Variety (Dec 1933)

20 VARIETY V/UIIETW HOUSE REVIEWS Tuesday, December 19, 1933 Show, 5 Acts (Some Yiddish) Fihn for 15-30c at Clinton, Y. - - -f ' ' ■ • • — ■ — ' — ■ —^——-—— :.A loo-It show Ave acts of vaudc cut up their rbutlhe a Uttle to pet-- iind a featurrrilm for 15c matSs mlt a worthy addition, Johnny C6n. Snd to?Ss-Is^the layoxit at the vey. stooge jype who's there and nnntnTi in the heart of New York's more on the O'SDlllV^ns. fist SidS. %hS rneans% st^ge . Xanny Boss, y^^f^^^^^ S^: Sannlnr well oy.r two hpurs | -^--^^^'^^5^^ die' of the bill, doing a bunch of numbdrs .In 'one' to a inlke. He regi^terecj big Friday nighty closing his routine with 'Last Rounjiiup,' a and iperhaps a record in modern day: marathon! shows. ■ Theatre opened with this policy, a couple weeks ago, and with two im- mediate results. Bu^ to be outworn upped to near capacity and turn- ^ can't be sold much better than away biz on the weekend. And all " T the regular Tiddish l^flt X"^^^/ A?t pi-ank Is No. 2. with Vivien have suffered a loss of business. ^^^^ ^ ^^^^ t notably irt Hard to belleYO that one little hoi^^^^ ^ fine rhythm dancing fotm she '^ith a mongrel pollqy of. this ^ Frank has befen standard can affect four or five ^gger the- ^ always be atres. so »nayb« it's just coincldenc^^^ relied upon to fulflll his asstgnment. but the fact remains that regular "jiS^ ^is act seemed fast and legJt Is dying irt that naborhood, i TO": "'P While the Clinton's managentient hsis locked the red ink in the vault. Shbw itself isn't espetiiaiily good, although it contains some goOd ma- terial. NiightcaUght, Thursday (14), there were' no headliheris or out- standing-attractidns;: But current week has The Great Lester, stand- aird vaiude act, plus Jennie Goldr Bteiri; one of the biggest Yiddish legit and radio nanies.' Miss Gold'r Btein is In on a percehtage. basis. Theatre Is not sticking to Yiddish, hecessarily, though* making sure that at least a portion of the prb- gram is in that language for re- gional purposes. - Opening of the: show caught wais a two-act melodrama entitled 'Two Hiisbandd'. It's one of the old- echool gags about the .gal who mar- ried two husbands without knowing it and the tragedy all a,round. Or- chestra actually plays ^Hearts »nd Honey Family <>f acrobats, six yoiihjg'folks of heat appearance and, so far a:s the three girls arie con- cerned, a sturdiness physically that's not often duplicated, lead off the Bhowi. With Chahey and Fox on the tail, this places girls and-flash on both ends. The M.istlnguette dance on the toes, one of the prettiest num- bers' ChjEuiey and Fox have ever cre- ated.; has been replaced by a-Rus- slkn dance, modernized, also on the kickers.. In oither respects the act is the same. . 'Couriselor-at-Law' (U) is on the Simplexes this week. Fairly good house Friday night. despite hasty weather. Char. CAPITOL, N. Y. There's nothing especially the Flowers* during the sad. recitative | matter with this Capitol stage ishow excQpt that the Music Hall does the momenta. No compromise here. One cheap set, ' quickie furniture and old-fashioned hoke thrown on thick. The thicker the better, and evidently a good idea judging by the applause the piece got. Theatre has a legit stock com- pany for this stuff, headed by Louis Weiss, Helen Bleh, Jack Shargell, Annie Augenblick and Morris Dorf. None of them especially good actors, a.nd none especially bad, but all pkay for what's wanted here, Vaude starts with a girl who sings a half dozen hotcha numbers. Good looking, with pretty good set of pipes. Names of acts are an nounced in English through loud- epeakers which aren't so loud, so tier name, escaped. She's oke for email-time vaude houses anywhere. In the trey is another Yiddish turn, Bave Medoff and his wife They're known from radio programs and evidently were recognized. <iKiattcr and songs in an . overlong 26^minute appearance. Leonard Martoff follows. He's a baritone who sings Italian, Russian and English, with an encore in Yld dish. Nice voice' and ought to be 6kay as a novelty because of the language versatility, his Yiddish, English and Russian coming out Without a trace of an accent. Next-to-shut is a novelty act billed t^si the Blxie Girl Revue. That's a misnomer and obviously a phony name. Probably an act breaking In. Turns out to be three lads and two girls in a fine novelty turn that's .ready for the closing spot in any