Variety (Nov 1933)

Tuesday, November 7, 193^ VARIE¥V HOUSE REVIEWS VARIETY 13 CTATF N Y \ most tamiltari around here and a A A A i^y * • moBt of them worn lik6 a two-year- | ^Although the picture disappointed old Wue serge suit. Every one has | fci^ts deluxe first run at the Capitol played Frisco houses at least once, by falling under* expectations, 1 and in several cases three times m PALACE, CHICAGO ChlcaEX>, NoY; t,- NeW York should rememb*r they're booking Chicago, not Times Square or the Bronx. Molly Picon mombsheir was packing'em in here last year. No fault of the booker , BtLturday afternoon iahd likely will hecaufle he can't do anything bet- hg a. variety headllnep in New Tork; firrn uD a big week's gross. ter under the circumstances which gh© jgn't In Chicago. No question !\ il^trith th« nicture the house » Umlted budget and an about Miss Picon's ablUty to enter- "*-^?^o^ v4«d« «how^^^ i . tain, but she Is not strong enough ehow^of ,p in order of playing, to support a midwest theatre on her V^*>'^^^^*f,'^"''^~i:':i:.J':::rZ^ Kv;r"««; i Turns, m the order or piaying, | to support /^'n''SLfS thrlveraJ^ il-W^' Frank Evers and Greta, wire; U„, especially when backed by * Erner and Fisher, cpmedy hoofers; weak-sister on the screen. Combo eether with ^mbshell it s anyone s Richard Wally, juggler; Bernard q£ weaknesses resulted in the poor- money s worth. Weber, singer; Three Jacks and a est opening on Friday (3) that this Al Trahan Is the headlines and Queen, adaglolsts; . Harry and theatre has had In moiaths. "Qnly funnier than lisual.iwlth some new Frances Usher, mentaliats; Dehny the center was seated, the wide material added to his act here and Nawahl, islnger; Jack and Betty l ewaths of einptlness of. th* two ther^. The comic tries out hiB voice cavanaugh, roping; Carlton and seriously and Saturday afternoon Ballew* comedy. Irving and Lester, the folks, went for It strong; His adros. wrestling sequence with Yukona Stage Is immense, and those Cameron/now the missus, with new I single and. deuce, acts looked de slants and wisecracks iadded, is.bet- pr'eselon^d to anyone back of 'th( ter than 20th row. Adequate p,a. . system Here and there a few other bits] carried the voices satisfactorily, have been developed in enhancing] however. , ^ ^, ^ ?fe laugh value of the turn. After Q en GoflE Is at the organ for^an lartdlng big Sat mat, Trahan en- audience jongfest with slides^ of stars, I^glt tablolda, ace Sred with one of those thank-you NeU^.^^^^ The present things, at the same time hinting of 16. that number being required Lj^gy j^cUa aU of that hokey lustre, that one of these days he was going by iinlon classIficaUons for the jy ^ word-of-mouth S tUM singer more^eriously. 5S2\T*Wh^fi^^*,n?^n nSf JSe^^ buildup. In the closer. Jack Sidney's ^^^Jf^t^ .g'/^fljyy^^^^^ On the show end It's InternaUon^ Samples (New Acts), the house gets Lyf^ ^JlJJJ^J^^ this week, trekklngjjround a, flash produced along refreshing "fthose excellent Rib Vig- I the.wprld to pick up Peter Higglns, lines and-including in Its UneuP nola directorial touches. Scrappy some smart and surefire- entertain- ^^^^ tT news completed; sides yawning strangely alter, months of capacity business -from. Opening to closing. Vaude show ;on Its own is okay . ^ ^ , , ,n.