Variety (Apr 1935)

16 VARIETY VARIETY UMSE BEVIEWS Wednesdayv April 10/1935 MUSIG HALL,*^ Big Hall stumbles a bit this week but recovers and ends uP vwith an acciBptable entertainmisnt. But that Xumblei -wasn't necessary. Show Is called 'Varieties' with I^on, Leonl-. . doff taking bowis; ai producer; Vi- cente Minnelll, as designer of sets; costumes by 'Wllla Vian and M> Mon- tedorp. Only the litter rate any serious torso bending/ After the glarit orchestra goes through a medley ; bt ebuthern tunes which jaeem amazingly feeble for such a , fliie aggregation ,of jnusl- cians, there is A: 'The Athletic Club. That means the Glee Glub Is all over '-the place making believe It's exer- cising, there's a hiU-blUy^uartet and Nicholas Daks who does some rope skipping. Probably intended , to be , ielther colorful or funnyj but It's ■ neither. \ ■■ ' ■■ B is the Solarium, which means the Rockettes. There hasn't been any doubt for a long time that this is,the most .capable and best trained line of girls extant. Jan Peerce Is C, nieajUng he; warbles, 'Trees' and 'Mandalay.' Maybe he already knew them so didii't have to practice, which is hardly ah excuse. "There are plenty of other soiigs around. The glee club joins him on the chorus of the second puihber, makr ing that okay. D Is 'La Valse* and the piece de resistance. It is So exceedingly line that it makes everything else all, right. It's a not-too-well-known tune by: Maurice Ravel,: actually .finer musically than his 'Bplerb'. ac- cprding to- most music critics, al- though hot as flashy. The ballet dancejs It oUt here to perfection, em^ ploying those trick' jstages better than they have been In a long time. Especially when the stages -move up to four different levels is it thrilling. The ballet Is exceedingly well trained and Nina Whitney and Jerome Andrews as the soloists r are flhe. . To top the number and md:kc It really outstanding Is art excep- tibrially fine set of costumes which are cleverly worked Into the very routine of the dance and make It shine. ,■ ' . . . ■ '■ -rr There's a . special thenib sbrig In that first athletic club scene, 'Physi- cal Culture,^ written by Kay Swift . : and Al Silverman. Film Is 'Life Be- ; gins at ;40' (Pox). •, -v.- Kauf, ROXY, N. Y. Sallcl marionettes hold for « aec- ohd week as heading the stage show. \irith an eptlre new 'program ;ad- verthied, but actually; about the same routine as last week. And 23, minutes Is stlliSto« loiig; in spi : the novelty of pome of/the stuff and the excellence .of the manipulation. Still opens with the cah-can with : the Gae Foster girla Just finished with- a similar dance to the same music and costumes/ The music j|s a handicap, since it lacha the verve of. the usual can-can music, but girls perform smartly, and get the . dqlls oft to a n^ce introduction. Sallcl has eome excellent puppets, / notably a man who lights and - smokes, a cigarette. Apparently doiie without the usual hose and rubber bulb, and he Iceeps perambul- ating the stage. Evidently the smoke device Is -Wholly: .self-con talned/ Puffing brought two or three bursts of applause. Next best bet Is a pedal Juggler. A pianist, with a singer and flutist Is more commonplace, and marks the weak • spot on - the program. The three iarc separately Introduced, jut all as one number and that stretches It too far. Three distinct gags, but It's all one to the audience, nilnd and far too lohg. The handling of the cords Is well done, and the act sbpws the. excellence to be expected in what seenis to be a three-genera tion setup. On paper Senator Murphy looked marked for the slaughter, but- he fooled, them,;. Without putting much dependence on the mike, he/pushed his Jokes as fai* as -was. necessary to get the laughs, and he got theni/ though Rbbsevelt gags are hioro or less dynamlto rlight ho-w iand can prbflt^bly bo omitted. Murphy, like the others, gets' a buildup, from the line, winding Up at the tail end of a pplltlcai ; parade with plenty of drums. : Just a march across, but It madc ar svfell opener. ■ Starter for iFerry Gorwey , was even better, the irirls in blouses and short trunlcsi with sleigh bells at ankles arid.walst/s. They dp a romp ing' piance with the bells- making plenty, of noise/ and after the clown's act it develops /that / each girl is tiiiipd to a different hbte^/and they jiih^Ie put a melody after a fashion, Iipth by Junirilng up and dbwh In proper sequence and fiat on their Ixacks and shaking the anklet.s.. Sm.aft stuff for this audi- ence, in between Gorwey does the. isame old stuff, but with the same bid finish ,and the same number of laugh.