Variety (Sep 1933)

16 VARIETY VARIE¥¥ HOUSE REVIEWS Tuesday, September 5, 1933 MUSIC HALL, N. Y. Giant showshop puts on a smaller eUow than usual, using its stage for but two numbers, but when it's all added up there are two and a half hour's entertainment, enough body to fill requirements. Each of the two stage presentations, separated by a 'Silly Symphony' short, has considr- erable rolled into a whole and while it may seem more is being delivered here wh^n it's all split up, only the analytical will even think of that. It may be a cbeater, in a way, from the sta,ge department for these eeven days, but that license may be excused if for no other reason than that the powers which operate this Boyle's 30 Acres are varying the irbutine of the shows a little. The type of shows to which a • theatre like the Hall adheres could become tiresome if holding too closely to any set formula. Three different, niunbers are sent out' Under the head of 'Divertisse- ment Iristitutional' this week. The- t!,tre announces, in its connection, that 'we are presenting our institu- tional units in a group of divertisse- ments.' They are, first, the ballet corps; second, the choral ensemble and, thirdly, the Rpxyettes. Revolving stage mechanism carries each gi'oyp out as its turn to put in an appear- ance arrives. Thus, there are no entrances nor exits by Way of the wings with lone exception of Jane Sproule, whose ballet number ac- companies "the singing. Patricia Bowman is oh first with the ballet group, which is carried dff on the moving floor circle as the op- posite side begins to bring on the mixed chorus and a featuring duet. It's here that Miss Sproule comes on from the wings, departing by the same route. ' Miss Bowman, just back from a vacation down on Long Island, works as though the rest she has had did her a world of good. Not that'she previously had shown any ballot breakdown. Far fi-om it. But the ballerina's' new -routine, by her- self as the re.^t Cape the stage, is one of the most impressive she has done. It's called 'Air de Ballet' and calls for some ingenious choreog- raphic figures. In addition to this institutional color,' Roxy shows off his pit orches- tra, saying the number 'is arranged to show the virtuosity of the follow- ing first chair i_embers of our or- chestra,' with names listed. Lead- ing musicians of the crew are per- mitted to take the spot for solo bits. The plan has lent the symphonic or- ganization a degree of intimacy such a bunch of musical stalwarts seldom invite. And the boys get billing— that's something new, too. Erno Rapee has chosen 'Carnival de Ven- ice' for the experiment, a piece that lends itself aptly to the miscel- laneous solo instrumental bits color- ing the overture. The second stage complement, Just ahead of the feature picture, is an impression from 'Alice in Won- derltuid,' which includes several characters from this fantasy. In the staging, this presentation number takes its place beside some of the best yet. Contour curtain, operated by the Intricate system of 13 little motors, comes Into use handily and effec- tively, pulling up at downstage right to first reveal a trio singing an ap- propriate introductory and later at left to find Alice being escorted on the way to the wonderland she's to discover. Up comes the mechanical curtain from the center, onto a stage filled With 'Alice in Wonderland' atmos- phere and characters. There are sundry dance bits by animal and insect characters, all for the pleas- ure of little Alice. Upst^-ge is a huge book, its cover pointing sky ward. After the ballet corps, front ed by six girls doi..g tap routines on toes, have completed their assign- ment, the flyleaf of the 'Alice in Wonderland' book opens to reveal a castle. Through its practical en trance come the Roxyettes, garbed fancifully as guards, for a smart routine that begins to bring up the finale. Everyone finally disappears to leave Alice alone on the stage, about to awaken from her dream. From out of the foots emerges a wall of tleam, representing clouds that en- gulf her as the curtains bring the cleverly devised and stage number to its conclusion. Feature this week, 'One Man's Journey' (RKO), with Lionel Barry- more topman. Lone shorts filler, a •Silly Symphony' in Technicolor, is •Lullaby Land.' There are no trail- ers on the iscreen over here. Unlike others, house saves the screen strictly for entertainment, using the papers or other means to advertise It J coming show. May be wrong, as aome operators