«iin every way; It'is standard from pressioned tp^ anyone back of the to flnlab. But It simply, lacks " *~ ~" 1 the ability to bring them In. Public In town this summer has become largely freak conscious; they've been educated to shock-attractions Sailors and Bock. ment. Bevue Is made up of'several acts or specialties that have worked as such, company including-Wilbur iHall, Hal Menken. Annette. Ames, Thvee Stewart Sisters arid Bardie Deari, Rublo Sisters opened in their gy'mriastlc-endurance act, Herbert ^^^^ ^ Faye and Co. spotted secondhand n^ent." "George Glvot, with his res Freddie Craig, Jr;, third, The Faye ^^^^^.3^^^^. Q^-eek, contributes a num PARAMOUNT, L. A. iiOS Angeles, Nov. . Nprnian Thomas Quintet supplies the creiffm of the stage entertaln- MoUy Picon, Three Long Tack Sam. . Ann. .. pntchard and. company opened thia. show cleanly with their dance nunibers arid ran into Peter Higglns in deuce, the vocalist's easy manner bcin^ pip for the .femmes In for the Constance Bennett .plc< ture, 'After. Tonight' (RKO). Show got down to basic, comedy with the Three Sailors who Com icked themselves into a speech Miss Picon next-tp-closlng tEind too act could profit 'rom better materiaj k^j. laughs, but doesn't build to long. Long Tack Sara delivered the but in the. impressions, notably pf gQPjj flnjglj^ Besides the band,' Chevalier and purante at^tlie closeJ^^^j.^ ^ dancing line and an l!S>SriiStS;^^^5J&Jf '"^-'-^ The inental wizardry of Craig. Jr., with warbling, hoof ing and ivory- In the middle of the bill, adding uP tickling. Drummer's mad antics figures, writing while talking about are not played up as much as for- Bomethlng else, etc.. hit home with, merly, but get over solidly, the State crowd Saturday afternoon, Setting Is effective and a hoop sending young Craig over to'a big routine by the 16 girls Is novel, handful of applause. Craig makes Ghost dance by the line Is Okay, a nice appearance: and Is as much a Band does an. old radio bit and showman as a memory marvel. Char, LOEW'S MONTREAL Montreal, Nov. 3, Georgia Stoll solos on the violin mildly, In addition to his Greek monolog, Givot does , a killing libel on . Harry Richman that is amusing. Closer has the: Karels Four. ,a,dagioIsts. real entertainm,ent of the afternoon -with a, routine that takes In every' thing. Understood that Sam is planning to reorganize and enlarge this act Into a uniL Loop» STATE, L. A. Los Angeles.: Nor. 2. Good, solid unit of entertainment, marred only by a tendency'at this house to delve Into the dirt for laughs. About otace a month thO ofC-colbr stuff ishows so strongly that it is bound to reflect on funily, attendance. Two offenders are Flfl Dorsay and Senator Mucphy, who head the bill; Miss Dorsay has a :couple gags that would' be cutei In a poolroom for a comedy turn, butr'dlllver at- tempts it and makes the grade^ He I just about stopped the show. Clos- CAPITOL, N. Y. Loew's 51st street arcade Is oc- Roslta and Ramon and theiBduardo Negro entertainers known as Cab BianS gauchT orchestra. Several Calloway's Cotton Club Revue. It other persons for specialUes. and Is probably the most elaborate and •turn Is a sightly ensemble; Pretentious colored -"fo.fntnm^nt the entertainment Musically and terpilchbreally aces. I'ever roadshowed for- picture 1^^^^ Up ahead of the vaude Phil Fa- f consuming about one hour and re beil?haX ln a masterly overture yeaiing a .succession of c^ which must be plenty welcome to changes and specialty people, Albee-ltes. The. overture's been one Satin Is the predominant fabric of the good features shelved during and chocolate the popular color in past few vreeks with management this production. All the hoofers experimentation going on^ Screen are dressed like they were bound announcement of the leader's name for a garden party at Buckingham got a hand. 