Variety (Dec 1934)

«2 VARIETY Tuesjaj, D«cen|lier ilS^ 1934 EMBASSY, N. Y, pilation, tie Sort:of thing which be- loners in hewsreel^.. On topi oif this clip the show runs.ln.a Fox bit show- ing Italian' youth' now training with ; jruns. Arid , while . 'this show Is «n these, things. Par brings the fleet Into Frisco arid Hearst catches the> Soviets celebrating; the -ITth annl . yeii'sary,.of the ■ revolution, r The priesldent returns frojn the South, but says nothing (Unusual); Homer S. Cummlnigs from Washlngr : ton' talks on the crime drive;,. Dr. Dafoe visits New York and Pathe presents Hte and exclusive pictures of the quintuplets; Polish Jews are refused admiisslpn to Palestine, probably; a Par' exclusive; ,, last stages of the '.Lansing (Mich.): hbtel tragedy are photographed; Mexican ■ railroad-men-threaten-tb strike and Mild disorders break out in the capital; the Olarits and Bears plays professional fb6tball, done In detail by Pathe; . Dutch - Schultz is glimpsi^d by camera eyes; Twenty Grand arrives In California for. a turf comeback ;.:wedding gifts to the Diikei and;'Duchess of Keot ;come under observation, arid Jack'Demp- sey buries his bo3?ing gloves in ia . cornerstone. That sums up what, may be regarded as the newsy ;ma' terial of the show. • The balance is novelty, publicity stunts, staged 8tufe:...arid_.the like; having no particular imp'6rtanc& arid not niuch more entertainment value. The. usual pfe-Chrlstriias material is on display. Including another bit on Santa ClaUs, tni^., which prob-; iably was resurrected from the flies.- • The Emb has flirially Included Fpx In the; main credits flash on opening •of ,the show. ■ Cfiari ■ PARAMOUNT, JL.A. . / -IjOb Angeles, Dec. X2. Fanchon i&. jilarco , has tmhs- formed. the. Paramount stage into a ; modern one-ring cllrcuis for the currerit. week, arid garnered "heavily: of talent froni the Sam Dill-Tom Mix tent dutflt, which redently werit into winter quarters; near here^ Re- sult is a,-dlverslfled. type of stage fare, running k little better than 60 . mlns. at the ibpeiier today, and cllcklrig with the; handful of cusr tbmers on. ha,rid. Acts included Sahara, trained ele- phant; : Buddy, educated: seal trbupe . of nine performing dogs and a monkey; the Seiven Jordans, acrobatic family;.: Irma Ward, aer- lalist arid rope Worker; Ethel Jen- nerle, trapeze arid revolving per- former; the O'Donriells; : duo of clowns; four educated ponies,-And 'Masters' (high school horse), good for coriiedy through efforts of a couple of liCK^al youngsters to ride the animal, and climating. with I^ube Wolf, hous^ qiaestrd, cavort- _lng-3dldly-5Ehile^8US]perided. in ipid-,. air, in pi^oximlty fo the horse. Wolf band is spotted in a starid at rear, of stage, w:Ith settings ap- propriate for the week's offering. Screen: has Par's 'One Hour I<ate,' Paramount News and Sportllght (Par). ;" :. ■ ■• ■ Edtba. \ AC>U)EMY, N. Y. ; The only vaXidefllmer In Manhatf tari south of 23d street, the Acad- eriiy, appears to be doing a whale of a business.^ ThS: ruri of pictures here has been weak on th e average, and the competitlou irom tlie grinds is Very strong. Within one block on either side of this .Skouras spot there are three .straight picture Joints, .all of them underselling! the Academy'is 40c top. So It riiust be the vaude. that's drawlrig 'em.' There's little else to do so.; ^ • This stage layout is a good example 6f bad booking—a show that'^ poorly spotted, but yet leaves no room for betterment becatfse of the acts themselves. Runs slightly 6vfer"70'.'minutes," which" isn't bad for, six acts, but, because bf the nature of the entertainrifient,? was too ;longi Blanche: Calloway (sister; oX CaJ)) Is headlining and closing the show In front of a 12-piece nrjale; brk and specialties consisting of an har- nionlca-i>laylng boy and., a ;thr€e- arid whlp-oracklng bits, flt this crowd. And ;the father arid mother gag; dbesri't hurt, either, Les. Qalls, talented flash, open.. Billed riaimes deliver a sock apache (ploslrig, while the, remaining three giris arid boy i.ruri the gariiut ,of dariclrig arid singing. There's' some- thing of a reasbri, for everything they dOi which