see it, but can't be so far from right when the trailer habit has reached the point in most theatres where they might as well hand out a book, with every other chapter missing, of the next picture. Or waste, between five and 10 min- utes with repetitious trailer ma- terial. No wonder shorts producer arc hollering. Trailers are ruining their business. Char. CAPITOL, N. Y. The Cap evidences that the fall show season has begun, Yasha Bunchuk in impeccable formal tails and his augmented grand orchestra in formal tuxSs are back for the overtures following six weeks of al fresco maestroing by Phil Spittalriy and his bunch. But apart from this manifesta- tion it's the same 61' Capitol type of show. Ray Bolger 1? back on an- other lap of his Broadway stock en- gagement. Co-boldfaced with him iii the ad material is Everett Mar- shall, who clicked in 'Scandals' and won another operetta assignment, the short-lived 'Melody* as a result, and who evidences that he's best grooved in a production. Possessed of a robust baritone and aa^ engaging front, Marshall handicapped himself unduly by a wrong selection of numbers. It was inevitable that he*d do a routine en- core of 'That's Why Darkies Were Born' (which song brought him first to attention in 'Scandals'), hence it was a mistake to use a similar type song, 'Home to Harlem,' as his second number. 'Night and Day,' the opener, was the best suited to him. • That 'Song of Long Ago,' the third ditty, let him off weakly. Fur- thermore, it's still a mistake, no matter how well intentioned It may be, for an m.c. to give any per- former such a ne plus ultra intro- ductory as did Bolger. Cass, Mack and Owen with their hard-working, well-primed knock- about funstering fought their way to the outstanding applause hit of the bill. Sibyl Bowman's protean routine was unevenly divided iii Its effectiveness.. Introed. as the suc- cessor to Elsie Janis for mimicry, she doesn't handicap' herself any when going In for lavish wigs and get-up. That carries the 'Impres- sion' thing a bit further than the accepted routine for that sort of presentation. The wigs helping the Illusions no little, she was fairly effective with the histrionics. Chester Hale Girls showed some interesting terps, including a nifty lumnious paint idea In 'Learn to Croon,' which, after its a bit more smoothly routined, will be a clicker. The girls were still a little ragged on the final show of the opening day. Virginia and Mary Drane, vir ollnlsts, are featured in the Bun- chuk orchestral presentation. 'Broadway to Hollywood' (Metro) on the screen. The backstaire theme was ballyhooed with an ad- vance Thursday midnite premiere for the benefit of the show bunch. It gave the film an effective sendoff, parjticularly for the Square, since they were talking about It all day Friday, the normal opening day. The theme would appeal particular- ly to the Broadway bunch which njade It an exceptionally effective bid for good-will, and they got It, too. No trailers this week, not even for next week's feature, due seem- ingly to 'Penthouse' being lobby- displayed as coming while the printed program heralds 'Beauty for Sale,' indicating a booking switch. Stage show seemingly also not sufficiently set for advance bally. That's something, as the Cap has been given to the most super- lative of bombastic builder-uppers for its next week's attractions. In heralding 'Broadway to Hollywood' the house last week took a needless chance in raving that it was stak- ing its good-will upon that picture. As it developed, seemingly the fea- ture is there, although no panic. In view of the type of patron the Cap gets, the house should be above that thing. Only the newsreel with the screen feature. . Aheh cally the opening turn. They are an international trio of dancers— two girls and a man, and have a number of 'holds' new over here. The man does some neat stepping with the two women and all of them have solo turns. Harris Twins and Loretta were nicely placed in the second half and gave every indication their impor- tation is a good Investment. Two standard acts over here helped ma- terially in contributing comedy— Klmberly and Page and Cai'yll and Munday. Both have new a,cts—or nearly so. Both can be relied upbn to make good. Business relatively poor, despite an excellent variety entertainment. Weather was in favor of the house; but It undoubtedly suffered from the terrific opposition of the Radio Show at Olympla, which Is-attract- ing thousands of visitors dally. Jolo.. WARFIELD, FRISCO