*:. lie h*fi heen abroad: for sonie tinrie, and that has a-freshen- ing (effect. -He got off to a.gbod bow as the /starting act. Nancy Dennis Is the Added starter this week from the Fred Alien ama- teur show. She's a nlmblerflngered pianist,, but handicapped by a ter- rible stage .presence. Show runs'a. minute oyer the hour. Feature Is It Happened In New York' (U) with an old Popeye car- toon, a new Ernest Truex double rceler; the newsreel and slathers of trailers. Trallerlzlng two features, one Immediate and the other a. com- ing event Is apt to leave an audi- ence yrith this Intelligence quotient in doubt ofi tp whether or hot the house is going duals.. Entire show funs three hours. Business moder- ate. .■ : / - Chic. ■"/■ CAPITOL, N Y. (Rooney-TJmbePO Unit) "With" the help of ttdrolt stage wiring and a supporting ci^st that apparently was told to shout, and did,: the Tlmbergs aiid the RooAeys tossed the Capitol's traditional anti-talking bugaboo for a loss Fri- day night. ; To their regular- get-to- gether . unit theRooneys and the Tinibergs ; have! ■ Added a talking opening; and closing, and It was these two bits 6t dialog tilmmirig that broke the hpuse deaf and dumb rules.../ Prolog and epilog—both/occur In ii / bourtrbom. They provide the unit with a. new title. 'Trial of a Century,' and the show os ■ a whole with^ a bright start and an: excel- lent finish./ / / In between'the Tlmbergs aiid, the Rboneys gp tP town on their bwn and as the 'Cohens and Kellys of vaudeville. That .part.of It has al- ways been good. The clever new begihhing and flhish roakb It even •better..//- ^ ■/! As a starter,' the Rooneys and Tlmbergs are haled Into court by a 'house , manager,' who looks like J. K. Emmett on the level.- Purpose is to have the Judge decide which clan shall receive ton bllilns^ After seeing the; show, and for the' finish. , the Judge gIvesv'em-:both.J30 daysi . Outside of the Rooneys and Tiin- b.ergs, and the latter's flock of male and female stooges, unit carries only the Pour Albee Sisters, Quar- tet has one, specialty spot, con- suiplng more time than Is war- ranted. Albee girls are versed in many things, but expert at nphe; they do have considerable: con- fidence, and that helps. Theatre's contribution - Is the Danny Dare line of 32 In two color- fuHy costumed and well executed routines. Qlrls give the unit the bulk that It needs. / But leave it.'to the Tlmbergs and the Rooneys to wow any iaudlence, anywhere aind any time. No more perfect combination of family acts has ever graced, vaudeville. . They are giving the Capitol a strong stage show when one Is needed. •West Point of the Air', (Metro) Is the current picture, . Bige, FQX,B'KLYN The show here Is an endurance, contest! Anyoiie. dropping in, around nine fbr the last show won't be but before the next day (by the cal- ender) has conie around.' . When the feature andi stage show ore supplemented by an orchestra bvertnire and shorts, plus a news reeli It's a lot to take - at. one sitting. If buying/ entertain ment on length; with short banic- rolls, then the Fox fills the bill. /It gives and gives and gives fbr the dough It gets; MajrlDe that's, the right policy here. • Current week's' stage show: Is headed by George; divot and assays more than the average entertain- ment value. ; it is well rounded out with other talent and has been staged capably. Including; a clever means by which to get iarouhd a tie- up ad. plug for .Niimm's store (local) via an Ea^er fashion show-, /It's calleid Namm's fashion parade and employs the Margie Alton stream- line dancers as models, with special hunibers and m.c.'lng -which takes away the adyertislng; stigma, yet maihtains the sting so far a.s Namm's Is concerned. Ml-ss Alton, whb came here -from the Oriental. Chicago, stages • this iinlts here un- der the superylslon of iZiic Preed- man, . managing director . of tho libuse, and does okay; ;Grl\'ot works ahead of the fashion display, which ciose.s, raising somp howls with material which now and then is rather zippy. This place ,is a big one so Givbt uses- the mike, but reception over the. p. a. system was not as good Friday night as; it might halve .been I and some gags went downsti"eam. / Balance of the talent ncludes Sel- don dhd Eridler, comedy acrobats, a good little act; Juno Ardell, sure- fire sop /from the ether. waves, with a couple pop sbngs; the Olympic Champlbns, otherwise Jumping wolf- hounds, plus some, poodleis for laughs; and Bernlce Macnafi.: Last rinehtlbned Is this week's contract- getter under hpuse's pPllcy of hand- ing but ah engagement here each week tp the winner of the Monday night amatieur radio contest bver WMGA. These contests have proved a b. o.