Variety (Sep 1933)

Titestilay,. Septeipber 5t 195$ E VIC WS VARIETY SI PARAMOUNT, N. Y. (Continued from page 17) belies their difficulty, is fascinating 1 as a highly developed specialty. Roy Smeck comes through the cars of hard times that have sent countless singles into flash acts and erships with his solo musical turn unaltered. He stills works with no other props than a straight makeup and the banjo, and he makes it an item on any program. His banjo playing is capital enter- tainment, the guitar harmonics match anything of the kind in allowed to linger too long and work too slowly. Only fast turns should | be used and hustled along. At the end of this a:ct curtains I closed in, lights went on for a min- ute and customers began leaving. ORPHEUM, L. A. Los Angeles, Sept 2. Vaudeville came back to the Or- pheum after a lapse of more than, a vcar7of"hard ti'merthi^^^^^^^ " apparent that 1 Snure^'frim th"e" onVtlm?1L ^A. cSSntljL s^Sles^So flash aJ^ pit outfit was trying Krariety deluxer. Now It's 10 acts, pSfnSit '^J.ith hi^^^^^^ tirnf o'u^r g^ood^yTt'^^^^^^^^^ '''\^^T\r ^'""'rT' f,?"^""' t.ipn i,niiitPr*^rt. w« «Mlis works I *A ^^^^^ ^^Lliof «,sfK 'o.l,^^' innumerable trailers, at two-bits a of Irish melodies, with some sing- throw on a grind policy that threat- ing and bits. For a finish a dozen g^s to disrupt the rest of the dowri- or so girls appear again in Irish U^^n theatrical map. And they outfits, and back Df a screen, danc- throw in free parking all day ing an Irish folk dance wtih one of the Fabello-ites singing. Towards the end, lights dim, girls disappear vaudeville for musical quality, and and the. feature film 'Paddy' (Fox) the finger drum'ming on the back of a ukelele in imitation of Bill Rob- inson's tap routines makes an excel- lent climax finish to a. trim moment of entertainment. Girl line does a lot for the whole show. Opening is an engaging nov- elty. Sixteen pairs of stockinged legs are thrust through a cut drop of black velvet, doing a legmania shown on the screen. Not- a bad idea, as ideas go, but mighty clum- sily handled and unfair to the Fa- bello^ orchestra. No way of letting m Initial show opening day (today) ran a full four hours, and with a noon start bill had the house man- agement fretting how it could squeeze in four complete perform- ances and take care of the holdouts. Orpheum was once the pride and the customers know thit the show f S^"^^*™*" to f^l isn't over when Fabello starts ^oas* and for years was to this playing a tune with no stage action territory what the Palace stood for knd they naturally walk. in New York. Now the old atmos- Up ahead of the first act are a Pl^ere is gone, albeit the same elab v^.v... a, x^s».«i»« 1 series of trailers. This house has orate furnishings remain, and it s routine. Arms appear presently, and always suffered frpm traileritis and a direct P^av for the hoi poloi rather ' now no better than ever. Theatre is than for the reserved . seat cus- runnirig' several kinds of contests, tomers, to whom Vaude was a tradi all announced via screen, which tion. ^ make it that much worse. Budgctted at close to the SPl.OOO Biz Saturday second sho^^ only mark, Bert Levey did a swell job fair, n.s.g. for Brooklyn, which-gen-I of booking for the opening stanza erally eats 'up Saturday matinees. Kauf. finally girls themselves come into view for arm, leg and head drills. Sight more girls are oUt in front, to be Joined shortly by the group be- hind the drop, and all go into a Charleston, which serves to bring Draper on. His finish on the ped estal puts a period to the dance number, Smeck takes up the running out In 'one' while the stage is set, pav ing the way for an agreeable com- edy number by Miss Knight alter nating between a, demure lass in long skirts and a hotcha hip wrig gler with a trip slit skirt that ex G. O. H., N. Y. and provided 10 well balanced acts, several of -them of steller quality With each of the turns pruned to the bone, in order to keep the en tire proceedings