Variety (Dec 1934)

so VARIETY Tnetdaff DeeemlMr 11, 1934 UNIT REVIEWS FOLIES BERGERES (PALACE, CHICAGO) Chicago, Dec. 8. While playing aa a unit, the Tolles Bergeres' la not available for. any theatre In the country at^thla time other than Its durrcnt tort- hlght date here. Going direct from the local Palace to the French Ca- slnb ..(former JJarl Carroll theatre) In New. York for a nlte club run. After years of international bulld-up there la little question that the namei 'FoUea Bergeres' Is box- bfflce and particularly In Chlcag:o where it has been playing ^ for the past five months at a. ?2,50 minimum at the local Frenah 'Casino, .' For 3Bc and BBo this show must figure as an entertain- ment bargain and the public ,wasn t ; slow to realize It, Business Is ca- pacity and looks to remain capacity througliout the week. Four shows on the opening day a;nd had a .t\yo- hour, waiting line outside.. Doing flyo shows dally for the rest of the wfeek and counting every possible PAULINE COOKE ■ " Presents'. TWELVE ARISTOCRATS and RItA deLANO NOW PtATINO PAtACE. NEW IfOBK "COOKE & OZ" P^R^THEA AHTEL etO W «d St.. New Cttji ■ ■ CHRISTMAS CABDS , . ' and. Stationery especially. to etilt the .peraonalltlea. ot the Profession.. Agents' wanted to sell mr cards, and stationery. Write or call for details. . Liberal commission. . seat will ma,nage a new high for present BBc policy at a gross ot J28^000-f29,000, which means ©very seat occupied for every, perform- ance, . ' . , . This Is a fine show for anybody s mbneiy. It was a splendid, eye-flll- Ing show on the nlte club floor with plenty of action, scenes, flash, coa- t)umei9, performahce and dames, And lf anything the show plays bet- ter, on a stage,, though the Palace stage was pretty crowded with the hanging pieces and revolving plat- form. At the French Casino (nee Ralnbo Gardens) the troupe had a big dance, floor for a stage besides a rear rostriim fqr tlie revolving stage. Company la fcraniped here and it caiised some shortening of the big ballet numbers. . , It's a fine show, well exploited. Ads the smartest in this town in years for any show or picture. . On the other hand. It's essential that the pertinent objection be noted. For almost a year show business has been: dodging a fusil- lade of sharpshootlng by profes- sional reformers and churdh. The picture industry instituted several voluntary changes in the production of films. It is therefore a surprise for RKO to sponsor a number of scenes which ha-veijio^place^.ia-U- ^amUy^houseir Nudity is legit in the French Ca- sino,: but In a theatre which must maintain a following, long after the 'iEfolles' will have, gone, it's rather That the show is more daring than ever seen on a plctin-e hoiise stage was demonstrated by the sev- eral tlines that'the Pailace audience cracked up. The apple dance had this audience give forth an audible giasp.. Women: giggled and inen whistled. Plenty of good solW entertain ment in the show; plenty of really sockO costuming.and so much forth HARRY A. ROMM arid N. T. Present The Most Colorful and Entertaining Unit 30 Stunning Girls and a Gonnpany of .45 A SURE BOX-OFFICE AHRACTION (Miles T. Granlund) and His ''MIDNIGW The Paradise Cabaret Revue presented on the stage exactly as it appeared at the famous PARADISE CABARET in New York ■■' ■ ■■■ ■ ■■• r with ■ ■ right nudity Is umwcessaiy. The apple danoer might Just »«-well have covered up some without hurt- inic the danoe. The posliiff scenes could haTe given the braaaiere manufacttireni more of a break and still have been eye-flllers. . . But other portions ot the show otter real performance and show- manahlp. The applause went for auch performers as Kmlle Boreo, the only English-Bpeaklng performier on the show. Worked throughout the running time and tied the show to- gether with shrewd showmanship, again literally wowlnff 'em with his inipresaton of 'Dark Byea* as sung by various nationalities. Alao there la Gloria Gilbert, a remarkable stunt toe dancer. On for only a mlnutie or so, but sockol . Snake danqe was another out- standing number. And finally the excellent contortion specialty. These are the four outstanding Items In the show. It runs 75 mln- Picture, 'Wednesday's Child' (Ra- dio). ■.. V. V ; oow- : PLATINUM BLONDES (ORIENTAI., CHICAGO) ,'■ .