'Berkely Square* (Fox) | palace. Only, of course, more so, on the sheet.. ROXY,N. Y. Kauf. I On production -values alone this unit Would get booked. Of Cab Calloway's popularity as a band and a type, of entertainer there Is no doubjt.. His musicians give' .out hot, versatile, and plfenty. Is a . hard Coming down from the y^^^ v^.p-w Fair and bringing ^e^eral^^of the ^^^^j^^^^y personally « - boys and girls from that nltery noor ^^orker and changes clothes for show with hlin. Ben Blue gives the spotlight cue. Rosy the stago support it needs | „ •;, „ tills' Week. Because the. picture. My Lips Betray* (Fox), Is light in vein as well as merit, there's a practically- all-comedy show cur- renUy. -Despite the picture, the en- tertainment average Is pretty good Chairs and tables along the sides and fronUng the band stand give th© stags the required nlte club atmosphero. With only eight cou- ples dancing In the show's, atmos- pheric beginning, denoting business Is terrible, it looks like a regular nlte club. .. Blue has trimmed, his own danc ing efltorts down to the Russian payoff,'but he's oh continually any way, as a principal comic among a Sally Gooding. Three Dukes, El- mer Turner, Avon Long, Amy Spen>- cer, Dusty, Fletcher, Bessie Dudley, Nicholas. Bros., Mabel Scott, Two Black Dots, and Herbert Bro-wn are billed. MPtro'a "bay of Reckoning* on the screen and the usual Hearst Metro- tone neiwsreel complete the show. Land, STANLEY, BALTO .r. i^i tan iionnArn I backed by the glr . In a slow finale^, ^^^..^ ^ «u a puuuuuu Tumblers, a<!robats. tap dancers ^ ^ -White Woman' (Par) and the Senator has a nudist coin make-up most pf^bill. opener house halt-fuU second show ment that is especlaUy blue, carl Sayton, who partners w^^^^^ Blng Cros • - - - - other acrobat in series of statuesq^^^ newsre^l wind up bill I>oses against tent-like backdrop. J ' Strong ma.n stuff building up to Crosby short Leliy. Aside from that, both performers deliver money's worth. Miss Dor- say is peppy and vivacious, cariy- u^^A I _ , ing along her part of the show, the stance on one leg on partners he>d. DA B'KLYN P""™''®' ^*»» a breezy Deuce brings Fred Zimbalist, har- r/*lW%lT#vru*^ *f » » tempo. Does 'Mr. Carpenter,' by no monlca: specialist, assisted by Mil-I 3^ Robinson blossoms out with means a nursery jingle; a'My Man' dred Hamlin, who sings opera se- ^^^^ all-colored revue which re-1 type Of ditty that is saved from lections. Zimbalist can get Plenty pjg^^ „g„al ^^It over here and] bathos by her delivery;' aiul a out his mouth organ, but customers ^g^y adequately so, but runs a trifle Friench music hall number. Clowns were flagging at end until Mildred long, for picture house purposes, agreeably with Ed LOwry and Is sang .'Irish Eyes,' and then the peas- T^jung ©ut 10 minutes or so would I rewarded with plenty of applause, ants rose. Cliff Crane and 'enime Uogj^^ glii^w about right and aid I She can improve -her makeup, at support in the trey, knock-about, tightening up the whole for bet- present too extreoM. contortionist ahd patter, woke VP I ter tesults, | Murphy monologs to big results, the folks. Gal Is a; looker and It ^ Town' is thto tlUe. It Jsh"****llL***" old roiiUne with some has the makings of a, good act. Plenty laff9 throughout and crowd ^g^;t^ »J t»J^«®^^^^ it up to the minute. Got a yelling for more at close. UnS^M h?Pn!ti^eTou^ Fo#ih^porVeR^TI^tff-TO company, started with three girls tapper, who is on for two blno-slnglng, in snappy dresses. I Talent supporting Robinson, who short, swift dances. Band opens Then stooge tap danc€(ft followed does not put in an appearanco until with a zippy number, gets mediocre 1»y Jlusslan dance, two girls and near, the middle, is headed by Ada returns with a novelty and winds man, fast and clever with hy-play Brown and Includes, among otnersj up ^iti, a. hot pop with Misa Dorsay that got the crowd's favor. Passed Swan and Lee. Pearl Balnes, Jlmn^y shaking for the curtain. Into man and glrl act, erotesque .BMketto^ Harry Swa^^ Good, average house ■lap-stick. rThls got a handful of f'Crypr; Three Whippets day. Feature .