inside tbei hour and a half mark, and with the usual opening day lapses, such as un necessary stage waits, missed cues and other worries, first performance did not run as smooth as caii be looked for later on But for-the tworbit customers it is soup, meat and dessert combined. For the. "Grand Opera House, what they have' here this week makes a perfect stage layout. Whether in tended or not there is no cluttering up of the attention with • anything ploits all of opera-length stockings I suggesting class. It's entertainment and a wicked garter. Backing the cut down and molded to mass funda idea up. the girls are on with cos- mentals and the congregation on , T»romi<!<»i. nf thp. new tumes brief in front and trailing hand for ,the unveiling matinee k-^df^^fli^^th^ P^^^ skirts behind working into a line Saturday exercised no restraint that ^^^^tF^^^SnSfn^^^ bit it was all up their alley and they hiubsi<i of Principal) that it wm De 'were having a swell time. The town's greatest entertainment vaUie house may have been booked ac- The capacity mob, with hea^ ho.d- cording to pattern, but those opr out, that greeted the first show erating know what they're about would augUr financial success In and the capacity mob a.t th6 Satur- I big letters, day matinee sufficed as telling-testi mony to the observation. In the picture, 'Hold Your Man' (Metro),, the G.Q.H. has. another item of particularly strong support for the boxoffice here. Aside from the stars involved it's a subject mat Follows the Fay-Knight duo in what would be next-to-closing in a straight vaudeville program posi tion, and a production number by Miss Knight backed up by the girls for a mild climax. Costuming of the line and a striking wardrobe worn by Miss Knight help vastly to give the show color and tone. It is bril llant costuming, for instance, that saves a dull finish, -with Miss Knight a picture in one of those new mer^ maid gown models, and the line re splendent in frocks of a sightly tone JUst off pink, Practically all acts comprising the bill have be6n seen hereabouts frequently, some of them, in recent weeks, but from the standpoint of vaude it -was corking- good e.nter tainment. Only real mar to the show was the inability of Walde ter that the clientele over in the mar Gutterson and lils orchestra to Eighth avenue regions can easily live up to the rest of the bill, cotton to; all of which better than'l Joy and Lazzerone open with Tnvont 1b overboard on trailers indicates a hefty set ot figures for some trick and fancy roller skating, ♦kTI ™ir Tpfrot thprf thA NRA the present combination. Rounding fbUowed by Claire Brothers and Siiv-« ^nlf-J loni «niou^?p out the screen fare is the usual Lee. two boys and a girl, in several ?Sh.o^w^o^S^r newsreel and a 'Krazy Kat' cartoon, tap dancing routines. Fhrst comedy ment Qf forthcoming Paramount re- | " ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ smooth is provided by Danny Beck, in trey action with Kluting's Animals, with spot, who gives some amusing im- the menagerie embracing a neat set -personations of picture names and of dogs and cats and even a rabbit, winds up with his familiar drum and With the kids the act was a push- drum stick routine, ovar. It is all brightly routined Next come the Vitaphone Four even though the stunts run close to (Four Gobs) with a nifty harinony ^ leases naming half a dozen coming I 'soons and last a regulation length ] trailer for next week's attraction, •Song of Songs*. Last named is a good bit of .advertising, most of the scenes in action and m6st of the ad the fiash which was handed him on the split caught Wednesday night, an amateurish audition billed as 'Dance Tours.' It's the kind of act that would drive his film pat- ronage away. The energetic indie exhlb running this old timer may be aware of that danger. When he took a look at the show sent him by George God- frey, who's booking it this time in- stead of the Dows, he decided to let it open the show, get It out of the way, and