San Francisco, Sept. 1. Stage name this week is Ted Fio- Rito's dance band from the Hotel St. Francis here, due to return there Sept. 12 after a six months' absence. Band does a pleasing 30 minutes, mostly of the tunes that have been done In the hotel dining room and over the air. Also a new one the band did In the RKO short just completed. FIoRito maestros while seated at the piano, garbed In a white suit, while 12 musicians and singers wear afternoon outfits. Particular atten- tion Is paid to sounds FioRIto carry- ing his own technician, who sets up and controls the four mikes on stage —one for the singers, one on the piano for FloRito, and one on either side for strings and reeds. Only trouble with all those -mikes Is that the house line of 18 girls can't do much with their two routines except hop back and forth. In addition to the dozen men in the band FioRlto brings on Lief Erickson, a long, high one, who bar- itones several, tunes to near show- stopping returns. Muzzy Marcel- lino steps out of the band for nu- merous assignments to neatly war- ble several songs, work In a trio, and accompany as guitarist. Betty Grable, cute blonde, chants coupla numbers, and Bill Carey does sev- eral hot tunes. No -other acts on the show, bal- ance of the entertainment burden falling on Jan Rubini, who, from the pit and preceding the presenta- tion, does a violin solo with ef- fective orchestral and organ back- ground. Pic, 'Three Cornered Moon* (Par) with H-M news and a Terrytoon cartoon. Biz okay. BocJc. NEWSREELS taa. EMBASSY With one ticket a buyer currently can cover the general news j^ro- grams of both houses, they are al- most that similar. Emb, however, has a mai'ked quantity edge. Emb augments the Roosevelt horseshow with views of the Presi- dent addressing neighbors, and a third shows him reviewing the Peekskill guard. Exiles returning to Havana, Ray- mond Moley explaining his reason for resigning, small yacht race ott California coast, Chicago horserace, Luna bike rider, St. Stephan's Day in Austria, L. A. wrestling. Ocean City '3abe parade, RKO beaut strug- gle, and several others—they're all the same. Sham air attack over Tokyo Is one of the most interesting military maneuvers screened, since It In- cludes the populace and shows' how every citizen must act in the event of the real thing, Nazi kid army taking the pledge is a massive subject, showing blocks of youngsters, as far as the camera eye could see,, taking the arm up gyration. Best, and probably the first screen travesty of McPherson, is that at- temped by Tex Guinan. She scores an immediate laugh because In some respects she has Aimee man- nerisms. Instead of passing out dimes Heckscher clicks his heels in the air on his late birthday. Bit o2 drama from the Secretary of War Is generally covered, the of- ficial baring statistics on crime and TRANSLUX Wreck of the Golden State Ltd, leads off the program. Pathe evi- dently beat the Fox boys because the subject was not In the Em- bassy Saturday. But the Luxer was a week behind the Emb on Atlantic storm detail, Including the Washing- ton wreck, the Paramount coverage being almost a duplicate of F-H's, Father Coughlin's indictment of Michigan banking was recorded by Par. The priest's statement on the screen was as concise and decisive as his voice Is -known to radio listeners. Where the Embassy softened Helen Wills Moody's default Luxer roughened It with Par's titles de- scribing her as 'Pokerface.' Novelty obstacle race In Paris, logging and jousting in Italy were among Universal contributions, Pathe had the new speed boat which. England Intends to enter against Wood, with an explanatory talk by the navigator. Wdly, calling promulgators the 'scarlet army.' Luna Park exploitecrs seem to have about exhausted their supply of gags so, for the benefit of the newsreels, they staged a kissing contest. Not enough In it, however, for censor objection. Another appeal from the APLi head to the country to comply with the NRA shows that Green is be- coming an actor. He waves his hand around In Haysian style as he reads from an mss. French beaut contest, Shubert rehearsal, auto race, Canadian women swimmers are others. Walp, STATE, N. Y. PALLADIUM, LONDON London, Aug. 22. Through a falling out of an im- ported headliner, the Palladium found itself minus a big feature, and proceeded to make one. It took Christopher Stone, who reviews gramophone records for one of the big dailies and also broadcaets. His comments and the playing of rec