house; Two boys play mandolins or overgrown guitars, while the third blows into a mouth organ. Harmonize nicely. Two g:Irls are a cutc-loklng sister team who dance satisfactorily and pro- vides Jiist enough color andv change of pac^. One of the boys later goes Into a. song which lis nicely siold Girls change costumes twice and are neatly accoutred all three times Finisher is iSacha, who plays an accordion. He was once, so It's claimed, in the Follies. Anyway, he knows what to do with the.machine Doesn't belong at the close-df the show, but he's good ' Entire show. Is badly routinedi and htis several other obvious faults, but same thing so ihuch better and on a much more lavish scale. ig iJiiusic Hall also overshadows the other metropolitan houses In the extent of itis resources, both on the stage and in its production personnel, not to speak of the added 'draw of the house itself, an institution the nov- elty of, which has not yet entirely worn oif. Current Capitol frolic centers on a sceiiic background for 'A Carnival in Venife.^ a highly ornate affair with ah arriving and departing gon dola and much coming and going, of colorfully dressed chorus groups, the .while d. choir supplies melodious miislcial accompaniment. Ylvian Fay does an exceedingly graceful spe- cialty dance, fronting the ballet-, Florerice and Alvarez contribute an agreeable bit of adagio stepping, and the. Six Danwils give the scene much interesting action with their striking acrobatic' specialty. These various items lead up to a scenic climax for .which a msrriiEid of lllu mlnated stars are lowered from the wings for one of those Chrlstmai* tree effects that used to be familiar to the regulars at the Paramount; Pletro Oentill, baritone, is promln ent with an entrance solo from the gondola find during the running. Most striking feature is a novel ballet, the girls being dressed to represent the famous pigeons of St Marks, the way for this being paved by a'visual presentation of the spot in one of Jitnjies A. Fltzpatrlck's traveltalks dealing with the canal city and making; much of the pig eons in the famous square. It's, not a very subtle device, this resort to the screen for a build-up, but it serves its purpose here ' Preliminary to the scenic splurge Was a batlet novelty called' 'Moods Moderne,' one of those vaguely fii- turlstic arrangements. Girls .(ehes; ter Hiile group of 24) are dresse^l in long tight dresses of silver cloth; slashed in jagged: design with jet black. 'Dance* consists of poslhigs aiid jerky movements In broken rhythm. Apparently the mood mod erne is restleiss and jerky as ex pressed fantastically by these PALACE, N. Y. Five acts that look pretty much like a Vaudeville show at the place where they used to have vaudeville shows. There's diversity, comedy and sight appeal, but Sylvia Proos Is the'big liameV Opening Is the Demantl Trio, Arab acrobats, though none of the seven members look as though they knew their Koran. But it's Arabic in dress and pyramid building In the good old style, with a fourrhlgh build-up and a slick trick with a top mounter arched on. a pair of two highs which let themselves ddwn xintil all are prone oh the stage, and then build it back again. Far from the routine stuff, and the aAidience . suottj^d It^ Austrian guard be the usual ground tumbling, tut noy^ ^ated on the border. Para NEWSREELS TRANSLUX Paramount dips Into the headlines by following up the Scottsboro and Wendell cases. Regarding tho yflU mtitter it rehaaheis marriage cortifl- cates as reproduced iiii the papers several weeks ago, together with a:n interview with the prisoner who claims himself aole heir. Lawyer Llebowitz. issues a citatement and familiar courthouse scenes ere in-^ eluded. Same reel also Is hurrying up matters between Austria and Ger- too much. They cut the simpler tricks out. Nlco flve-mlnute opener that leaves all clear for the next Deucer Is William and Elsie Newell, With tho latter th£ main hit, particularly In her Helen Morgan bit; with the stuffed legs. Might have gone in for the plug end, an- ple Of minutes, but cut before it stopped kicking. Third .was Misa Froos and her trusty mike; Radio singer seems to have gone In-for the. plug ends, an- nouncing 'Talk of the Town* rone of those occasional perfect songs,' aiid mentioning the picture source of Uptown Lowdown". First bit was Tou're, Going to Lose Your (Girl,* without announcement, aiid