close with Scooter Lowry, 'Our Gang* kid. It made for an odd running or- der, with William Seabury next to. Closing, but nothing else could be done unless the Hanlon Bros, in their novelty act had been saved for the close. Lowry could then have been in the middle of the bill. Kid's act of talking and dance steps, Seabury's comedy melange with the stooge ..and the. Hanlon Bros.' trick hoofery all fair enough for type of drawn here. Paxton (New Acts), a memory expert, on second and over with this mob, but Inclined to be theatrical and stagey, It hurts his performance and re- ception. Goldman is paying around $800 for «ach show, using five acts on a split, with changes Wednesday and Saturday. This show is his second in. First was headed by Jean Be dlni, and, says Goldman, increased his normal business by 40%. That's 4)artly encouraging him to spend a few hundred dollars more for-each bill. But unless the shows, though costing more, attain a .certain standard, even the common folks living behind the Circle toward »th and 10th avenues won't keep up that 40% increase. Prices aris 2Bc mats and 35c e-ye- nings as against 15c and ?5c, pre- viously with straight films. Char. against an animated background of the picture itself. Orchestra dressed In rhumba cda- tume and the o-vierture is a medley of spirited Cuban numbers, empha sizing the swinging 'Cubalero' and y^^:Vf!?«-i^^L^.!?L^^i"lP^^^^^^^ Laugh bits, also singing turn that includes a semi- of the conventional category, are spiritual unusually well done. Bass nipely interpolated and added to the singer Is particlarly effective and turn's favor is the dressing given quartet registers solidly. Movie It along with the personable ways hand Revue is a four-act put to of the ringmaster. • gether by Bob Gilbert that Is long _ ^ , Helen Honan, spotted here in on intricate hoofing and somewhat ♦Mama Inez. -V®*?®^ t,^*]^^ deuce, has everything in her favor 'deficient in song, but the whole well Deutsch's soloing, in the Roblnoff j^^^ a voice. Plus the looks, figure blended. Act Is well dressed and the manner, of 'Cuban Love Song is a ^^j^^ a fiair for wearing clothes the Uwo boys (including Gilbert), and two highlight. Ruan. I gjpi packs an Impressive talent for gjris work hard and satisfactorily. mimicry. Neither at talking nor Morales Brothers, pair of comedy Al R1717 RDOOITI YN I singing do the pipes carry far- or n^ugidans, are the first sock act i\M^DMltML.f Divv/v/EVi^ M. resonantly. But when It comes to and mop up, using- the same routine There's always something new makeup and Impersonation of man- caught at another downtown possible. It isn't always good, but nerisms the stufl: is all there m rich house a few weeks ago. Class it's n^w. That, at least, seems to be assortment. Her Mae West takeoff bicycle act comes next, presented the theory here this week. With the turned out her best bit, while the J Paul Gordon with Fay LeRoy new thing a simple matter of mov- Durante and Zasu Pitts sketchings assisting. Gordon works in full ing the overture. Everybody always also tickled them. It was a resound- evening attire and his work is far has the overture played to begin ing vote they gave her on the way removed from the customary cut- the show, but at the Albee this off with the palm pounding easily and-dried. cycling, week the overture closes the show, meriting an encore, and that sne Blossom Sisters (duo) are comedy Just a new idea. . bestowed, drawing on the Charlie harmonists, who have a weak open- Afltalr starts with Ferry Corwey, Chaplin shuffle and tap sh,e used- to j^^g number, but a Spanish singing, musical clown, who's fairly amus- do in an act with her folks. Were dancing routine for a finish that's ■ she endowed with a- voice hers' • - • • would be fast going, on the way up The click songsmiths, Harry Pease and Ed G. Nelson, as usual, make - -~ ,of their contribution more than a ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ —- know better than do the kind of act personal appearance. For the ^en Hassen's Six Blue Streaks close he's doing. It isn't comedy and he level the thing is perfectly confected .