„ - ^sell Woodrlng Choir. That lineup. Game' (Fox). Also on the bUl aT^s in Itself^ Insures the production of I the Spanish yiersion 'of rrhree Little Baltimore. Nov. This Is' the' opening week of the. new vaude policy In . this Warner-owned Loew-booked; 3.500- flpck of as^i^ted'^stoogea That Blue I sieater, town's swankiest barn. It's prefers to delve deeper into the. so. adequately and splendidly cpmedy field and partially depart, equipped, it should never have been from dancing classification is no relegated to the jgrlnd policy it has bad Idea at Si, for if there is any pursued. for the past five yeeirs. such thing as a ^ first-class comedy They've brought In five standard. pahtomUnlst around today. Blue is seasoned. acts, topped by Morton that. And no rltzlng of the stooges Downey, that blend Into a -well in this Instance for Oohtrastlnig ef- rounded show that was attested by feet,-wIth->Blue retaining the misfit the. mob out front and which will attire and ^mixing into all the rough- send the new policy off to a good house. starL No ordinary crew of nondescript opening, Martin and Martbi, vet stooges, the Blue crew. , In the line- jg^^ that milks ail the angles of up are sever^ ijoys who can step Lcfobatlc trapeze work; and though out alone-and hold a spot, as tor nothing startUngly new, Instance Born and Lawrence and ^i,^ p^if perform smoothly and Eddie Haniey. ^They all look dWer- gjjjy^^anly good results that ent and they all look funny, work- g^^^ ^gg^ ^f t^e bill off to the Ing weU with and for Blue and glv- races. In the deuce. King, King and Ing a consistently good hour's Per- ^ing. Familiar turn to all by now, formance. - , * the mob recognizing and liking their LIbonatl. Trio and , Janet Reade, hobfery. They still use that bit of plus, of course, the girl line, house Lj j ^^^^ shackled together by band and Dave Schooler, are chains house contributions to the Bi"© J*y- ^ 'Frunli on next In 'one.' It's out. Routine S^ves Jhe nlte xlub ^^^^^ ^^,1^ ^^^^^ ^^.^ ^^^^ around ^^^'^^^^^f^ ^^\l^^r.^^X^JL ^^ W^^ stuff is. fundamentally, un- and .^etwepa all speclal^^^^ ^'^ ^^^^ ^j^^^ ^, keep things goU^g at^fu^^^^^ ^1,1 neat ?^Vf wf- ?^ S« loPks, this vet engages in surefire w2" w Uaffffing and rhythmll dancing that wrong c»o«»«»Vf^^^f^l-^2^vi£r had 'Im babbling with pleasure. ?i'^*^1?**i.^*^S„KiV^i^i w ' Frank's finale, clolglng Put a series Also from the dub . is a Pjano-hw-- - ...xg^^ airg whetted the crowd'« mony trio. International Boys, ^^o ' BiKS^«,d Friday evening, an fe^'^.^t^^J^^^^^^^ e^Jhe? acfi cleJnJd SHrio'od volS?DownS ^^r^S^ t^lUe^y^ for 'Risary' last the travelers SSS'^L^iuJwn^^ S.?^sh?w spread to reveal that stained-glass rta^and sUcklng for the show I ^^^.^j^ window drop Almeo Semple proper. ^"^"^^ MacPherson used at the CapltoL ■"■'The mitts thundered so long calls. Harold ^ Boyd in the fifth had a flock of stooges In support with an- other grotesque act. from rags to fleshings, everything smooth and first show Feature is 'Mad talent- qualities which Impress fa vorably. Miss Brown first appears In one rapid. Build u^ to close with team I as a southern mammy doing a of four arranged as elepihant on couple hot blues number, later IS which lone gal rides off stage. given production . . biilldup . for Closing act, Lester Colo and 12 hstoriny Weather.' In, this connec- , supports lined up as cowboys sing-, tion, clPud effects are flashed In one vaudfllm again,, after a few Weeks ing 'Last Round-Up' and