Variety (Jul 1934)

1l Tueedoyt July 3, 1934 VARIETY 31 MUSIC HALL, N. Y* Radio City Music Hall's got it this week. It's a type ot stage 9how that belongs In the world's greatest vaudfllmer, and it's ian all-round credit to all concerned. It at least evidences some In- eonuity In a novelty presentation, and seeks to, capitalize the wealth o£ scenic, sartorial and other pro- duction resources which only a Bockelellet'endowed institution like the Hall tan commandv It still' doesn't quite begin to capture its fuUost"*" opportunities, for .it has plenty ot leeway iEor. genuine socko production moments; But it's going places anyway. Russell Markert.put It on. It's the first time Markert really showed something since LeohldoflC went on his vacation. Latter is due back from Naples, sailing some time this week. Markert has technically put on a couple or three previous shows, but under a hooverlzed . budget. The elastic came off the eflflclency man's b.r. and 'The Magazine Rack' shows aomethlng. In five sections, tlio first Is Michael Bartlett vocally selling Michael Daum subscriptions to 'work his way through college.' Krwln Strauss: (Oscar's son, who has . been doing some special tune- smithing for the Music Hall) and Albert Silverman fashioned a nifty •iTou're., Easy on My Eyes' theme BOrig. Thori follows visualization oC four periodicals, Vogufe, Esquire, Physi- cal Culture and the New Yorker. Vogue permits for the female singing ensemble (flanking the right stage box) and leading Into the ballet corps (neatly rputlnpd by Floifence Rogge) in a pseudo-mirror efCect. It reminds of Busby il^erk- eley's .'Wonder Bar' staging, al- though that Vi^as really a mirror ef- fect. The, same motif, but it'a a sort 6f Foklna version of the Scliwartz Brothers' phoney mirror- mimicry! Good flash and highly ef- fective. Only captlousness .Is that while the femrtie chorus is warbling, the stipige'is masked and stlili pre- sumably *for sceneryrslilfting pur- poses, which wait could, habeeti cli'cumyented. Esquire Introes an exti'aordinary Vincente.^-Minelll setting, a mal6 head with a giant boutonlerre on which: the Glerdoff Sisters (3) are perched for their excellent vocaliza- tion of 'Cocktails for Two.' Physical Culture .permits for the four .Tan-^ sleys' acro-rlsley work, agaltV bring- ing up the thought tliat some flash circus act, .a casting turn or the like would be great sight stufC for the Hall. The New Yorker again features the Glersdorfs (whose nice singing style Incident- ally recommends them well iot radio) and iTtellcla Soret-Demetrlos Vilan. in an odd dance which is a hybrid rhythmic, precision and slow-motion terpsichoreon routine. It's difCerent any'way. Special music credit to Jacques Krakeur, 2d. The Rockettes per usual i^nal^^ Gene Snyd'6r again distingu'lshing himself with some novel staging. The girls are in cellophane or net trousers and dude male attitude, the diaphanous idea being for two obv'ously good reasons per Rock- ette. 'Of Human Bondage' . (Radio), feature, newsreel and a Clark and McCullough^ shbrt (also Radio) round out the program. Overture a medley of tunes from the pres- entation. Abel. PARAMOUNT, N. Y. . Mostly Max Baer in the stage phow at the Paramount this week, the new champ filling 15 of the 49 minutes with Benny Rubin most of the show. Apparently not the draw the flto pictures were. At r»:30 the lower floor was almost a quarter empty. Wheri the next show broke at 8:15 still plenty of room In the side sections and . no holdouts. Nor was the. business cominR in at that hour! Baer looks well, though a bit 111 at ease. Street clothes and ho change to rlnjgr costume. Twice backed by the .line,, first tor a glove song, with the girls in athletic Anorts. The .second time they are on a staircase, with Carolyn Marsh and.Ruth Harrison, of Harrison-ahd t'lsh^r, fronting with him. Some- one slipped in permitting one oic the star acts to