^.j^ ^ typical Arab act. doesn't bother singing more than a and routined, and the rewards gar- _ screen 'Man Who Dared* few choruses. Weber has back- nered left no doubt that the custom- ) -professional Sweetheart' ground, experience and ability. He ers were tickled pink to meet, the ' .7.^..... ought to use it, . fellawS that ■wi'sote such heart throb- Mells, Kirk and Martin are back bers as 'Ten Little Fingers,' 'Auf now with their knockout stuff. They wiedersehen' and 'The Fellow I don't get too good a hand, or didn't Liked. Stole the Girl I Love,' Pease Saturday afternoon, which would and Nelson, with the aid of a couple seem to indicate that this type of femmes, illustrate their composi- thlng Is rapidly playing itself out tlons with living tableaux, all rei^i- because done too often by too many | niscent of the stereopticon slide days, but oldsters and kids alike reveled in it.. . _ . . I ^r.^/^T'T^'Hrrni^ini?^ it back" Even if ing. "Jkladle and Ray' are in the deuce. Boy and girl dance and twirl ropes. Beth clever youngsters and pretty effective. Third is Rex Weber, who should a wow. Next to shut spot has Will Aubrey ^with his usual brand of comedy patter and song that clicks solidly. Aubrey is sure-fire, ..-and in these parts always registers. All (Radio). Edwa. CIRCLE, N. Y. Now that the Palace decided not to give up vaude again, retaining It instead :o see what happens, the Circle eoes on it agfiin. Perhaps Moo Goldman, the independent ■I operate* of the house, is playing a S?essio^' laid down b, Pease hunch jn^b^^^^^^^^^^ leaturea, qi T.n«ui. ou.uc *..^.x.^.. and Nelson made it none too easy "l® %^^^*=tlth vauSrs^ R^ at staging currently. Opens with an jed Dooley and his looker part- very ^f.^'^^^'^j^^^^^^here Gold- unbilled girl, Dolly Kay. singing a Lo^^ foUo^, When things got slow been , V^hat can pop. She sings effectively and de- Dooley the comic merely dipped '"?>^,t'"i?\?g nuv.ng a h^^^ he'll serves a billing break. Then the line " ^^^^^^ /geper in the soot for his ..^"L'^A^nSv better vaude Out- of girls in a skeleton dance thad f^^^^ they do nicely, although it's lost Its ^gneral scored n cely for him. sme ot "^e y^V*"" far as tele- novelty, by, this, time to most audi-I general^ it .may seem, they com-I jJ^p^'^^^PP^^^"^" /-^^ ^-"-A^^f. Fifth spot is reserved far. the hou.se production. Line of• girls still featured, 24 of them. Some attempt reach at the scale in ences. An unbilled young man here, lately passed up the one about the X^^oT for the Circle's neW policy Horton Spur, who dances fairly P;^«^":||y P^u^^ ^ possible that I eff?5t for the Circle s new^ policy, well, but entirely too long. He does ^ ^ g here arc on the social way up one dance routine that's okay, a' - . • _ comedy pantomime bit ^ and another dance that would have Z*^ ^ q been okay if not interrupted by the Robinson, Martin, which other stuff ahead. Miss Kay back I ^viann. = «<^t I with the tipoff for comics being; that 3 not I ^^^^ j^^,^ j^j^jg uptown is equally a 35c top, but folks may figure a few extra cents at the Palace or State worth it to avoid bad shows. Playing better shows along with his hunches in what Goldman ex- pects to do, even if it's going to i A nfl fririq back closed, has the makings of a snappy cost $200 or $300 more. Anything for another number And g^^ Girl and lad represented by Lo keep away from vaude shows ^^^ •^/.^o^L^t^ DaUeT^^^^^ two names of the. billing that will ruin his picture following, trick cofumes Dances well stagea ^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^bout if nothing else. And he's going big a«d girls effective with Spur on foi ^^^.