Variety (Mar 1935)

Wednesdaj* March 1935 VARIEIY HOUSE REVIEWS VARIETY 17 MUSIC HALL, N. Y, Ijooks like the Glee Club learned the wrongr song: tbia week. Or got switched. Preceded by artillery practice from the orchestra, burst- Ins bomb effects from the stereopti- con department, and the murky clouds of battle, the Qlee Club, at- tired as . soldiers bobq UP. huddled, together on the crest of a dugout ■and sing with fine evangelical fusto 'I Am the Captain of My Soul, Am the Master of My Fate.' It eeems quite universally being de- bated and this time whether soldiers have mastery over their own fate, Music Hall is repeating itself on scenes, costumes and ideas this week. 'Highlights' purports to trace life from the cradle to the bridal fete, with a detour to the battle- fields of France. A gent who might be Noah stands to one side of the proscenium and intones the com- ment that breaks up the scenes. That's a variation from the usual Musio«Hall stunt of using slides to Identify the time transitions. Seems that the Music Hall should discard that pattern, of uniting Its scenes with a thread that doesn't bind, but does limit. In other words, what the big house has been giving Is a series which, despite a variety of titles and subjects, is essentially, the same ^how every week^ 'Four Seasons,'" or "Five Senses,'' or 'From Nursery to Bridal Chamber' Is really, the same story. That the basic Idea cramps the production department is proven by the Instances almost any week when some . Incongruous scene Is dragged In that doesn't belong and weakens the whole structure. .Thia.t battlefield and 'Captain of My Soul' thing is an example.. While there may le grounds to discredit comedy in the Music Hall because of Its size, there seems no reason why the stage shows should - consistently ignore- -what-. every- other showman in America values as a prime asset—namely, speed. Music Hall thinks nothing of open- ing a stage show with a 10-minute stage wait like the cradle song sequence this week^ That calls for one mother and one baby, but five mothers and five babies singing Ave separate solos while the background Is altered every few minutes with a new optical effect. Anne Roselle, •Evelyn Duerler, Marlon Raber, Sari-Zuki and Virginia Fenwlck are the operatic mammys. Show reaches Its top in the sec- ond scene, when the girls do a skeleton dance in pitch blackness. Finale uses the same flight of stairs ..employed only... a couple, of-weeks ago. It is a feeble firecracker. Evelyn Duerler and Robert Lan- drum, not looking a day over 26, Impersonate and sing 'Sweet Six- teen.' This leads Into the Corps de Ballet performing in flouncing man- ner a minor divertissement while the lights of Monte Carlo twinkle along the shoreline far below. If It isn't Monte Carlo, maybe It's Palisades Park. Screen holds 'The Whole Town's Talking' (Col) and Erno Rapee plays 'Orpheus.' Land. EMBASSY, N. Y. Not too good a lineup here this week. Plenty of diversion, but not enough light stuff. In. between news and spprt' items are a couple of magazine shots, but nothing really funny ard only one or two minor lau^h possibilities. Vox gets the break on coverage with 11 Items, Paramount and Pathe coming in second with eight each. Universal is represented six timos and Hearst only landed four bif>-.. Starts off well enough with an editorial by Pathe on 'Down With Llbei'ty.' Pehaps too much edi- torial to really Jjelong, but it was tho only item in the show that got a hand at show caught. Starts with some photographic shot.s of news- pajier stories In New York on the Reich execution of two women, and u.se.s that as a basis to go Into the decline of free speech around the world. Ends with a dissertation along lines that U. S. doesn't need communism, fascism or nazi-ism (as if there were much actual dif- ference between the three in any- thlnc: except concept) and a hurrah for the land of the free. , Outstanding items are the Coa.st hoi-.-.e race, which Equipoise was supposed to win but Azucar copped, nicely photographed and well spieled by Clem McCarthy for Fox; a dress rehearsal against gas at- tacks in France by Metrotone, and a Babe Ruth saga by Pathe. Pathe grabs the. Columbia Uni- versity boys rehearsing their an- nual show, with fun, naturally, thrown at the boys made up as girls. Questionable taste here, however, in overdoing the queer stuff, especially with the announcer lisping and hooping. Subway inauguration In JIoscow is .TJi iJiteEesting,Item.