carry Baer's crown. Tiiere should have been a page girl. Miss Fisher was . just out of her own act, and it clicapened her. fcjhow opens with the lino in pur- ple and gold doing taps, with an unnamed boy in t6 tear himself to pieces In the same line of work. Too vigorous to get the best ap- plause results. More finish and loss speed would have helped. Rubin on next for his solo monologue, which jyent oyer very well, and then Caro- ing. a wide range and'considerable rtiainatic fire, the latter in 'The I louse »s Haunted;' A little too per- SJMtontly smiling, but she registered. I'lne girls back, eight of them in purple split skirts and brief capes, with chiffon bodices. Thesd were in ttio bowl of a fountain, with the other twelve forming a frieze around the rim. Pretty picture. J"»to a stylized dance as a i)reluac to Harrison and Fisher's only num-; ht'r, the Dan.se Moderne. Over the noadrt of • those who came to see liMr, but at the strip the audience was friends. Rest of the time went to Baer. OyerttJire was' American songs, with .Henrietta Schumann pounding the grand plaho for all it could give. Facile technique, but questioned Whether she helped things much. Film was 'Kiss and Make Up' (Par) and the newsreel. Running time about two hours and a quarter for a quick turnover. Chic. CAPITOL^ N. Y. In both the stage, and screen de- partments the Capitol show this week is fast and not too. furious. •The 'Thin. Man' (Metro), and the Puke Ellington band unit as a. combo £ire just about wHat the doc- tor ordered for 98 in the shade, and no shade. Anybody that" braved the downr. town heat Friday night/€!ven with the inducement of ah: air cooling plant at the end of the . journey, must hive been crazy. Yet there were .quite a few crazy people in the Capitol that everting.' A break in the wea.ther should give the Cap a. nifty. .set Of figuirfes on the week.- Eliington show isn't carrying much in' the way of elaborate tal- ent, and .nothing at all in the way of names, but the . band itself is enough.. Therc's.no attempt at pre- tentious scenery , and trimmings, either, yet the band is still enough. Without looking shopworn, show hag cashed, in on its lengthy variety hopping iiere and abroad and. plays like a well-oiled motor. With the band are Snakehlps TTucker, Ivie Anderson>, songstress; Tlir'ee' Miller' Brbsi, daricers; and 'thie Palmer BoySj .vocal trio. There are two band, numbers between each individual turn and jiist enough of everything to make all departments click. . All isUperfluous matter out open-, irig day, and a good thing, for Fri- day was no. day to w6ar 'em- out with generosity. Stage show and picture both set to a speedy tempo, augmented only by the newsreel and a brief trailer oh next week's layout.' Bige. ALHAMBRA, LONDON London, June 19. Sir Oswald Stoll is , here every Monday, at the opening show. Times havq changed, with Stoll apparently shutting his eyes to anything sug- gestive sent across from the foot- lights., Couple of !years ago Stoll kept thfe ,party clean; now they can go as'far as th^y like. And they go plenty far.' Douglas Byng crac.ked the bluest gag. in months, but there, wlU' be no pencilling; ,Anfl he was not the only one. Everybody who talked, talked :SmUt. ,Blll, .^or a change. Worked out bet- ter' than' It looked' on paper, Hlntonl Brothers, who opened, are <gopd acrobats and balancers; also look presentable. A mbr^ natu- ral way of handling their comedy would improve offerings. Nixon and Morrisoi^,; two men, one affecting an American accent, have some' cleyer gags, and some not so clever. Houston Sisters, here oh quick re- turn, have a great vehicle; one 6f the be^t In isome time. Renee supplies most of the comedy, with Blllle stooging. Some say an English pro- ducer will realize this Renee gal is a great aqulsitlon to any reviie. Jack Barty has an improved line of gab, with plenty of punch and some good picking^ from his recent Hollywood trip. Ahout the only local whose cockney, accent does not jar. Ganjou Brothers and Juanita, al- though around here 18 months,- are still 'among the best ad'agiolists, add- ed to. which operatic renderings by their support, helps to make their offering a. dfiftnite novelty.. . , Mtlrcel de. Daes, French singer, with man at piano, is just ordinary, and, although, a compelling pei'son- allty, has no edge oyer the locals.: Three vSparkes Brbtherij, in some dancing and comedy, are mediocre. Douglas Byng and .