two or against a dropr action later going to I of experimenting with hOuse staged three westerns. One of the line has -full with the rain streantiing down] shows In" a combo policy^ For the Une tenor voice and . rest blend well has the line of girls go through an I first wefek of the return manage- as chorus. College song medley; appropriate routine. For the finale I hient has booked In a pretty strong 'Desert Song' selections and request the 'Stormy Weather* number is 1 bill that sounds a good deal stronger i^umbers made up a long act thai brought, out again. [than It plays, but which .will leave Pigs' and'Hell-o Pop,' a -Ted Healy (Metro) short, Lenp. ALBEE, B'KLYN Albee has returned to straight was also well received. Feature, ''Power . and ' (Fpx)v FOX, 'FRISCO San Francisco, Nov. 1. Continuing Its policy of a lot of show, for a little money, .house started 10 acts of -Vaude 'wlth a first run film for 26 and .36 cents to good business on Friday. But the Sat tioblnson's stair dance precedes h^^tomers satisfied. Biz Saturday that finale and ptlH the best thing afternoon very good, Indlc^^^^ the Robinson or. any tap^dancer ever theatre has a chance of going placed, did; but earlier irt the running Bill , Show starts off with Rpbblns trio, tapV out a ToUtin^ that speUs per- Skating turn and ends with Roslta fectlon. He figures also in a group ^"o" ^" * beautiful 20-minute number with Peal Raines and the "ash. In between are; three stahd- girlB, ard acts, all comi<JS. As it happens. - Swih and Lee provoke a falrl T?^?i>fL^?^ amount Of laughs upi front,, aided by a third man as a crystal gazer and another who's" In a skeleton | f;,c;tbaii^g;sie ^jr^in that 5?s^^£°'£'-^jir! ^ ™ cause the third: comic happens to be better than . the' othet* two. Glenn, and Jenkins start oft the comedy parade In the deUce. Team night and Sunday helped drop busi ness to a very, unhappy level. Operating the Fox for William Fox Is Joe Leo with Henry Golden- burg in as manager. And the boys In good form, but audience wasn't. Maybe the boys ought to change their niaterlal. Certainly that must be the answer to the. cold reception .they got, because the same follows In one with a couple pops, sold okay. Farther down are the Three Whippets, clever acrobatic trio. w o'-^ — - . , In the levese scene Robinson c^^^ are on a spot. .Competition, has do his cutting easiest, if having to never been so stiff In Frisco, what trim down the running time. Bert Lahr, headlining the show, J^i^^j|gffiejitiLd=^5hoiaL.=«^ prices at other theatres. And the I ^gg^ pij^ya -Golden Ham team. Lahr la doing his on its'first showing in Metropolitan | policeman bit and that examination New Tork. Br^adwuy Par isn't skit from t^lying High.' If he didn' playing it [rush out center quick at the finish Arthur Gutow and Joy Rush offer] the Brooklynltes might have let him spot-putter-bner for the VFox IS Its pix, which are off the Indie mai^ket, and while ^ood. enough ph ' the screen don't carry the box-^offlce weight. Result is that. whenever other houses have a EO^ week the an Interesting organlog, balance of pass out of the picture quietly. As K'? rJ^dlJTof whether show including Par News, Par it wasthey gave him a pollte^rum- loesuE, regaraiess 01 wnemer „ /-i.a„fion,i -i>i/.al hiA. WVi^n tha tnm'a finlnht^ artd Fox doesn'tb, xob<uu'«>« . —:—. -----—. —. /-i_»,..4.i__,j T>i.nAi It's 10 acts of vaude, stage band. Screen Song and a Grantland Blce| double bills, or the original Custer's Sportllght (Par). Massacre. Trailer on Chevalier plcturfe com- Ten acts, booked by Bert Levey, I Ing, Way to Love,' too long. Cftar. ble. When the turn's • finished and Lahr comes out for bows he's -wrap ping iiLrhself In a silk bathrobe. Next Is Vic Oliver. Tough spot 1 UNITED ARTISTS. L. A. Downey had to beg oft. But hp's ' used^^'to^ that;< . ^— liOB Angeles, Nov. 1. 