- -It's the ITth city in the world.to get an under- ground. Baseball umpire Ormsby Is shown with Kis 11 children; a . witchcraft case in Pennsylvania is intended to be funny, but is actually a bit too gruesome for humor; a ba.tieball school; how to get goM from earth; an Englishman whoso heart stopped for five minutes, but who lived; tells how it feels; the in- terriatlonal dog race starts In Quebec; ice ekating in China; a riot squad in Japan; screwy schools in the U. S. as uncovered by Universal, and a big still in the backwoods of Georgia. Pathe gives 'Green Pastures,* legit show, a, break by interviewing Rich- ard B. Harrison, 'de lawd,' and cameralng a scene from the play between him and Gabriel, and Para- mount goes into detail on how oil is produced in Texas, sometimes Illegally, and what is going to be done about It. . All In all, nothing above average. Kmif. ROXY, N. Y. Plenty of show at the. Boxy this wee^ and most of It good. It's one of those occasions when strange elements Just happen to mix well and total up Into the mysterious sum of entertainment Willie Mauss starts oft the pro- ceedings with his trick cycle act. It's a good flash and Is dressed up by the house, Mauss being -brought on by the line, who stand around gaping as he speeds around the loop the loop tiaek. Ward Paullson, who won last week's amateur contest on the Fred Allen radio hour. Is brought In at this point and off quick.- -Real - en- tertainment again a minute later with the Three Wiles. Seemingly this Is a new act,, despite that the boys have polish and stage "pres-. ence. They have more than that. It's astonishing these days to see anyone with energy and ambition enough to strike out and try to do things a bit differently. And coif' siderlng that the boys are hoofers it's even more so. No mayhem. Just plain and fancy dancing witH new routines, a good comedy stance and a nice sense of novelty. ."Immediately after is flash two -of the show, another outstanding dance act, -John and Edna Torrence. They're brother and sister. Starts as a production number with John playing a violin, and well. While the line forms to right and left. Then into the dance. He and his sister do ballroom work but different. Ks not gliding, sleeky, or tlmorbus. It's full of pep and vitality and, what Is more Important, John Cameron, de- spite his pirouetting, manages to look and act at all times completely male. This team belongs In a class production. Landt Trio and White, next, are titular headliners of the show. They're from radio and okay enough for a- radio harmony trio. Add a few comedy touches to their yodel- Ing, not very funny, but good enough to serve the purpose. Gae Foster line Is back for the finale, a faist and sufllclently novel routine. Involving large rubber balls. Freddy Mack is in the pit this week, doing the announcing of acts and waving the stick at the same time. That's where he belongs. Mack knows enough about musical Instru- fnents to get away with it neatly. He's clever and good looking enough tor a band leader. He's not an emcee. On the stage the past few weeks he couldn't quite get away with his chore, and neither could the lad who wielded the baton. Under the new arrangement both work out better. 'Murder on a Honeymoon' (Ra- dio) Is the film' and the Roxy went on a shorts spree . Friday . night, giving the customers a two-reeler, two singles and the newsreel in addition. The customers here, like long shows. Kauf. HIPP, BALTO Baltimore, March 1. At show caught, second, opening day, house had just decided It needed an adjunctive act to round out the stage-show, along with 'Ro- berta' (Radio). The turn which was contacted and due In was the hand- balancing act, the Two Valors. On the opening day bill there were but three acts, all of which pi-oved clean-cut clicks. Starts oft with a B-mln. sister- act new to- local boards, Ray and Sunshine (Hudson). The gals ar*. lirst-rate tumblers and aero dancers, exhibiting rather a bit more class than usually encountered In turns of type. Have much personality and dressed in sort of Harlequin garb. Bob Hall Is In deuce with his ex- temporaneous doggerel. Closing turn Is the Salicl Marion- ettes. Act was solidly ovationed by. the large house at this performance. Looks jUst about the best puppet troupe ever remembered In a pop.