■' Chicago, r>ec, 7, : . While, the business Is groping for money attractions/ along comes 'Platinum Blondes' With money -written-Bll-over it;-money-whether in~a Loop'house or over on Main Street. With a title that must at^ tract, show figures as having a jump over any other unit. But after it's got 'em Inside the stalls the show delivers, where other units liave failed. At the Oriental customers were crowded In tight on tha first day. Show is production and unit class throughout and can play anywhere, any time. ■ _ „ . ' Through BO minutes, the 42 silver- tops went through In expert style. Top honors are awarded to the team of Boicc and Marah, two gals who know what comedy is all aboiit Girls can handle' every type of comedy and gagging, even hanr dlUig blue lines with the greatest of dexterity, making them laugh without Qffenae. Another girl team of talent Is the Dawn Slaters, who twist and turn through an eccen- tric dance routine that had this au- dience chortling. . . Standard performer for years is Chic Kennedy, with her Impressions Of stage and screen celebs. She's added a couple ot new numbers. Miss Kennedy not only handles her own act, but works throughout the show, as m,c. and does a clean-cut job ot^ It. Other standout -single: performer Is Dorothy Slsson, who is in for a fine bird specialty. And the Lee Slaters are on for a splen- did acrobatic dance number. There is .an eye-filling line of gals in a couple ot nifty numbers; the picture number standing but particularly. ^ ' Behind the entire show is the 11- plece gal orchestra headed by Sarah Janes. All blondes, these: girls handle the show far better than Would b<B generally expected ~ from a femme band. All young, easy on the orbs and expert on the Instru- ments. ■■-. . All In all; a money , unit aiid with excellent exploitation iwsaibllittes. Gold. . NEW ACTS WASHBOARD SERENADER8 (4) Musical 11. Mint.} One State, N. Y. This type ot makeshift band made the smaller Harlem clubs the alummers' rage a few years back. Spotted in a bad show here, the four colored boys virtually took the house by storm with their hot brand of music on a kazoo, guitar, piano and a makeshift waahboard- cymbal contraption. Beaides playing, two of the boys sing—In the manner pop audiences take to Immediately. One of them is a Fuzzy Knight without a piano, while the other goes from falsetto, to an Inrltash of Blng Crosby, and both are oke all the way. At this catching the boys were called back for two encores, 'Black Eyes', in jazzlque and 'St. Louis Blues.' Then one of them "had to come back for a curtain speech,' There could be no question about the showstop and there was no milking. ■ They're dressed like -street urch- ins, caps, shirts and baggy, trousers. Look okay for anywhere, Bcho. With SUNNY DALE oio EARL JACK and BETTY After a Year's Run at the Paradise and Still Going Strong oio -THE GOLDEN GIRL—Washboard Serenaders LOEWS STATE. NEW YORK This Week (Pec. 7) ENTIRE LOEW CIRCUIT TO FOLLOW Personal Management HARRY A. ROMM Paramount Thea+re Building, New York pops~ANinjomE ■ Spng and. Danes 8 Mina.f One.and Two. : Orpheum, N. Yi y Two colored lads Seen around be- fore with a unit, but now doing a turn of their own. Open in one, do- ing a harmony into a dead mike. Thi^ mike buslneas la being done to death and there'a no particular rea- son why they should use It in this act,- ■: .;, \ : Boys don't really get started until they go Into. two