1 Gloslng, Dave Harris Co. Billed Second stage show at this house I a <a laugh skit,' it's a conglomera- slnce reopening is topped by Chic tlon of feeble gags between Harris Sale. This is the initial presenta- and a soft-shoeing stooge, unr tion type of show, the first being named. IVIonlca and Ann Skelly, the TeatrO PlccpU puppets. keen lookers, supply the oiily bit of In addition' to. Sale, who offers | punch proportions with a squirm five rural American characteriza- tions, Hal Sherman's dancing, Thelma White's ditto and the sing^ infir of 12-year-old Marvin Ravitz routine that made the audience for^ get much- of .tiie . rest, and moro than squared matters. New pit band Is flrst-class. are the unit's best pointa Dancing | Robert Lanslnger, munie park band line fails to rise above average in I director, wields the baton for over- routines and Max. Fisher's 11-plece tures, with il^d Hunt, vaude leader, orchestra is tOO puny to get any- doing duty" for the stage show, thing' Out of the overture. -..I Picture, 'Broadway Thru a Key Sherman scores , with his dancing, hole' (20th). Lower floor near but does plenty of stalling between | capacity .first ishow Friday, selling tricks. His best bet Is a pantomime Waltz with a tall imagl nary dame. Miss White's tappery is hampered in one number . by a cumbersome costume. Sale Is smooth with his small town auditorium specialty, but is too low-pitched on \ his ppenlng <:haracter; the Little Theatre As soclatlon secretary... His other three bits in this sequence should be reversed so that he winds up With the: strongest, the yokel cut up.': Encores with the familiar old man.' this time a desert gas station owner. Young Ravitz;. has a nice person- ality and a finely trained voice, al though his ujpper register is at times shaky. Kid makes a- good applause act. For the opening night of 'Broad- way Through a Keyhole' (20th Cent.), Sid Grauman Introduced Sophie Tucker, who, attlred.^a La West, torched out an Old pop to tear the house down and in tiirn FOX, B'KLYN The audience ho-vvled at Julius Tanneh and his wisecracks, -but Freddy Mack's bandsmen seemed So- disinterested. All the same, some- thing's happened here. The. show is good and the programs appear to be better each time, at least for the. past three weeks pr so. Production values of . the Fox presentations are negligible, but whether It's untried or experienced talent . presently showing here, they .fit At two bits until 2 p. m. on Saturday the show is a bargain. Besides. Mack looks like a local favorite arid business when caught was up and coming. The girls, of course, open, 16 of them in light colored calico plaids, talking an - Intro for Ma.ck. Then out comes the m. c and his band from behind the travelers. Kay, Katya and Kay follow with. - - - - .pjjQ introduced. Ituss^£olumbo^ii)m^ pic—lAtW'dld^H^'sSH^wU^ 1 miir« «nrt Tirith. nn «nr«>,««..-6^ I act look fullcr. than. U Is band stays on the staffe and the turn aplita its a mike and with- an unrehear'.sed orchestra and performance couldn't be Judged fairly. Stage production neat, but not gaudy. One cutout fronx 20th (',<;u tury's 'Moulin Rouge', backed a pir} number. House capacity 'with a small holdout, last show opening nl;;ht. numbers by doing its .second part in the latter flection of the propram. This trio of two boys and a -blonde perform with agility arid grace fj^r good reaction here before an- audi- ence of mothers and kiddies. Robbl.ns Family, quartet of two (Continued on page'izr'