a medley starting off with 'Dreani Walking* which iats her (Btyle nicely. Has the vdlce for so1> stuff,, but her face can't lose It'at smile, which takes 6ome of the heartbreak out. When she first came along. Miss Froos used to kick In with a brief dance, but that'0 been out .iBonie time now. Probably regarded as be- low the dignity of a radio star, but It helped back last 3^ear. Three Sailors are next to shutters, and over lii ample fashion. Just one of the mayhem trios, but their stuff Is more Intelligeiit than mosti and they're iiow winding lip with a challenge skipping rope dance In soft taps to the music of 'Anchors Awelgh* that's soinethlng el6e again. After the Insanity of their main turn, it's something to see them go Intelligent, and their eiicore ap- plause 1b heartier than that at the end of the older routine. Stone and Vernon In their adagio, work make a. good closer. Two dances are smartly accomplished, with the straight ifdaglo in the first session better than th& three-msin tossing at the close, but all over nicely. Friday's rain helped to drive in a full house, and there was plenty of appreciation. BUI runti four minutes short of the hour; counting .a three-minute overture by Charles Stein and his pltsters. .Remainder, of two hours and 82 minutes-goes, to 'Counsellor- at-Law* (U), Pathe News with a too-obvlous plug for. Hiram Walker distillery, and phortft The two min- utes Is for the jlayout, leaving it a flat two and a half hours.. Chic. ing posted mount, ais well; has more detailed coverage of .Madrid, riots than, the Embassy. P-H camera evidently was nearer at hand than Pathe when ^ car In the L. A. auto race met with mishiap. Repeal's boon to buislness was the Luxer's idea of a good lead , this week. It forgot to. look into any of the hotels contenting itself, between Pariamount and Pathe, with interiors of a liquor store and arrival of the first big shipment of scotch as well as a congressional promise that ex- cise taxes won't go any higher. Both theiatres had Farley and Llt- vliioff In . Rome,, just brief flashes with po statements. Also dog shows, and the Princeton bOys masquerad- ing as chorinesi Miami golf, Mrs. Roosevelt ihaklhg an award and ; ater Xmas shopping. The new radio station at Cincin- nati and Notre Dame's latest foot- ball coach as well as some more about Arizona; Indians, Carpentler attempting a comeback, old views of Rockefeller and some more dogs ihd ducks^ they're included. Waly. MET, BROOKLYN It's there in quantity arid not far off juwpy drills and jerky unison ges in quality. Legit troupe works only twice a day, vaude. turns being in three shows. Supper show, is lim- ited to four acts arid entire bill on a spl.it-Nweek swing basis. KauU ALBEE, B'KLYN tures. Geritili sings off stage arid Plbrence and Alvariez appear to do a specialty routine In the sarnie Style of St. Vitus movements.- It's one of those .things you feel you should be enthusiastic about without know.r Ing why. Audience responded with spirit at this performance, perhaps for that reaisori. Trailer for next week's attraction -r-'Golng Hollywood' (Cosmopolitan) —gets billing In the lobby and on the program as ia.n itetri in the .jShow, but .does not vary especially from Coriibihatlon of five acts sent in here this week, with bettor care ex ercised In the booking, is In direct contrast to the card of Ave which previously had the Stage, and ^dragBcd=the--=.vaudcUshbs*=alonRv^uf=^t4hfi=rou.tlii<^ feringly. In the order in which ap- footage and elaboration of the screen pcaririg, the Honey Family, Art ballyhoo ■Frank; Lanny Ross, Ross and Ed- Augmented orchestra Is under the Wards,, and Chaney and; Fox^ make direction of Don Albert as guest iip an ideal bill which, romps ilong | conductor. Overture 'Selections from a,t a fast clip; with good balance arid variety in its favor, Show runs .65 mimites. about right for five acts. Throughout the period things move alorig snapplly, mlniis any stalling,, padding or uriueces- sat-y delay. Bill is bfneflted by tho Improve- ment in tho RO«s and Edwards noxt-to-cloBiJiE turn. Boys.havo •Pagliacci' was an Interesting fea- ture arid earned special commenda- tion. .Feature is 'Should Ladles Behave' (MGM), light comedy made frorii stage play 'The Vinegar Tree,' with Lionel Barrymore and Alice Brady, mild- eritex'talnment at best. At- CCrazy Quilt' Unit) Billy Rose's 'Crazy Quilt* show, cut