^Raphael and his players are holdovers. Business bad, with heat respon- sible. STATE, N. Y. Blistering hot weather grefets the current bill,' just another show. Means a wilting week ahead which not even 'Men in White* (MG) can withstand. France and Lia, Pell, perch act; okay opener, good as ever. The bamboo perching looks more daring, and carries greater punch, heiice it might make a stronger closer. The comedy punch of the bill Is the perennial Herb Williahis. Ed Fo rd a nd Jiis terrier, ^Whttey ,' make Ross and Bennett, deucing for a mixture of comedy, dress lifting and a .n.s.h. sketch, - only fair-to- middlin' and on too long. I^'ene Taylor (New Acts), con- tralto alumna of Paul Whlteman's orchestra, precedes Williams, with a male pianist, Only real vocalist on the program and welcome. Samuel Brothens' Revue, which holds doWn the curtain ringer spot, is a quintet, male stepping trio and two girl specialty steppers. Dance nicely but lacks puncli. Hhan, ROXY, N, Y. , There's a good show at th^ Roxy this week. A good show despite the stagers and powers that be who have done everything they could to wreck it. It!s one of those- rare cases of the material simjply stand- ing out on its own. Show starts ofE; with a bang. - Tiie Gae Foster girls are .on. for, a, cute, clever and well-hahdl^d number, using neoned jumping rope for the novelty effect. It's Well thought but and executed almost to perfection. Which makes it sort of too bad that It has-to be the openei* and.;sole good number the line is permitted to perform... It should have closed the show) Number leads directly into ah ap- pearance of Marie Zjo Flohic, who does some interesting control dancing In the came type pf costume as used by the llnd and with similar nebned lighting effect. ■ Ted and Al Waldman romp oh for some very funny chatter and Ih- .'strumentatloh." One of the lads Is especially good on the harmonica',' and both handle the dialog (which, could stand Some sapbllo treatment) nicely. A bit too early in this: 9P0t Is the; second appearance of the girls; They're on this time as baclcgrbund for Dawn and Darrow, a, good daVxce team; liine. of girls, however, has suddenly gone modernistic and- the only effect th^y manage to geT o-y'er is one of making the dance, team look- even better than it is. P'icture house stagisrs—=-some of them- simply won't learn that modenilstic danclrtS is more dtfflpult than 'prdl- riary line routining aw<J that .the average line, no matter:, how. hard it tries, can't get away With It; This particular attempt is -wholly ridicu- lous Iq its general eiffect. Bellett and Lamb romp on .with their familiar comedy dancing turn: They've dug; up some hew material which Is good ahd registered solidly on- the Friday night show, being forced Into .a speech for the rest of the show to continue. Only bad feature of the- turn 1$ that fan dance by Bellett, which bught to bp forcibly deleted in .ipite of the good hand it got. Those . comedy fan dances with which vaudeville and picture houses have suddenly been deluged are funny, perhaps, but Ih such bad taste that they're bound to react against the general good of theatre* Vaudeville might take, a leaf .out of'pages of picture: biisinesi^ and start cleaning up before the force is put" back of the purging. Eddie Peabody, on his third Week at this house, romps thrgiugh a half dozen numbers and stays on' a .bit' too long, but okay with the audi- ence:;. He announces the ' closing number, a production effect-with the line of girls in pretty costu'ro^a, Dorothy Johnson singing and Dawn and Darrow back for a waltz. Girls are now on their toes . for sonie ballet effects, which are equally out of '.l>lace 'because ineffectual, with the modernistic routine. Also .it's a pretty number, but slow and dUll, which is Just no way to end up a show. Fortunately, there's 'Baby, Take a Bow' (Fox) .on the screen. The house was packed to the ropes show caught, and all looks well for a healthy wPek. Kauf., ' ORIENTAL, CHI Chicago, June 30. Oriental, BjbK vaude house of. the loop, swings Into a better show than the last one, with a share of its 75 minutes of performance get- ting applause from the audience. There are a few weak spots among the four acts," but by the time the closing band-show gets half, through, most of that Is forgotten and. the customers. rempmber "the? few bright spots. First on that list Is Arthur Tracy, Street Singer. He still drags thpm out-of their , seatii and ihakes . them know wheri- ''the bill is .finished that. Something' else besides sbme ordinary vaude and a picture were presented. : .For the vaude. part .of the sho)V, the first act, Herculean Trio, 'In- gladiator skull:caps. and tights, puts, oh five minutes of hartd-to-hand work and acrobatic balancing, Act was ishort and sweet. With a few pyramids and triangles done by the trio for a good opener. Second act. Demarest and Sibley, chattPred a while, receivod'^ a few laughs for their nonchalant kind of humor arid then went Into some songs and piano, Demarest played one num- ber -with mittens 6n. Caites Broth- ers started With nonsen.se, with the stage dark for a few minutes. Then some duet tap dancing, followed by solo comedy stooge work by Joe Caites. Garner, 'Wolf and.Hakins, four men and a girl, clown moat =of-^their^tlmer^with=^nothing==-par---- ticularly new and ended with a 'Carloca* encore. They clown in the style of. poking at each other's eyes. Tr.acy, In the. stage show know.s the art of selling songs, warblintr his theme .song from the wings till ho has old timers nodding tfjoir heads and the rest of the audience sighing. Time was limited. But they kept asking for more. He got in two encores, closing with 'Kli- Eli.' Uevue girls wore long dresses and hats trimmed in Muck, They looked oke, wheri suddenly the light changed, turning the color of the dresses from a soft pink to a deep gold. 'Jerry Goe Included a twist- ing dance, too vulgar, and then drew some applause with his ac- cordion.. Picture. 'Thie Black Cat' (U). Business fair at fttst show Friday. Loop. NEWSREELS (EMBASSY, N. Y.) President Roosevelt titis week Is getting one. of the largest applause dienionatratlons accorded any of his newsreel subjects. Audiences like the mannpjf he uses when he says more toes are going to be stepped on, but the country's small fry must be protected. The Hitler-Mussolini confab is well covered, Pathe even catching the Italian tising hand gestures as •an aside. Subject is edited to the bone in the Embi' however. This is followed immediately by ah in- terview with :Baron Rothcshild, in whlcht he describes Germany as an armed camp. Later In the program 'there is another glimpse of Mu33o<- llnf striking .the same ppsPs he as- sumed with'Hitler; Pathe. grpuips M.anhattan leisure ' spots, Bue'h as sidewalk cafes, perit- hpuse sunbathing, swimming 'Jibles.^ apd whatnot, into' a, breezy summer subj6ct^ Paramount cPpled ldea on another, but failed to touch the original. The two subject^ do npt belohg on the same theatrie pi^pgram, anyhow., ' .'; Plenty of fashibn stuff in tiie. pro grani, from silent yiews of young Astor and his; brlde'rto-be to rhynies about shops, and fall-fi'pcks. 'Ascot race might be included i.hjthis cate- gory. 