-i priced house In Balto. One trick will have 'cm babbling all over the burg for wceks^—the effect of hav- ing a doll ignite and smoke a ciggie. The scenes shown arc of the order and sequence of a European variety bill. Smart touch is the lifting of the house drop at one juncture to show the manipulators at \.ork, all of whom are of the Sulici family (live men, Ave women), ranking from a.k.'s to adolescents. Though it seems that the puppeteers are supplying the musical and vocal ac- comp to .scenes, fact Is there Is a synchronized score from an appa- ratus carried by troupe. ^ The theatre waa fliled, with pic set for a fortnight. REX, PARIS Paris, Feb. 21. Ace Jacques Haik house, run by Gaumont receivers, has distinct American flavor again this fortnight In the three vaude acts which round out its program. Leadotf spot goes to Hibbert Bird and Ready, hoofers, billed as Ameri- can eccentrics. Dance number com- bines comedy and soft-shoe by the man, with goo^ toe-tap dancing by the girl. Certain amount of patter accom- panies the act. and team turns it into French. Audience doesn't care how bad -the French is—accent and funny grammar only emphasized fact that they are .getting exotic ispectacle. This Is good * policy for all American acts here, which have to keep a little patter in their rou- tine. Man gets best hand for burlesque femme Impersonation. In which he apes fake mohoped, with graceful artificial woman's leg, rising^ held In his hand-under his skirt Girl follows with clever toe Russe step^ ping, going up and down tinsel stair- way. Another dance act combining com- edy closes the vaude part of the program. Viola and Martin Roses. -Team is two men and a woman,-who open in swank evening dress ■ and start what looks like ballroom num- ber. Collision between two of^ the hoofers, after a few steps turns act into a burlesque adagio. Girl gets chucked around in standard cock- eyed positions. Close similarity to French adagio burlesquers which are hit of—current- F-olies Bergere show as part of political taJce-off, Ballet Bourbon. Local public appreciates how hard this is to do, and also likes the hu- mor anglis of It. Team finishes with genuine swing, .showing! what-they- can really do in adagio. .Thii:d hUmber Js unusual acrobatic act, getting best hand of all, billed as Four Mounters. Team appears to be English. Working with three tables and a set of chairs, one atop the other, the act consists of vari- ous modifications of going up and down them on hands. Three men and a woman—the femme chiefly for decoration—two of the men working acrobats and the third comic. Picture Is 'Gold in the Street,' starring Albert Prejean and Danielle Darrleux. Btern. United Artists, L. A. Los Angeles. Feb. 27. Fifth and last week of Frank Orth's Crazy Shows and house keeps up the precedent for laughs set by Its forerunners. Bill has Gus Van as the topper, with Jed Dooley and Co., Stanley and Kaplan, Frances Dexter, Rita and Rubin and Bill Harris fllllng in between blackouts. Van works In the blackouts, does his regular singing act. Latter is still aces for entertainment.- He does his usual Irish,. Italian and Dutch dialect numbers. Jed Dooley, like Van, works the blackouts, also does his regular rope twisting and hoofing turn. Too long, the act should be split. As it Is, it's an en- tertaining offering. Rita and Rubin' trot out their class adagio routine, land solidly. Prances Dexter is okay with an aero dance, number. Stanley .and Har- ris are too small-time for- this house, failing to Impress with their hoUey gags and dancing. Chorus of 10 do an opening and closing, number. Latter Is their best, a hot hip wiggling effort.. Orth plans to troupe the five shows, perhaps make a $1 musical out of last week's bill headed by Shaw and Lee. For this house, stage shows helped little. House did around $3,500 with straight pic- tures, the same with the staige fliled. Less than. 400 people at the mat Thursday. Screen was dualing with 'Evensong' (GB) and 'Society Doc- tor' (Metro), with Fox Movltone clips completing the screen fare. Call. CAPITOL, N. Y. Bob Hope backbones a smoothly running a.nd rather pleasing show at the Capitol this week. He emcees the acts briefly but humorously and establishes the idea of contentment in the minds of his audience. He has smartened his material con siderably, with Dolores Reed now given a chance to do one song at the mike before he horns in dur- ing his own act. It's only fair to permit her to show what she can do—and she does It. Now the gagging on the .second number be- comes a help. Hope Is using girl stooges in the boxes instead of men, and that makes for greater smart- ness too. About the only landmark left is the medicine gag. He bugs the-mike closer than -is-needful, but it's only chin high most of the time and he Is not hidden. Services open with the Danny Dare glijs in brief bodices of pur- ple with a good gag of the stage mcanagcr calling them back a couplo of times bocau.so Hope is not there. ']'hey drop from ai)parent exhaus- tion just as Hope bobs on to an- nounce the first act. Apparently many In the audience thought the gag on the level until the blowoff. Gordon, Reed and King