down to an hour for combina tlqn policy purposest. takes the place of the regulation flve-act vaudeville bin here this week. It's the second show of its type In succession for the house, which just ahead of this played thiB Ted Lewis unit. For a change from vatide now and then such shows as thia are advls able. If they have anything at all to offer. There's been (bo \ojie a period of regular vaude here and elsewhere, with the same acta bobbing up all the time, that It^s a wonder anyone bothers any longer. Varying the diet froin the stage thus can have no bad , reaction unless the shows used "for varying purposes are bad, ,ln this case there can be none but minor complaint. If any. at all. 'Crazy Quilt,' Which had a fairly good Broadway run as a musical with new people carirylng It for vaude or picture house purposes shapes up as satisfactory entertain merit. It runs an even hour, which is not too long, but could be taut ened up a little here and there for-a subtraction of perhaps five minutes altogether. "Toward the end, when Charlie King introduces himself and others in highlights Of their careers, the going Isn't as fast as most of the rest of the show provides. King himself does three numbers, one a doqble With Anita ^»age listening =and=lookihg==heiupfcettiesJA.=X3nfi,,M. these, could be eliminated for more compactness. i Miss Page hardly does much throughout the whole unit extfept lend looks. Her name out front is designed to aid at the box ofllce, but it's actually Eleanor Powell who puts the punch Into the show. Her two tap routines leading up to the finalo provide the real sock. Her routine In 'one' further up doesn't go as far, but good. Smith and Dale, on the comedy EMBASSY It's strictly a holiday prograin currently at the Emb. This Is best attested by the fact that the lead clip Is mainly a rehash of last win- ter's enowistotins,. Santa Claus,. Ihd.,' is - dusted off, agaln^ Madam Chiang of China, regular contributor, la back. So are Ice coated fishing . winter homes for wild ducks, Secretary Perkins. Hearst's battle; St. Merits skiing, Canadian liquor, amateur boxing, N. T. American fund. Dempsey selling piapors for another fund, London's skidding buses, Coney Island's walking contest. Emb finds a slightly new twist for the liquor angle, this time getting a college professor to give, one of those old-time talks about the best way to earn a.diploma. Alniee Mc- Pherson sticks square on the fence in her talk about repeal. The one-man band, a giiy. plays eight Instrumeints, mostly horns of the comb and tissue paper: kind, is an Interesting freak. Fifteen-year- old giant Is another. A flock of Japanese tiny tots attempting Eng- lish songs affords a cute nursery study. . ' It seems that those Garden hockey players have discovered the way to crash the newsreels.- Everytlmo they see a camera crew arOund now some of them throw away their sticks for a little fistic diversion. And the newsreel audiences enjoy this better than the legitimate turns oh Ice. Waly, shorts they've made In the past. They are on first In the depoflltor- bank president sketch, which Was turned around effectively In the making of a short subject recently. Together with this, in the tab. they tie up a part of their fireman sketch with the Dr. Kronkhite bit which was a part of the old Avon Comedy four routine. Balance of the Hun- garian Rhapsody* act. In the restau- rant kitchen, is saved for the final sho^ with Smith and Dale topping in a Bongr-and-dance bit. All this material Is pretty old by now, but it's still good enough to hold up the unit op. Its comedy es- The chorus goes a long Way to- ward inaklng "Crazy Quilt' a tab of real entertainment value. In the clevierly devised routines the girls come close to stealing the show. "Their fan and cooph numbers are particularly effective. The radium routine, characterized by novelty of lighting and effect, is also an eye- Winner. ' Cardlnl la about center, for his Slick slelghtrof-hand in 'one'. He scored strong over here Saturday afternoon. Show runs two hours and 36 nlln- utes. about right for the policy of this house. Feature is 'Should Ladles Behave' (MG). day arid date with the capltol. N. Y. Business fairly good, but undoubtedly hurt on matinee by Christmas shopping. Char. tendance at this Friday cvrning assignment, are doing a little of this pcrl\jrmance brutal. Rush. ' and a little of that from sketches or