- stimulant bn Monday n^ffhts. Machau has . ai fair air. .voice, but lacks perBpnality. 'Unwelcome Stranger* (Col) on the sdffien.. Char. COLISEUM/ LONDON : ; . . Xondion,^M Uzperlmfstal Vaudeville about CQvera the title of th* latest Oswald stoii policy.. -/■; A Beiries of ballets plus a ipr in - kllng of «tandard acts: was tried here a month ago, and for some: un- known reiasbh was dubbed *Tele- viarlety/ This, proved a flop, with result thait Anthony Nelle Was re- called, after having walked out, to infuse sPme original ideas. Iti this program^ Nelle practically monopolizes the bill with four flash offerings, some of -which are worth- while. They ara mostly bis previous efforts froni the days -^eh ; he worked'in some Fox houses In . the U. S., some years/back. Best is 'Montmartre,' depicting, a Parisian scene brimful of cpntinen-^ tal buffoonery. Interspersed - -with some vaudeville standards. Hlb- bert. Bird and Ready do their take-: off of Lowe, BembCf and Wehsley,; the only one surviving of the flock of local imitators. Outstander Is /Joe- Jackson; fol- lowing oil top of his numerous Iml-. tators. The daddy of them all Is. still beist in his: line. Jackson's dumb pan and;-funny anticij are Jiist as convincing when away from his prop bicycle. , / / ;.' ; : Van Dock, Italian cartoonist, who follows a long 'Tannhauiser' over- ture, In whlbh the full Coliseum, corps de ballet Is .-utilized, Is very' eiffectlve and at times biting with a string of /torlcatujres of everyday, types. Josle FearoQ, .Who Jumped Into fame about three years ago. when Richard Tauber revived 'Land of Smiles' at the Dominion and made her his leading lady; renders a cycle of songs from the yoribus Franz Lehar operettas. Her rendition of Tpu Are /My Heart's Delight'' Is not i-obUst enough, being essentially ^ a man's song. Three Sailors, doubling, from Cliff Whltley^s Dorchester hotel 'Mid- night' show, are the laugh bit of the show. Boys axe great favorites In London, but If not watching their step are likely to become stale, which Is the fault of - a good many of the acts herie.. They: are also de- veloping a habit of talking too iinuch, which is dangerous. Another Nelle production Is /The. Glb-wn,' an adaptation from Pagll- accl, developing Into a sort of jazzy affair, with the syxhphony orches- tra doing its utmost to be modern, but not entirely succeeding. . Trouble with tatlre show, is lack of novelties, with most of . the talent having / played around / -with mon- otonous regularity. , / If Stoll wants to put the Coliseum on the map. again as a vaudeville house, he will have to do better than this, although it is a vast Im- provement: on his recent, attempt. ; STATE, N. Y. Ben 'Bernle's outfit, is one oiF the best of modern stage aggregatlpne. It has speed, rhythm and color. And plenty change of pace. There are 16 men in-the cunrent outfit, three of them strictly for specialties. Be- sides the fine tuneology in hand- some orchestrations there Is Billy Wilson who doubles between the piano and the mike: and does hiin- selt proud .in both spots;; Frank Prince, who . stlck# to singing; Mannie Prager who plays the saxa- phone as well as he sings and does both exceedingly well; Bllly Severln, who sticks to dancing, but knows what dancing's all about^ and/RPy Tracy, who dbes 'some Imitations. Not to forget the old maestro, who manages some of his sly wlttlclsihs; heaves a violin solo and even ihan- ages to ooze out a vocal chorus or two now and then. It's entertain- ment in the most modem 1935 show business sense. Ahead are Martin and. Martin, good trapeze workers. .Man does contortion on the swing. Betting the turn, a Wt apart. Sylvia and; Cle>- niehce (New Acts) are a sister act Whb, can go far, or as far ; as vaudeville acts can go these; days. They're youthful, peppy and ^ enter- taining; Need a few minor correc- tions and they're set to go plalceis, Artie Lewis .and Peggy Ames handle the comedy assignment next and do. it In their usually accept- able fashion. They've even changed a line or two here and there during the post couple; of years;. That's real enterprise In a cbmedy teani these days. . Picture is "Polles Bergerb' (UA) and biz Friday hlght,was