start the show off with a strong shove. Good tapping and enough comedy to get the audience in the right mood. Usually comedy is anathennia for hoofers, but not here. Jack Powell seconds with his drumsticks and sells his smart stuff to the limit of showmanship. He got a double nod without Hope's help being "needed. Enrlca and Novello do a single nimiber, mostly carried by the man. It's different from the usual ball- room routine, and effective. Then Hope and his gang and Into the finale with the dancers In two groups alternating half in dreiamy rhythm and the other half on fast taps. Coiatumes are a blue for the first section and bodices ^or the tappers. All biit Powell on for the finish; with Enrlca arid :Novello do- ing their second number. Feature Is 'Biography of a Bach- elor Girl' (Metro), with only the newsreel In support Overture a nicely scored medley of Brahms. Show runs slightly over an hour, but the entire routine held in two hours and a half flat Business ex- cellent. Chic. PALACE, N. Y. Leslie Howard In 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' (UA) is thei b.o. mag- net- - this week, though r the -stage department's 70-mlnute interlude measures up well beside this fllin for eiitertalnrnent ^ First glance is Just standard vaude array, but closer perusal shows that there is some novelty for., the... cuatoraers...- Especially , in Buster Shaver's act in which his two midget friends, Olive and George return with added Holly-, wood glory on th^lr half-pint -shoulders. —They were- the two tiny perfdrmers In 'The Mighty Ba.rnurh' arid the hand received here brought home the fact that they can more than carry a full-sized act along., Grace DuFaye's acrobatic dances open. In addition to the dancer's body control numbers which are liberal and quite good, there Is a male hoofer who dances aloft on a baby grand piano. Novelty here is that he accents the various routines by tapping off on the specially con- structed keyboard. Not awfully new, but executed well here. Trio of femme steppers also included in the foot work. Eddie White on for faint warbling and regulation banter. Shaver's offering follows with his two miniature editions holding the spotlight. Best note to Jot down Is the sophisticated touch which Is apparent. Olive, pert In a chic maner, carries the brunt of the act. A ballroom adagio with Shaver has the house on edge. Where the usual femme dancer executes vari- ous whirls, this tiny doU Is able to double and sometimes triple the agile affects; Sound applause for this nuniber, which also goes for the entire act. Into Buck and Bubbles, old stand- bys at holding attention, Harlem nonsense, , pure and simple. Duo back for an encore but gagged it off Instead. Bubbles nearly went Escudero on the crowd but stopped short before many caught on. Very well liked per usual. Great Tacopis, eight tumblers, present a colorful sight on entrance. Attired Ih spangled matador grab, group does a brief cape bolero before entering into- their springboard feats. Any number of dlfflcult stunts pile up on each other, the main trend, being to try and' outdo the preceding one. PARAMOUNT, L. A. , Los Angeles, Feb. 27. Capacity downstairs at Thurs-. day's opening mat, with the house crediting both the stage show and the feature, 'Rumba' (Par), for the draw. Stage show falls consider- ably short of last week's effort both in talent and flash. Latter has been the big selling point. Patricia Bowman does but one number and that none too spectacu- lar. It's the dying butterfly. Pinky Lee and Co. are on for a hokey 15 minutes and give the show Its big- gest lift. Lee's clowning, worked to the hilt by the comic. Is nicely spotted. Material Is considerably blue. Male chorus sang one num- ber, 'Drums In My Heart,' to a good reception. Femme chorus, as has been the rule for the past few weeks, cop the major honors with their precision work, which opens and closes the. presentation. Girls, well trained, have a lot of personality, know how to sell their routines. Ballet pre- ce.ded Mi.ss Bowman with a tiresome routine, tho choreography of which was very indefinite, and did not help build up the dari.scuse's entrance. Miss Bowman remains here for an- other week. On for one number Is a 10-year- old girl, Dorothy Frances, who brlng.s out her mother as her teacher, with mama bringing out granpap as responsible for the en- tiro family's vocal efforts. It's been done by hoofers, but never by warblers. . Par news clips and Flelsher color cartoon complete the bill. Colt. ROOSEVELT, N. Y. (EAST SIDE) Vaudeville is back on the East Side, where It's been rather scarce since the dear old Delancey St. traded