^ footwork, while Aylyn Mann on film contracts, taking Metro. ^D^ce flash aJt of ?Si^r^^^ de- does the old serpent routine with the Par and UA product. So why not aj/ir' ri«vrtei" I 2!S\Tca^m%^rmuftrSior?; 1 iptla!tl?r'in?e^ripang,^"frr Jlso a fai^r-haired chap at the p^no turn© changes, are okay enough, but I went big here. woea stronger on. vaude? Goldman has given orders for a standard name on each show. What he's trying to avoid is such acts as PARAMOUNT, L. A. Los Angeles, Aug. 30. It's a nine-day week fo>r the cur- rent stage show, but not. all thie.acts will draw down dough for that many days. F'.rlnstance, Bud Har- ris and Bert Howell, colored com-: edy pair, did not go into the show until Wednesday, so they garner only eight days' pay against a nine- day run* Mixup was brought about through the yanking of 'This Day and Age* (Par) from screen after.ll days, with the stage show holding over, excepting that the Three Radio Rogues were out after Wednesday (14 days for them). New m.c. is Frank Jenks, replac- ing Rube Wolf, who will open the Orpheum'in Frisco for.Fanchon & Marco, when that house gets going in a week or so. Jenks is no -stranger to these parts,'his last m.c. assignment hav ing been at the Pantages some months ago. He also held forth at the Par several years ago, as well as doing his chores in various Fox- West Coast houses in this territory. His is the son^ewhat flip type pf m,c,, with probably a little overdose of mugging and . a couple of 'hells' that could Just as easily have been omitted from his routine. . Other- wise, he does a flrSt-rate job with a lot of work aside from his an nouncements'and band direction. . Following Jenks' introductory re- marks, which Include a couple of stale gags, band is revealed garbed in Foreign Legion attire, in a Moor ish or Egyptian setting, with the lino girls, clad as Egyptian chor- ines might or might not have been dressed, performing an intricate scimitar routine. Immediately fol lowing come the Four Abbottiers, quartet of femme exotic dancers whose graceful routine is largely devoted to hand-and-arm manipula tlons. Their dance is somewhat of a ritualistic type, with the girls' long back close-fitting dresses set- ting them off to advantage. Some more gabbing by Jenks, who had coined for himself the title of master of serum, and then the band into a comedy number, playing sev oral versions of 'Thank You Father' Jenks does a bit of warbling and clowning that helps put the num bcr across, Kay Thompson, , blues chirper from Radio KHJ, presents a; typical air number and then doubles -with Jenks for a comedy duet, 'cle-v'erly done,' A tenor solo by Max Lemer, with the line - girls serving as background, and then Hadjl-Ali draws gasps by his water-drinking capacity and his ability to exude a gallon or more from his stomach after Imbibing,, and more gasp; when" he mixes gasoline with water and proceeds to create huge flames by his expectorant. Act is a de- cided novelty, if not the most taste ful of diversions. Whitey Roberts offers some waltz clogging and rhythm stepping while .skipping rope, and follows with bit of comedy juggling, using Jenks as a foil. Three Radio Rogues fol- low, using the .same routine as last week. Then Harris and Howell in cross-fire comedy, and a bit of in- strumentation, with Harris' brother winding up with some snappy fitair dancing, on the Bill Robin.son order. Finale has the girls doing a gun drUI that is cleverly executed. Screen feature 'One Sunday After- noon' (Par) with Tarzan sorial and news, IJij! nkc at oppning .show to- day. Edwa. ACADEMY, N. Y. Looks like an easy first half for ; this 14th street house the current ; week. Gus Edwards and his nlno or 10 kids, minus their mamas, top, and the scre,en holds 'Tarzan th» Fearless' (Lesser), equally as good for adults or kids. There is also a pair of kids on their own. Two colored lads. Pops and Louie, typical Negro steppers and cute performers. Got speedy feet and banjo voices that also sim- ulate some kinds of musical sounds. These kids take the middle for everything it's worth, although they finish a bit awkwardly. Maybe duo to the first show stuff," which is when the bill was caught (Saturday matinee). Edwards in closing takes up only 