alhibst ca- pacity. House" has a bad attack of over-tratleritis this/ week, unusual in the State which, generally, is one of the; best operated spots on Broad- way. Kauf. ■ ■ ■ met; BROOKLYN Jimmy Savo's present act has been hailed before. It deserves' a decond helping of applause upon re- view, of the current show at the Met. 6avo Is the bread and butter of the Met's stage layout.' He gives the show pace and speeds the pre- sentation as a whole to a ncxt-to- shut peak of amusement which saves the bill. On the screen is 'West Point of the Air' ,(MG). Loyalton's dogs open.' Wills ajid lilo, flash, closes. . Mae Usher deuces In 'one'; and; Arthur and Morton Havel, middle. jSavo's sly panto shoves them rolling into the Mefsaisles. . ^ .^^ Miss Usher is a straw blonde with a willowy flgiire. Her fat-tongued dialectic exoiggerations in Hebe reg- istered fairly. Miss Usher Wows her stuff Into igth upright mike which disperses/ her Voice very volubly. Frances Wills and Joe Rio, aided by thj'ee /lads who offer ah exhtbl-. tion of very dainty dancing assist- ance liash Into a .flnale program act, Oil cloth drops of black and white Offer an attractive background for the opening costumes of -the quintet, / Later, of course, and in full' all the way. the three assistant dancers shift their Jackets for costume changes, from whltis to blue .to crim- son. Miss Wills Is a high kicker of merit, offering an exhibition of rythmic limb control which is out of the brdlnary. A modern , diiet with her partner climaxes not so forte, although Miss Wills' costume, of transparent blue Is well taken. > . .: -: Shan. CENTURY, BALtP / 'BaltInipre,; April 6. Up to 'IJaughiy Marietta' (MG) to draft the dotigh this week. ; Stage side unadorned with any names ca,l- culated to do any patron-pulllhg, and, further; doesn't seeni to please enough to word-of-irtouth- any _blz build-up. , ' ' But four acts, one less than house usually has, and the: fifth Is missed. What is needed Is a real headllner. As stands the show possesses all the trimming and no white meat. : Opens with l?rmlh. dance, flash, Jahe-Lynton revue. Name team trots through three routines, rather sub-standard for this house, though the Bolero ;With which they climaxed the prefatory waltz arid seml-adaglo action embraces a few fairly original ^teps. Male pianist, who hops down to the foots to bridge one clothes chainge with brief accordloning, Is decidedly unimpressive; likewise another youth who , doei a rope- skipping tap dance. Blonde garfur- nlshes the name team with Its third respite by hurtling through a fast aero whirl that was oke. Al Siegal and another addition to long etrlhg of proteges, Carolyn Marsh, deuce. She has much man- ner,. Is pertly pretty/and possesses personality. Voice has unusual husky quality. Chief lack Was use bf a mike, her pipes not carrying up tb the shelf or to rear of the spa- clous lower floor... Jn^dulged -frac- tionally . In . dramatic 'recitation of lyrics. Siegal, although he Is being billed above all else on bill, hasn't even a spot on him as he accomps her at the piano. < tie Is virtually Unknown by .anyone here, not hav- ing been around since he played the old. two-a-day u^ at the now-iegli Maryland. Professor Lambertl got best re- ception of bill m the trey with his hpke ;and contrastingly/: serious xylophbnln^. . Situation, was hanging at this Juncture for a solid, honest-to-gosh headllner. None on, hand, however; so opportunity, went hanging and a next^to-closlng act, Mells, Kirk and. Howard, closed. It's one of those former male hoofing trios who turned to knockabout when publlo became sated with straight, seirlous hobfers. Prove a fast 12 mins. and won a few cacklesi Harvey Hammpnd's' organloglng prefaces , the vaude^ - Metro clips round out the screen feature. ORPHEUM, ST PAUL VSt. Paul, April 6: I^upe Velez is the whole works In this ' burg the three days starting today. She's headlining the five acts of variety turns at this house. Gaught at the second show Friday (5) night, 'Hollywood's Hot Taniale,' as she's been tagged bn the Orph's screen trailer's for the past; two weeks; had 'em begging, from the second she took the spotlight and went Into her Hepburn and Diet- rich takeoffs. Velez has plenty oh the baill here. / Openers are Zeller and Wilburn; comedy jugglers. Pair werevoke, but follbwed as they were- by a quartet of acrobats. It got the bill off bal- ance.. --:... ; (Seorge Klrby, a human beanstalk with a good set of pipes, is In the trey spot, paired with Helen Duval. Pemme has little to do, Kirby doing some/ warbling, h.oke terpslng and generally being/ Just about the wprks. Kli'by could do some real singing, but his extreme heljcrht Is against any thing serious. ; So he kids the warbling, and gets across pke..