ords were not in itself of any great moment, but in a sort of in and out fashion he was blended in with El sie Carlisle and Sam Browne, with Bert Read and Slim Wilson at the piano, who come from -Ambrose's band at the Mayfair hotel. Then, to put a definite clinch on the turn, house requisitioned Vic Oliver, as- sisted by Margot Crangle, brought In from one of the out-of-town houses, and whose piano playing and kidding was a mop-up. All told, bill had 13 acts. They gave a first rate variety show and the applause extended them to point where a couple of the acro- batic turns had to be omitted, ow ing to lack of time. On Monday night, the second house, program was due to begin at 9 o'clock. The first audience were still in their seats at five after. Among the newcomers was Mickey King, , who makes a valiant effort to duplicate the turn which was BO popular for years as done by the late Lilian Leltzcl. Opening the second half, she was not happily placed. Karris', Claire and Shannon was another turn to suffer from bad spotting. Following the permanent troupe of girls, they were practi Excellent attendance for the sec- ond successive Friday night, but this time the picture, 'Gold Diggers' (Warners) is the draw. Stage show, although good playing entertain- ment throughout, has no outstand-' ing name. Film runs longer than the average; partly countered by the acts cutting. Bill ran about an hour and a quarter, with total per- formance lasting a half hour longer than average. Show has diversified band enter- tainment In the Barney Rapp out- fit, two good comedy teams in the Walter Wahl duo and Collins and Peterson, class dancing by Gam- barelli, a good single in Jerome Mann and the. well-known Alf W, Loyal canine turn/ Rapp, again at the New Yorker hotel, naturally enough Includes a week at the State. His musicians are good workers and it's likeable though familiar stuff. At present there are five girls in the act. Three California Redheads have group of tap variations smartly routined There is another girl hoofer with an acrobatic fiair. Babe Miller with blues songs, also a colored stepper. Closing the show Rapp ^a.ve both a scoring performance and a fiash Walter (Dare) Wahl and Emmett Oldfield drew the edge in laughs, on third. The comedy acrobatics give each man about an even break, with the front of the house not knowing which Is which. Only In the billing is there a difference. Collins and Peterson were fifth, a spot In which they hacL no trouble In delivering. As always, Marty Collins' cornet bit landed best. He said they should be held over and several mugs applauded. Maria Gambarelll was the works With her toe numbers and on ap- pearance. Bert Prlval served well enough while she changed; Al Evans at the piano also announced the nUmi)ers, but his speech was not clear enough for a house of this size. Jerome Mann was announced as presented by NBC. He scored roundly with impressions of stage and radio names. They liked his Bernle bit, but it was the Bcrnie stylo and material rather than the yocal imitation. He was much bet ter doing Wynn and Jessel. Loyal's dogs opened and made it snappy House announced the new .season (show opening Sept. ,1). With 'Tug boat Annie' the feature next week looks a cinch for the State to carry the pace... Jbee. SHEA'S, TORONTO ' Toronto, Sept. 3. After 10 weeks of darkness Shea's Hippodrome, celebrates its 34th birthday by returning to the old vaude-pic policy that made the stand the leading vaudeville spot in this city for decades. With the re- opening 60 people have jobs. When Jerry Shea closed the house because musicians refused to take a cut, this left Loews' Montreal, the only straight vaude house In the Dominion. Saturday night here saw standees jammed at the rear for the last show, in addition to lobby stand-outs. Dan Dlneen Is out as pit-band leader with Clarence Causton taking the baton. The only survivor of the old pit band line-up is Ernie Barnes, piano player. Kath- leen Stokes is at the organ being lured from the Uptown after a holi- day in England that drew BBC in- vites. Jerry Shea is still head-man in the asesmbly of the Hipp vaude program, with Walter Grayson back as house manager. Policy has eight acts of vaude and feature fiicker, newsreel and comedy. Opening at 6&c top had 96 minutes of vaude, with 'Three Cornered Moon' (Par) going 75. Last show, starting at 25 p. m. had the customers leav- ing at 12:30. Tepmting bait of opening week will take the house well over the average. There was no