'It features the Royal-^'amlly, hb-^vever, whicii. cUts' usual footage, given over' to styles. — '.: Not much variety" in the Sports departmPnt. The Isle of< Man motor bike races shapes 'up on the serpen about the same each year. Hearst, ■which covered -this, -had its. crew too far off to get the most of the Paris steepilechase. Baer introduces his family (the reels, are still talk ing about the fight). Then Hearst gpes to the^hpspital for sbme,polite cph.versatibn betweie>n victor :. and vahquidiied;' ' : New 'safety device for Italian s'lib, marines Is well covered by Pathel Interior, as well as surface views ate included. Hot cattle, synthetic rubber, mar athon, high diving, cavalry in* Spain arid U. S<> mountain (Varying, - Obina, liPhs, Colorado 'skiing,'-a lot 'morp about the World 'Eatt; I^hdos a^ usual—^they;rp.:' -^all. indued^ along with other., i-pllcs £p6m the. library, such as locusts.. W^ljfi WORLD, OMAHA Gmaha, June 28. 6utfi.£ "now in its fourth week at the World-theatre and known as the Bpirt Smith Varietlea. Co.; Cast in cliides near ' a -dozeni principals! headed by 'Vi' Shaeflfer (Mrs. Bert .Smith), Dlanne Dlllalre, Tommy Hanlon and a line of 14. Shows are hardly what Is known as musical comedy, but is'.closer to reviie, with a succession of scenes Interspersed. With vaude acts. Third week's ^performance, 'Broad way Blushes,^ is. the. nearest ap proach to niusical comedy. Doing the .first act of, a. former Broadway, legit' musical,: rouridirfg out the hour of stage time with the usual-routine, of vaude acts, and blackoutis. i Acts which augmpnt the'company, eiach week are regular vaude turh^ brought in. expressly for that pur-, •pbse and for- one wee^ only. This .week the *xfra. attractiofiH. is " The Three Kings, of radio, arid good troupers,' too. Other'- vaude attrac- tion is a girl dance .' duo. , . ^ Company is set for at least .eiight. weeks of the summer season and will stay longer It-_ biz ' Warrants. Biz ttow slightly tPppirig' the old, double .feature ;fllm policy, new 'pollr• cy continuing the 3Cc. top and of--- ferlng a feature picture with the stage show. A 12-piece pit barid adds no little. PALACE, N. Y. The five acts manage to divert, but it fails to get away from rou- tine in any way or to weigh- in bet- teir than the average neighborhood, vaude show. With 'Many Happy Returris' (Par) oh the screein busi- ness was not being attrapted Friday night, although the pal now is on» of the iciest spots around town,. Fri- day was. the kind, of a, blistering day that should ha-ve helped some here and everywhere,, • gardlpsS of at- tractions. Xicad act currently Is Oliver Wakefield (New Acts), an English monologlst from the radio; who gets his sentenced all mixed. Up. Ma- terial isn't dirty, .but mostly it'n pretty nervy parlor stuff. :. . Fritz and Jean Herbert; In th« deuce with their acrobatic stew"arid slapstick routine, was the highnght Man has developed considerably' in the way of maicing a comedy per- sonality and riiap stuff register -.etr fectlvely. '■ '•-' Three X.' Sisters, also of radio and presented by NBC, were sub-blUed below Wakefield. Girls start but well on appearance and rivet them- selves into, fivor by their wqrk. After openirig On a .pop to brinfi; .put some of taelr nice .harmony voc'al- stherilcs, they ': do Impressibns • of Garbb, Helen Kane and ZaSu Pllts, all clievpr. Sisters close 1vlth mu- sical imitations : they do on "the .air, including calibpe, side shoW- mu'slc* hlllbllljips . and Scotch bagpipps. Runs IL^ni^inutes and pnte'rtains all the way. ; ■ The closer, Russian Kpvels, flash, ik one of those pot-pourls of -vodka music arid d.ariclrig. However, ita- 1,7 minutes don't drive folks out of the .thpattp. Orchestra ot IJ, four of 'em women, is Ipd by" a Col. Fedor Maybohn, a-baton swinger who has a military bearing. James Evans Co., opener;., is a clever foot-Juggling.novelty with it* ctrcuisy color aiid flash, <?ftdr. ALCAZAR, PARIS Paris, June 28. New