. His is one of the best dance acts in vaudeville and it seemed a shame to haye him' start the show. With the current lineup of acts there happens to be no other suitable spot for Kreyoff, but that's sllU unfair. Lester Cole; with bis 12 vocalists closes the show. Cole has played the Albee twice before this year aiid has been at the Par- amount, around the corner. His act was orily a fair one at. best, his pro- grani of .four songa being, badly chosen and poorly routined. - In the deuce is Frank Richardson, whose .coon shouting goes under the head of. singing: these days. Nice snappy routine of numbers, pleasant personality and speed put Richardson over pretty solidly. Al most a show stopper. Ire.ne Rich centers the show in an anaemic dramatic sketch. May bb her nanie means something at the box office. That would be an excuse for the turn. Next to shut is. held by Medley and Duprey, noisy low comedy. turn. Show needed noise at abbiit this stage of affairs, sb swell. Not the least . disturbing, thing about Cole's closing turn is that he .'jtarts_^hlng3 by_ singing 'Bll Eli "ISxcuse for~"tTiafl; sbenilnisly 'liET'lTiaf- his choir and he have a bunch of Arabian costumes to use and the Arabian cOstunies fit over the soldier quits' they use later on and the only sbng Cole can think of that fits Arabian costumes is 'EH Eli.' .It fits about as well as the soldier suits do for the next number, 'River, Stay Away from My. Door.' Kauf. STATE, N. Y. Outside of thie fact that the ^ow runs longer than the recent .Club Osterman, Vabibtz's cub columnist demonstrates that as a newspaper man he la an ace maater-'bf . cere-^ monies. He ahould be by thia time. Look at the number of benefita be's played .this season. Anyhow, the Jack Osterman show at the State frames as ^ood entertainment and when it geta down to right length it la likely to turn out one Qf the best in spite of the fact that out- side of Osterman, the Diamond'Boya ^e-theTbireest-namenon7-the--bill, with no sock femme name to dra'W' and for Osterman to play With; , not that _he doesn't make the most of Tils bpportunltles with wha;Cbe has. " Opening show stretched over two hours. Jack forgetting it was not another benefit. Second show was about 95 min., with the aim to; cut to 6S, which could be done If he remembers it's a schedule show and doesn't get too many; encores for the turns/ ■'"""" - - Osterman cuts his own tiira down to the bone, just a little chatter, with 'Stringing Along on a Shoe- string*, over for average and an imitation of a Harlem hl-yeller g;irl singing 'Brother Can Tou -Spare a Dime' that's a gem. He should bold that back to walk oft with. For the rest he pervaded the .shbw, ihtroing. the acts and brlniglng them back for a nod or .an encore. Opening Is Burno, Whiteside, and. Anita, three girl dancers, a, inale dancer and pianist who plays the accompaniments with gestiiries. He gets more enthuislastlc than the au- dience does over the bits. Under New Acts, since the formation and title have, been changed. Deuce goes to Alice Dawn, out of musicdi comedy and only |h her sec- ond Week in vaude. Also under New Acts. Osterman got her on and off nicely' and did a bit of clowning With her, " but it takea a s&usohcd -trouperi^to—stooge^ .for^^hls^rough.. comedy and he waa easy on the newcomer, though eftectlve. enough. Stratford and, Mayberry, who are the seventh or iseventeenth ■ team of girls to do the walking back from a ride gag, got few laughs during the turn but did surprisingly well on the ,oxlt. One of the girls has (Continued on page 30)