depression budget and reception to most of the acts threatened to jam the proceed- ings on time. Three Blue Streaks, man and two femmes in blue and sequins, open in a roller-skating act that scores. Then Al Nord and Jeannle for cross-chat with fat boy registering with his banjo playing and diminu- tive Jeannle unlimberlng torch songs that are amazing in vocal range for one so small. Roxy Gang third, individually un- billed, two men and two women in formal garb, for light musicomedy selections and then into classics with a 'Rigoletto' quartet finale. Ed- die Conrad closes the first half with piano-clowning and pawing of Lotta Miles, svelte blonde in white, whose appearance is half the battle. Cus- tomers were loath to let the pair go. Then Pablo in 'one* for card ma- nipulations, preceded by his disap- pearing stick, the lad in top hat and tails. Works the first half of act with .gloves, palming showing no mishaps and socking home. Finale is the clgaret bit, reminis- cent of Cardini, except that Pablo brings out the lighted clggic at the finish in six-inch holder. Dave Jones and Co. is next on the dance end with Peggy Fee doing an eccentric, Jean and Joyce trail- ing with a miniature stair dance and Jones and an unbilled girl next with a ballroom tap, novel and well received. Then Lewis and Van for a hook-step finale, whole dance of- fering getting r grand reception. Frbda and Palace are next to closing in their standard act, in strumontal classics and pops and blue harmony,- -and going over. Closer i.s the Five Gay Boy.s in a timbling and loeter-board act, with thrllUhg shoulder .stands and chair catches. McBtay, CHINESE, L. A. Hollywopd, Aug. 29. There's a flock of class in Sid Grauman's prolog to 'Dinner at Eight,' but with a picture that runs more than two hours, embellished by a Pete Smith short and a Mickey Mouse cartoon, the stage end of the program needs considerable cutting-. Opening night, the performance (prolog and pic) started at 9:1(^« broke at 1:15 a. m., and there were no holdups. Prolog Is In two sections. First half represents entertainment of the 90's, latter half Is modern' theatre. Setting for the first part is similar to the piece used by Fred Karno In his 'Night In an English Music Hall' with occupied boxes on either side of the stage. Orchestra In the pit all wear handlebar muffs, indulge in musical renditions of the period Including 'Over the Waves' as a trumpet solo, triple tongueing and everything. Overture got away to a great start with a fiock of the names in the audience having their memories jogged by remembering earlier days. Opening has the line girls doing an old-fashioned can-can routine In front of an advertising drop. Fol- lowing are the Three Cossacks* skaters. Trio has three fast rou- tines, gets tho show off to a hot start. Next is the 'Florodora' sex- tet singing 'Oh, Tell Me Pretty Maiden.' This is another laugh getter for the old-timers. Ruth Harrison and Alex Fisher follow In a slow waltz Which can be elim- inated. Team is to classy tp have it opening with this dance, particu- larly considering the Impressionistlo dance in the second half which stops the show cold. Latter effort is the same routine they did with 'Strike Me Pink' in New York last season. Class performers, they should do, something in pictures while on the Coast. Radio Rubes next. Quartet slow to start, build to a strong finish with their hoke vocalizing, but stay on too long. Offering should be limited to three numbers. George Prentiss and his Punch and Judy "show fol- low. Prentiss scores with his rasp-= berry bit. Harrison and Fisher open the sec- ond half of the prolog with their 'Manhattan Serenade,' Working In white silk costumes before a black eye, they exude class from start to finish. Kitchen Pirates follow, with a control kick number by the line. Adagio quartet knocks the opening night audience silly with sensa- tional catches. Gary Leon catcher for the group, rates consideration from pictures. Buck and Bubbles, next to clos- ing. Colored team indulges In too much stalling, taking the edge oi£ their work. Chatter is hard to hear in the 4arge house with the address system off. Later when the loud speakers went into action, lads got a better break, but the stalling con- tinued. Closing is a 'happy days are here again' affair, a good finish for the prolog with everybody working in a routine .similar to 'Forgotten Man' from '(4old Diggers.' Cut from 75 minutes.to about 50.. prolog should be one sock following . another. Call.