In its food concession for a- talker machine. The comeback Is under sponsorship of the Aegan Corporation, of which the operator Is E. M. Glucksman. Glucksman knows his vaudeville as well as his pictures, thi-ougli his former executive operating position with RKO. So here, at least, the stage shows can look forward to un- derstanding and sympathetic treat- . ment, something vaudeville isn't ac- customed to nowadays. Apparent theory under which the Roosevelt gambles with a policy that a lot of people believe,to be un- wieldy, is that they may still want good vaudeville, here or anywhere. On that basis the house proceeded to give 'em a bangup opening bill, one that strikes a better entertainment average than many shows uptown, including the Palace. If thiey'll go for any vaudeville here it'll be the. right kind—the erilertalnihg kind. But if they don't, it cannot be said this time that the vaudeville did not receive a square shake. . Roosevelt is a new name for this spot, which- for years has been the National, a Yiddish dramatic house. Location is a central ofte in the East Side district. House is on Houston' street where that thoroughfare juts, into the • bottom of Second avenue. Its marquee lights are discernible for more than a mile up the East Side's Broadway! New operators spent.plenty getting it in shape for this try.. - ■ Opening policy for the 40c. top, 1,800-seater consists of vaudfllms Friday, Saturday and Sunday and straight double features the rest of the week. On the first bill, along wlth a .fast moving stage layout of- flve acts, is . Radio's 'The. Gay Divorcee.' There's a standard act in each of the 'flve spots on the opening bill— DeLong Sisters, Petit and Douglas, Al Shayne, Joe Besser and Ruiz and Bonlta. All found th6 audience highly responsive. Joe Besser, next^to-closing, found the downtown bunch just as soft a touch as the uptowners, and his speedy workmanship, accomplished everything that a good comedy act should. He's assisted by a corklnj straight man, Sam Crltcherson. Al Shayne, who totes a radio rep down here, Is third, and another clicker. That the customers liked Shayne's. singing enough to take his terrible talk along with It. is the best Indication of his vocal ability. They didn't have to do much coax- ing to get two encores, but he rated 'em anyway on applause. Opener is the DeLong Sisters' acrobatic turn, three young, comely girls doing surprising feats. They could handle a~show or 'cafe spot as a distinct, novelty, but meanwhile rate among the topnotch openers in vaudeville. Petit and Douglas scored on the midget's versatility and the audience was nice about their Jokes, tolerance also being shown in this case. Ruiz and Bonita's Spanish danc- ing fiash winds up. Sister team, pianlste and the name pair In a talented, good looking full stager. It's an excellent closer for a well booked and smartly balanced show. : Sta.rtlng things off is the house pit orchestra, with. .vocal solos by two of the musicians, plus the music. Name — Moe Lazarus and His Roosevelt Rhythm Kings, Bige. LOEWS STATE, N. Y. That this show ^s one of the best the State has had in many months is but one of its virtues. The sec- ond is that it's an honest-to-good- ness- variety bill, a rarity these days, while the third, and in some respects the most Important, is the act being done by Jimmy Savo. Superlatives now for one who's been a headliner for many years may seem superfluous, but not so when Savo Is seen In the best act yet. Huzzahs are also due him for working so hard to attain this end when so many other performers gave- up long. ago with the excuse that vaudeville was on the down- grade. He's on here for at least 25 minutes, 10. taken up by encores, and whamming all the way to the point that he has to beg off. To what was formerly alniost a 100% pantomime turn Savo has added a good measure of singing, displaying a good voice, but yet hoking the numbers so that he never gets out of character. But the four acts preceding Savo, and the act following him, are prac- tically on a par with his stint. Show starts well with the opening iron- man stuff of the male half of Rector and Doreen, femme member doing the twirls from the props he Holds la his .teeth and hands as he's.filed. From there the show builds steadily without a letdown. In the deuce the Three Fonzals socko with an assortment of fancy mayhem ■ that comes as a surprise after a harmony opening. They're on for six minutes and c.ome as close as possible to murdering one another in that time. Following them is tough, but Frances Arms - quickly dissipates the sock-booni atmosphere with her repertoire of (Continued on page 87)