Is quite different from: other , inasli acts* The screwy bobklrig Is .the Chung Tee .W*h troupe of flvei- Chinese nieri arid two girls, excellent acro- bats arid balancers, but unnecesr sary in a show already carrying two big acts. Their standout trick is when brie - of the boys' dives thrbugh five hoops lined with knives. Sixth act bn the show Is Andrea Marsh,: singer from radio, who Just Wasri't hot enough for the-down- town end.. . Otherwise, she's okay: on Voice , arid looks. - Male piano ac- .Coinpanist to her ritilklng, Scho. . COLISEUM, N Y. . :At thaJSaturday matinee theJaii- dlence was 90% childreri, tvlth the remaining, 10% riiost likely getting in,to the spirit of things and acting up like the youngsters. It was a matter of the: entertainment flttlrig J"^?. tastes* or else, and when it did P.'" ' those in back of the foot- lights knew itlnimediately. For the kids these flrst-half vaVide bills RKO dishes but here are the nuts; for some .pf the,acts,:lt must sound like old, tImes. ; '; : Eddy Burdton, maesfrolng the ll- plece ork, has the kid arigle down to a science. . His overtures-^probably fbr the Sattlday mat exclusively— are aimed chiefly, at the- lOryear- plds. At this catching the show's start off was Ja 'schooldays' rije^ley; one of the trumpeter^ Impersonating a schoolmaster. • Probably would be murder for the night adults* but went pyer 100% with the children. Natural standout; was ; Carteton Emmy and . his, Mad Wa«rs (dogs). In the deuce; Aritics of the puppies* expertly paced by the billed name, drew howJs. from the children arid what can be clasiaed as an • ovation at the flnish: Same thing went for the excellent, femme stooge, with Charlie Melson and Miss Irmanette Iri next to closing. Up until her. ap- pearance, M^lson's gags and singing arid Miss Irmanette's Addling were winging their way; over the tots' heads.. When that stooge arid Ker double-talk -lisp started going, tiie entire: complexion of the act was changed for thei butfronters., . Another similar contrast came In the opening ■ flash of , Lyjiri Burhio and Go. Three'girls and two men in this one, but .only the dancing got. dver. In her operatic attempts one- of the girls was hissed' with vigor, also imitated in childish tremolos. .The act one w'ould~strpP'o"a'e v^ould go strbng with a crowd of this kind; Mae; Questelle (Betty Boop), Just about got across. She milked a cur- tain, speech a:fter some quiet slri'glrig and Inept Imitatlbnis of ZaSu Pitts, Maurice , Chevalier and. Mae West. ■What she and her male piano ac- companist needed most . was the p. a,. system.; They just 'weren't loud; enough. . . , Clbslrig act, Lrlazeied Arabs (12), with two, three: and four high and wide balancing formations, also clicked with the youngsters. "X 'Captain Hates- the Sea' (Col) -rounds-eut-^he-showT^ Schu. - male h o bftng arid siriglng combo. Miss Callo'way; has dispensed with much of her/ hotchaltls and has gone arty, rolling; her r'fl and lean- Irig toward the ballads. Without the. rhythm numbers shels Just a cblPrbd lasisl waving a stick in front of musicians. Her specialties .put her over, certainly not the th\i-^ ^slclans, ■ the -harinonlca boy," ho^- evfer, giving the act spark with two rhythm numbers into amlke. Trio also oke. -y.v Show has two comedy acts, Eddie White In the^ deuce and Pat Hen-^ nirig next to closing. Former would probably do much better If not tip- ping his-mitt via that upturned hat. If coming on straight arid then flulpplng, his -mediocre material might , have had a chance., His singing helped him here, thttt pld- fashloned tear-jerker finish getting him good applause. : .• •: , ■ Henning's conieidy,. mainly sight, faired better. His iscrewy acrobat- ics, ncwJy garnished with archery CENTURY, BALtO ^ - V Baltimore; Dec. 17." This Is third anriiial local talent show, Lbew's has sponsored" In Century In,past years during weeks prior to Xmas and, on pverall col- lation, it rates about tops of the three. As far as the talent 'Un- earthed arid presented Is concerned, it is clearly in tlie" forefront.