62 minutes with -his troupe. Not long for Gus, and so far as reaction goes when judged wasn't too lone for the Academy audiences. How- ever, that's, only for one show.. Staying nearly an hour is taking a big chance and* slowing up. tho turnover, 'especially over a week- end When turnover counts. Some ability,'both,known and un- known, among the Edwards troupe, but introducing a youngster as a sex-appealing girl sounds unbecom- ing. There' are four girls and about six boyg with Edwards, and the lat- ter himsielf takes a turn or two at singing. Right there and just before closr ing, Leon Navarra makes his second bow-ori in the bill to frame this pieces for "Edward's by asking him to -sing some of his (Edwards) own old songs. . In Larry Adler, harmonica player, JEdwards presents' hi& most finished artist among the kids, but Larry doesn't gef the opportunity to re- peat as does little Tony Pagliaccl, or. something, who sings in Italian and winds up with a chorus of 'Farewell't'o Arms\ Adler should bo used more. The girls iare .okay and the stage curtains spread and shut for differ- ent numbers' effectively under Ed- wards' direction. But how far tho girls in the Edwards troupe will go towards a stage career looks to de- pend as much on them as on Ed- wards. Opening is Lorlmer Hudson and his girl assistant in a speedy and fun-building piece Of bicycle work, Hudson of course in tramp costume. Navatra, when caught, was a cinch and looks to have just the kind of stuflt that's wanted around. His piano spieling plus personality works -to good advantage, and be- fore the act is through he has the audience working as his plants. Good showmanship, Ne3rtrto-shut are Frank Convillo and Sonny Dale, The girl's a blonde and excellent foil for Conville, who is an exjpert funster. Uses his sim- ulation Of a burlesque girl singing arid cinches every time. That num- ber is: a pip, but so is that Chaplin* esque bit with Miss Dale. The Con- vnie-Dale duo fit where they are In next-to-closlng, earning every bit of applause they received. But the speech Is n. g. as made by Cohvllle. Academy was in gala attire when caught, with signs outside bearing the legend of a new show season. The lobby looks much better now. Not so much sign Utter about. At any rate. It's the Academy where they saturate audiences with trailer material and sometimes not particularly pleasing trailer stuff as caught this time. The Academy also pulls the error of having Its pit boys sing. Newsreel and trailers were caught for 22 minutes. Means around 13 minutes of trailer material and split up, of course, but still too much. Most of it's silent, too. Shan. FOX, BROOKLYN That hysterical array of boards, pennants, signs and announcements which even hide the boxbfllce here; clutters up everything' inside and outside. Looks like a tipoff that the house is scary. From a show angle, everythinjg'd tip&ide down Oif almost. , There's-a .faint Indication In the current program that tho house is trying to do Fanchon & Marco stuff, but wlthotit the man- power.. Can't succeed- ' House still retains some of the F. & Mi tricks which were sunk into this spot around, four months ago. Now, Fancfion & Marco is at tho Brooklyn Paramount, and what the Fox shows on the stage is cheater. At 25c and 35c might be no squawk, but it Isn't so much what customers get here as what they aro led to expect that counts. House doesn't live up. Careless showmanship through- out, with the pror.ram even exag- gerating things for cu.stomer3 wliile .stuff is on the 'full' stage without a change and showing otherwise. Ad- ditionally, Freddy Mack, programed as being here, l«n't. I^ooks like that publicity handed Mack about hia be- ing a rich boy, may have panicked somebody or something. It's hia brother. Dr. McCarthy, who inherit- ed money. Since Harry Arthur departed from the management of the theatre, about six weeks ago or so, Sidney c;ohen ha.s been .supervising thingw for the bankers and the hou.se look» (Continued on pago 35)