agTalnst a black velvet drop and toss their heels around. That's when they're. In their own. The hoofing routine is fast and zippy with sonie spectacular acro- batics and a whirlwind finish. Hold deuce spot on this bill. AL SAMUELS REVUE Musical. :» Mins. One, Three, Full. Orphsum, N. Yi . Al Samuels and four girls present a potpourri' of talk, songs, and dances that's well mounted scenli. <)ally. Opening In three, idea starts oft as a sort ot backstage rehearsal with Samuels telling the gals that they're due to go on, and putting them through a last minute try-out, Ooing to one, two of the gals do a sister routine with a number and steps. Tiien to a full stage, against a gold and velvet drop, Samuels and the other two girls do a dance rou* . tine. Next la an imitation by Samuels^: of Ray Bolger. followed by an im- preaBionistlc Indian dance by two ot the gals, then the f ull troupe against a futuristic animal drop. Act seems to have plenty of novelty, but needs \^ork to whip It into shape. Comedy talk Is the aagglfig element If they correct that and sp^d it up they'll have a good act. ■■' r- JACK FULTON Singer 10 Mins.; Two Coliseum, N. Y^ "Btsvfng'made"~itftflte a name-for- himselt as crooner-soloist with the Paul iVhiteman ork, Jack Fulton left that combo early this fall for an NBC commercial on his own. This, also, is his first time in vaude . solo, ■ An offstage voice announces him aa by courtesy of the National Broadcasting Company, also men- tioning hia Whiteman connections. Travelers part .after Fulton has. sung a few bara of 'Sylvia,' a Whlto- mian fave, to ahow the tenor behind; a mike in two. He haa an excellent mike voice,. stage presence, a good selection ot songs and fine appearance. Recep- tion was good here in the middle ojC a five-act show. Scho, SHOW OF SHOWS (PITT, PITTSBURGH) Pittsburgh, Dec. T. -FbTTT^rsrRaynor-Ijehr^as^jeer playing the sticks- from coast to coast -with tab showia. That's where this one belongs. In the .hinterlands, and producer-star Is making a mla- take in bringing it around to the key-spots. : JJverythlng about this one, pro- duction, material ahd talent is ir- revocably fimall-timey.' - Bladkbuta are: old, moat ot them stemming | from burleoque^ drops are thread- bare, cb(>rus poorljr trained and costumes are poor. Out" where shows bring In the soil-tillers for miles around, where, a bare leg is still a bare leg, liOhr's 'Show of Shows" will probably be a mlnQr-| riot. Here, however, it's that, too, in a different sort of way. Whole thing is so wheezy it gets laughs whor e no ^a u gha-apa-4 nte . n.derl . General SxetuUve Oiftdes LOEW BUILDING AN N E X BRyant 9-7800 NEW VORK CITY X ft. L^BiN GBNXKAI. MAMAOl mm H. SCHENCK BooKora MMMAawm Acts include, in addition to: liehr himself, Nat (Chic) Haines, the LaFons, Joe Roberts, Four Blenders, June Burnett, Frazler Brothers and Betty Lawrence. Best of lot are Frazlers, who do some expert hand- to-hand iquscle stuff and register most legitimate click in the outfit. Blenders, ::mftlo-:;4uartet7:::eatbed.: in cowboy refalia^ have nothing to of- fer until their encore number, an Imitation of song stuff in Walt Dis- ney's 'Three Little Pigs' arid their best number of all. A ventriloquist turn is fairly, ef- fective, but remainder of specialties are pretty drab. Lehr has a hoke .dahciB session, doing numbers called out by audience plants; which will no doubt wdW 'eni in .the sections where this unit Is headed, or should be headed for. Production numbers are pretty flat, and aren't helped any by line's constant indecision. Duties of HalneS, rotund comic arid form- erly Identified with musical comedy —he was last In 'Hello Paris', with Chic Sale—are limited to a few ap- pearances -In sketches,——— ■ —- Strictly for the sticks. Oohen. BEATTY HEADUNING RKO PALACE, NEW YORK THIS WEEK (DEC. 7) Direction PHIL OFFIN (Simon Agency)