- Tis .a show on the whole. It rather lacks aa iiitegral part of ;any entertaln- riient-humor. ; As Is' custortiary, : these, revues have, an established performer to m.c. In. currerit 'Okay, Baltlmbre' there Is Ted- Claire, w.ki here, hav at house back in '29, whieri resident :m.c.'a were the raigre. - He'ia, liked plenty yet, Judging by reception ac- corded; him opening day, and he turned .:ln an. altbgether bke per- formance. Ori sheer ability, top In show -was Lorralrie Williams, aero : contor- tionist,-who socked with a back- bend ithat eventuated with hiier lit- erally sitting on her head. GSal giVes hint; of real future In vaude. Right biehind her came Helen Meeks, pretty ; wellrknbwn ' arqiind town, with : couple yeats. of nitery arid club-date iexperlencc under the belt. Only did one chant, rest of her Harn being takien up by: Claire with some cut-ups. .GSal shoura; step out and deliver straight and solo. Ariother winner was a dance twain, also equipped with Ion? terms oh nitery floors. Rudiss & Reneli.Oh twice, first- for Bolero; which wis best, and later, the Continental. James Riae dlshed; up some nice tiimhlirig stunts;: looked keen com Ing from so patently adolescent a lad. Joseph Bennett stayed oyer- fong In his spot with a pelf-ao- (iompkriying strumming of a steels $trlng guitar, while tbsslng tenor pipes into a mike: he should cll]> at least orie of the three songs be tried when caught ■ E(Jgar Well arid Alice Gates, hoofing team, - are falr.'jEdward, Perkins, reedyrvblcod tenbr, " li:ood • enough with pialr; 6f segregated songs..! Tprii Floyd tried a brief Durante imltash, pretty pallid and pbintiess. ,. , A chanting cop is always a. nov- elty, and show has brie In; uhl- form-^and the McCoy; he's zoned at Penria. station. Wheh he steps but, billy, gat, 'n' all, and baritones couple of Victor Herbert turies, he gets a very strong, hand. The Qreat Mogul unleashes. 8brii& legerdemain' that's standardly am- atpiir, save final; trick, which Icites the. turn over. Line of 20 . local loolcers favored with three * tomps across the rostrum, managing fairly arduous iE|,nd -Intricate routines r precision ' went ; slightly askew at times and line worked shade too sluggishly first day, but should pick up spe.edler pace when ; losing riervbueness. accompanying -dobut Ted ;Clalre has next-to-shut spot for own, and drfilns It dry. Claire's forte. Is .warbilng, erid that's what he intoned for 'tm—straight arid In Imltash nyinner. ^ Wardrobe, shipped herb from Capltbl, N/ T., is good. •(jay Bride* (MG) on screen; biz gobd first shPw, Friday; , V " - . ..' •: ' — — ■.■ ■."■ /•■;■ .^'.yl FOX, B'KLYN This is the webk before Christ- mas and a theatre like this riaay be forgiven; for not putting on Its best show of the year. There Wbn't; be much business anyway, moist man- agers figure, rio matter What the at- traction. However, the little tearii of Pops and lioule, -whP are behind the foots this week as the headline iEict, may be sbntewhat up the alley fPr the .elusive kldis drawn past the box office windows. They're a cute ;'ahd clever pair whom Brobklyriites may have fol- lowed.ori the air, iri which evbnt the :name will mean isomethlng. CBS presents the act here and It's the hit of a stage department which Is otherwise tame. The Pbiis-Loule^ twain sings, two numbers, the first In which, all sorts of do-do-do-la-r la's, figure,, the other a: pop done straight and by far the more effec- tive of the .two. . Lads also dance, combination showing ; plenty in rhythm routines. ' ;; Another act that may be familiar to the ears of the air. is the Three Marshalls, mixed . harmony trio working around a piano. A fair act, it also offers some leather-slappirig, the . two girls assaying; rather high in a rhythhi double. Lassies make a nice. appearance. The rhythm dance Is • in cbnnectibn with their third. . . (final) number, 'Cbllege Rhytjhm,l_theulad:^f the triumvirate obliging .vocally. . ' ' No girls of ■ the ensemble this week, the 12 Aristocrats doing ;the sort of work a mixed dancing ,cHorus would be expected to do. al- though not as well. ■ ,^ Art Cooper, juiggler/opens. Hierihy Youngman IS: In between atbac- «ons with some talk, all of It mild. That; gag about father being killed While proposing to; riibther would be plenty taboo if on the screen; Ben Nelson's orchestra permanently on stage here, this week; stuck In a simple stage setting that reriilrids •p^-^^^owecy , we ll-b uHhed^-nggrdeiT lawn. Perfect for this time of the year when everything's In the spirit of Santa Claus. ^ ■ ;;.,?.opu.la,tlpn bf .the Ixouse- spsbrs^ at nine bells Friday eVenlng, with no real: drag names over the week's picture, 'The Gay Bride' (MG). Pic- ture Is on its first run metropolitari snowing over here.. ; Chart (Cbritlnued from page 52) takings clearly Indlcaited the show to be a flop. 