offering at the Alcazar goes in for retrospect in a very big way, I^rops back to the lOOO's arid stays there for two acts and 16 ..scenes. rre-war Paris is the idea. One of the big numbers Is the recon- struction of the AmbassadPurs as it wa.s and ot.tlie Moulin Rouge, with its celebrated quadrille, and the fir.st .inv asion ..of 1 Americ an mus ic— AriQther number takes thp audl- once back to TrouviUi*, where al- mo.st everything in that remote fpoch -started, A popular feature is the return to the stage of Cleo de Merodft^ ac- tually Queert of the 1900 epoch, who is appearing in the dances arid skits Leopold of Belgium is .sup- posed to liave liked so much, Cassive, creator of Crevette In 'I..a Dame de Chez Maxim'.s;' al.so stages a 'return,' interpreting a sketch of the period and a couple of other .scenes. PARAMPUNT, L. A. 11.0S Angeles, June 28. Snappy stage show this week,, utllizinig all colored talent, which Is a treat for the custorriers a,fter some of the so-so oral diversion they have bePh getting, here. LiabjEillpd \the CPtton Club Revue, house is uslne the popular Les Hlte band, which, after tWb ,or three years at the local CbttPn Club, built up conslder- abie rep. - ';-'• Recruited: from . the Paramount studios Is the Jericho Ueero Choir of 19^. Thpn therp's RutlPdgP and Taylor,, classy hoofing tearii; M.a« Dlgges,' Wu^s warbler; Eddie Ander- son, eccjertt-rlp d^ricer, arid & linp of 16 youthful steppelrs. .Fanchorii: & .:Marc6 have extended theniselyes.'- on staking' the -colored revue', arid CosturnlriET Is. oi high standard. Hite bahd. makpa up in pep what it. lackd'' In numprlcal strength, ari.d Hite, hiriiself, injects loads of persbnality into his work. ' Chorui9 ■ rbuttnea ! .reveal, riothlne new, 6Xpi^ptln|? the finale, which is a hot carioca, with' everybody partici- pating in-the wiggling and whboplns it up for a hit .ilnish. Negro choir harmonizes a couple of - spirituals' at the ctart and then is off until the finale. Mae Dlgges Is a throaty torcher,' with plenty of animation, looks and iablllty, and puts her numbers across with s bang. Rutledge and Taylor, although frectuently seen hereabouts, have lost none of their hoofing' .ability.. It's a class act, particularly their double number on. the step.s, which clicks solidly; Stajge show must be given credit for most of today's draw, as screen feature, 'Kiss and Make Up' (Par) Is mostly hoke and hardly big b. o. draw. ' Balance, oi screen fare com- prises 'Hollywood on Parade' (Par); Paramount. News, and 'Heartburn,' -iJrilv. xjpriiedy.' iDower 'iflPor well fill.Pd and ^ptlriicling' in', the 'balcony today. Edtoa. CHICAGO '" Chicago, Junie 30. t'hree orchestras get together this : wcek to deliver the- best all-around show and heartiest. money-winner the ace Balaban & Katz theatre has seen in a long while. Three super- showmeri on stage, sc'reeri and in pit combine their talents and.prove that talent Is what the public wants. On thp screen there's Ben Bernle band in 'Shoot the Works' (Piar) ap- countlngr for plenty at the box offlce, Bef-nle Is a national fav and a ter- rific local power at th6 gate. He demonstrated that two weeks ago In person at the RKO, Palace, and he's repeating the win in celluloid here. On the stage thpre's Gab Callo- way's band arid entertainers, who deliver thp entire 50-minute stage show and make it a lively revue that .ho.ld3 .evpryth ing_, for_this^ audience.. And in thp pit'there's Josef Chernl- avsky, house maestro and an ace showman in his own right. Cherni- avsky has become known for his novel, and. showmarily o-wcrtures. This week he tops himself with an. idea that's bound to draw comment and doubtless may imitators. C'herrilav.sky calls his overture act thi.s weelc 'Music from thp Magic Crystal,' and it was magic to watch him deliver 10 mlnules of solid en- tortainmont from the pit. This is a nfw idea in show business and (Continued on page 45>