PARAMOUNT, N. Y. Business light Friday. It was; in fact, typical week-before-Chrlstmas trade and the feature; 'His Double Life' (Par) was not calculated to resist the downward trend of the S€Q«S0T1> Sd that leaves Ben Bernle: Leaves him playing to houses fririged on both sides and at the rear with empties. Show runs two hours and about; 20 minutes in toto, which is average. Apart from.Bernle arid the film the padding consists in Max Fleischer cartoon, a Charles PreVin overture highlighting a flute-like soprano who wowed 'eiri. the custoniary Paraniount newsreel, and the om- niscient trailers. They were selling *Alice in Wonderland* (Pal-) for the coming week with plenty of gusto; Bernie lads did excellently. Jackie Heller, postage stamp in size and stretching plenty to reach the mike was the individual standout. Lots of pep and energy characterize Hel- ler's work. Rather a pity he has. to stay in one spot because, of thia!t mike. In pre>-radio days a songster of this type would cover territory to the consequent improvement of his command over audiences. That mike is a mechanical hazard. At times .Heller's high .soaring Jenor_ a "the'quaiity of a feihlnine soprano. Heller is nervous and weak when exchanging talk with Bernie. Maestro's usual comedy by-play got plenty of laughs. Bernie is wisely cutting down oii the 'youse guys and yoUse gals' thing. A lot of that chatter was staled by over- repetition. ^ He now gets away from that in. favor of his older brand of smart gagging. Various soloists plus an acrobatic hoofer fvho performs so smoothly that it almost fails to register just how good he is. Land. UPTOWN, L A. IjOS. Angeles. Dec. 15. This Fox-West Coast nabe, with a straight picture policy of du&ls for the last three months, returns this week te presentations, on the theory of putting in stagers whenever it Is felt that the; filrn end of the bill needs bolstering. The house management felt that •Right to Romance' (Radio) and •Turn Back the Clock*^ (MQ) weren't sufficient for the 40c rap. and added Jack Rice's 'Radio Minstrels.' locally recruited act of ^5. Including Jlmmie Bittick's orchestra. Rice,, now In pictures, used the. same act in eastern . vaude three years ego, with himself aa interloc'^ utor. Running 30 minutes, presentation is m need of considerable tuning up. Radio part of the title Is a mis- nomer; obviously an attempt to bring in local customers who go for almost any type of an'act from local stations. Presentation Is well dressed, with band in blackface and chorus of 12 girls In front and fotmlhg the min- strel half circle w^th Paul and George Hickman, from local vaude, as end men.. Stella Bailey, in pictures via; the contest route. Is In- terlocutor, but seems out of her ele- ment, suffering front ishyness and Inexperience, Hickman Brothers' gags are piti- fully ancient and few get over. Same for a line of chatter from Tessie Gaylor, blackface comic. Bud Har- rington, from Bittick's combo, arid the Diamond Studded quartet, also orchestra members, are standouts: Former sings two numbers to heavy applause and the latter combo docs Some good harmonizing. ■ Line girls are on their feet for two fastiBteppIng routines, aiid two of thenii under the Introduction of Lee and Gray^ are on once for. a short and snappy tap duet. Routining is jake, orchestra takes care Of its end, and with new gags and chatter could be made to be :quite acceptable in nabies and sub- sequent runs. Btaii. ACADEMY, N- Y. Show's down to four acts hero currently because of the extra timft that Dave Apollon occupies. Pretty good layout, as those things go. Starts with the Eno .Troupe, oriental pedal Jugglers that are better than average. Boice and Marsh, in the deuce, are two girls, that tell bad gags with no effect. One Of them doesn't sing badly, but does only one song. She ought to sing more,- That would ay oijd- i mt .th_at^ m,uch_ tlm^ that^^sho currently occupies witlT tallcirig. ."^ Chaz Chase follows and has him- self on an easy roirip with his zany routine. Apollon closes. His act hasn't changed any in the past couple years except that the Filipino boy who stooges for him has been given a few more lines and is fun- nier than he used to be. Nora Wil- liams, Danzl Goodel, the Three Step- sisters do specialties, and the entire turn is.fashioned to satisfy. 'My Lips Betray' (Fox) on thft screen. Theatre about one-third I full Saturday matinee. Kauf,