'Halpplness' was shoe - stringed. edT-sateFj tees, with the exceptlpn of Miss Sutherlarid. Show opened on a Thursday, and on Friday of the fol-' lowing week Equity demanded that Miss Sutherland get at least some of the coin due her from the previ- ous week. Du Roy sought to raise the money, from the box ofil'ce but failed to db so arid Equity ordered Miss Sutherland not to appear. That automatically folded- the troupe, embryo managers not being per^ muted by Equity to use an under- study in Miss Sutherland's place. Case is the first reverse of the. kind In court that Equity has en- countered arid the highest award known 'In any damage suit of simi- lar ; nature. Equity's right to con- trol Its members has heretofbre bieen upheld by the courts, 'Happi- ness' matter, therefore, creating a precedent. OBITU ARIEiS JOHN bUNSMURE (MACNAB) Johii Dunsmure (Macnab) for thlrty-flvej yearis; In light ; opera* died In...New York last webk. Born In Edinburgh, he took up singing Seriously, going to Italy where he studied, then came to the United States -where he became principal basso with the .'Bostonlans.' Fol- lowing that came 'Happyland' with DeWolf Hopper, with Lulu Glaser in 'Dolly Varden' and 'Little Boy Blue' where he played a real Scots man, for several years. He was with the original 'Chocolate Soldier' and waa called in at all Its revivals. One oi; Dunsmtire's most successful engagements. was with the London production of 'Rose Marie.' His final New York appearances were a few months ago in 'Gypsy Blonde' and in Charles Purcell's re vlval of 'The Chocolate Sbldler, where he was still heard In his original part of General Pbpoff. was a sister of Esplnosa, the well- known dancer. Wendell Ootaett, 65, who was with Tex Rlckard in Alaska, died Dec. 6 at Los Arigelea and was cre« mated Deo. 7 at Forest La'wn ceme- tery, Glendale, Calif. Mrs. Ella Sterling Mighels, 81, historical writer who used the pen name- of Aurbra , Esmeralda, was burled In Mountain Vlew cemeteryi Oakland. Calif., Dec. 1. Jacob Jaokson, 75, father of Billy Jackson,. RKO agf nt,, died In Brook- lyn Dec. 16; - A Nets^ IncQFnB (Continued from page 1) JOHN F. NESS :-; :•;■ John F. Ness, '41, pronibtion man ager for KNX, Hollywood, died Dec 11, at Los Angeles following a week's - Illness with pleurisy. Borri <ltt-Chlcago, Ness for eight years %as assistant managing editor of the Los Angeles Times In charge of promotion and later filled a similar capacity for a short time on the San Francisco Call-Bulletin. , He ls survived by a widow. SIDNEY DRAWBAUQM Sidney brawbaugh, 44, stage manager of the Strand theatre, Lbng Beach, died jn Seaside hospital, Dec; 11.. He had been stage dlrec tor of the house for many years. Joining the staff wheri It was Hoyt's theatre, playing standard yaudeVllle He is survived by his father. OLIVER BINGHAM Oliver BInghani, 46, . died In New Yorit Dec. 10, He was most recently of Blngharii; and Van, but had been Bingham and Olsen, and Bingham and- Meyles. . ;■:.':'■■.: Survived hy a widow and daugh ter. Interment In Philadelphia. TOM VALLANCE .. Thomas Lauder Vallanco, 21, nephew and godson of Sir Harry ■L auder , died after a motor-»cycl' acclderit, Nov. 28. • He accompanied Lauder, on most of his American tours. ■ veRnon gilmore Vernon GilmPre, 46, died In Coshocton, O;, Dec. 3, at the home of Nettle Lou Voshall. He was stricken several weeks- ago In Jack- sonville, Pla;, after closing with the original Williams Stock Company. Interment In Uhrlchsvllle, O. : . H. FRANK MATTHEWS H. Frank Matthews, 69, once a well-known advance man, died In a Phoenix (Ariz.), hospital Dec. 12, He had represented George M. Cohan. Richard Bennett and others; Interment in Springfield, 6. Apes' and no Forhan 'Count of Monte Crlsto.' Also missing was, the lodent plum and the huge- ap- propriation that Gillette made available last season for .spot brbacastlng. ' Idea-Creators-'" Experts In thei advertising busi- ness attribute the sharp ■ swlng- iway from million dollar and half million dollar bankrolls for" spot broadcasting to changes that have takto place in the spot field Itself. The alignment of practically all Im- " ^ortant stations with exclusive reps has resulted in tlie. freezing out of ; the hnen who as, general time brok- ers: had been prime, creators p£ \ Ideas, programs and merchandlsins campaigns for spot, broadcasting. ' With rare exceptions these general reps had been the instigators. If not < the complete creators,- of every big spread In spot broadbastlng. These experts aver that what has made It still tougher fpr spot broad- casting Is the entry of the netwbrks ' In the spot" represerilatrbri field. " Little of the creative can be exr pected from this source, because 6t the anomalousposition that that webs hold. They can not blow too strong for spot broadcasting for fear that this enthusiasm and vigor \ may Jeopardize their network tim* interests. By offering to do ' tho ■ .j^ppt; repriasentation for their asso- ' dated stations the netwbrks have as their main objective the idea ot self protection. Not only have the webs In this way a hand In plotting; the allied station's schedule but by bringing the latter some spot busi- ness they make up; In part for th» financial dea:l that: the- staflbh I* , getting on network time. NBC will come through 1934 with around $27,700,000 from network time sales, as against $21,600,000 . for 1933 and $26,600,000 for 1932.' Jump over '33 Is 30% arid oVer '32, 18%. Columbia's tally for 1934 will come to about $14,860,000, or 20% better than the $10,060,000 It did in 1933 and 18% above the 1932 ac- cumulation of $12,600,000, Spot and local broadcasting Is ex- pected to show a tally of around -$30,-«00;000-f or 1934.-—— — — ^ ELMER B. CENTER V Elmer B. Center, 68, a minstrel muslciari touring the country with several of the major companies, for the past 16 years,; died Dec. 6, In Sandusky, O.,; :: Interment in Sandusky^. . William G> Wells, 60, musician, died in Los Angeles Dec. 9 and was hurled in Forest Lawn cemetery, Glendale, Dec. 11. He «had lived In libs Angeles 40 years, jvas; one of ■the—organizers of. the Strtrfters- Quartette and for years was a member bf the Orpheum Four. , Vivia Fay doubling from 'Great Waltz' into the Caprice room of the Hotel Weyliri, N; Y., with Raoul and Eva Reyes, Milton Douglas and Enric Madrlguera brchpstra. Harry Warren and Al Dubin will enact a pair of. song writers in Warners' 'Go Into Your Dance,' with Jolson. LETTERS B.?J?S5L?»?^'"« »or Mall to .TASIETT AddreH Uoil Clerk. «fSS5S45"i?' AOVBBTI8ING or 0IB0DI.A1{ LBTTEBB mU. NOT PB, ADVKRTISBn fJBTTEBa ADVERTISBD : ONB IS8I7B ONLT John Sykes, 76, singer and theatre decorator, died Iri Sarita Barbara bf a heart attack abbut Dec. 6. His bbdy was fbund by pbllce Dec. 9. He was: known -as Santa Barbara's first remittance man, having settled there 25 years ago. ; .. Gordon Moore, Jr., orchestra leader, died Nov. 22, following an appendicitis operation at Fltts White Clinic, Jackson, Tenn. Sur- viving are his parents and three sisters. Was principally known around Memphis. NEW YORK Cormlcan James Davis Ethel Frapkei j.ou- ' I Herbert Orace & C CHICAGO Bernard AI B.utler Iioulae Beattle Robert Burns Curly , Denabn. Marlei . Maurice Max Mack Dolly Richards, Theodore Skirt Harry B ; Stiles Joseph Madame " Ray Ravbdna, dancer and teacher, fell Nov. 12 from the second story of her stkidio in Johan- nesburg and died Immediately. She Cuihihtngrs; boii : Drew Vlrelnla Duroe A Dunn Johnnie |. Hess :,TacK \ HalfflBnima; Ilofrmnn Gertrude Jninl.::'!! .t t;- Kessic Hermaa Murray Ken Magulre Vivian MacCarthy Frank. McCombs Emilo I' Para.do Allan Robinson iT E Robinson Elliott Robinson Robt ' Scott Joe : Verabelle Mdiii . : Vltchol Billy ; Whito' Bros ' - White Bob