-. Jeanne De.vereaux and Co. next to shut. A class dance turn of three gals, and two boya./ Ono of th^ lat- ter, working with two girls, does some unusual trick stuff, while Miss Devereaux does a few outstanding 3plp^ turns, in one of which she's clpthccl :■ in a sheer net costume; Then came Lupe for a sock wihdup; WTCN'S first semi-final elimina- tions; revealed some. lUcely talent In their 'Seairbh tor Talent* contest/ Pinal wlnncr.s will be chosen" some time during the first week In May. Tyros appeared for 30 minutes on the Orph stage, airing simultaneous- ly over the station. .. 'I'll Love You Alway.s' (Col) and P.ithe newij on the filrri side;' Raschtck. : PARADISE, BRONX (PRESENTATION) New policy of house productions and permanent, or semi-permahent, m.o.'s was Inducted here Friday (5), but the experiment -will have to Im- prove bVer Its initial attempt to click, at this Bronx-deluxcr. First show, with but two exceptions, is a rather slow affair., Ko producer is billed.-.: /Fortunately this presentation's one saving grace Is in the comedy - line, Harry Savoy,/ the stuttering:; cbmlc,/ providing the laughs after ' Ed Ijowry, m.c, fall^ to arouse - more'. than. quiet chuckle's at most points. Savoy is on twice; first with XioWry and second iii his standard , act with the brimet looker. Ho went in high both times, though he had trouble distracting Lowry's too evi- dent mike-worship. , • Lowry/ opens the show ; directly ' from the community'elnging organ- r log ; of / 'The Man on the Plying . Ti-apeze', with a special choruia to -• Intro Lowry. V Wasn't quite dressed :• '• at the last show; Friday night, how- • ever, and a bne-niiniite; stage wait ;' resulted. Lbwiy sets himself -\vell. with the audience almost Imrhedl- ately arid holds them nicely, though mo^t of hls rputlhe Is known to the. : Brbnxltes through ; his,, appearance here recently with .George . Sidney. His repartee with the organistj who. shouldn't be talking, is naturally weak, and his telephprie ; bit didn't; get anywhere near the response It has. been accustomed tb In those ■,: spots where It:Isn't seen and heard too frequently. . One stage set, a bandstand. Is used, with Lowry first opening in ■[■: front of the traveler, which then Is parted for the remainder of the show to disclose the i5-piece house,. ba,rid. First act Is the Lucky Seven ■ Trio; fair/colored challenge hoofers, follb-wirig the sho-w's. only other; bright spot, a i6-6irl line/ directed by Bill powers. Chorus Is bn for . three routines In the layout, show- ing fine training and precision. ■ Savoy's firist crossfire with Lbwry ; Is followed by - Joan Abbott, a not . so tor-chy torcher who is gowned, unbecomingly. She has the vocal .• quality to make for popularity, but apparently lacks the necessary: salesmanship to go with the voice and her blonde looks. Makes.things tougher for herself by a poor se- lection for her first song,'then Into a medley In which the line takes part. '■ - '^ - . But one other act In the show, the BeeHee and Rubyette Co., six Arabian acrobats, who Include Lb-wry into /their^ strong-arm pps- tures for a comedy attempt. It's too drawn out;to be effective. As acro- bats, though; okay. Lowry closes the show on the. apron, the traveler drawn behind him, after 66 minutes. 'Polles Ber- gere^. (UA) Is on the screen. Nice biz at this vlewlne. ; Scfto, EMBASSY, N. Y. (NEWS REEL) The Grand National at Aintree, In Which worldwide Interest Is whipped . up by sweepstake Ibtterles, Is con- sidered the most Important news- reel Item here this week. The race has been well photographed by / Pathe and leads, off the progi«m, the negative Including many df,ngerbus spills. Including Jn slow ihotion thd stumble taken by Golden Miller, the fav, about which there ha,s been : considerable talk, War signs over Europe follow this, but Par, when it canie to covering . the decislbn of .Sir John Simon . (England) to, talk It over with Hit- - ler, may as well not have had a "camera hi Berlin. Filmed Sir Simon arriving and got a brief glimpse of Hitler; going somewhere—it could have been anywhere—and then turned to - opinions ' from various Eiiropeans as to the situation, but no kings or . really big statesmen among them. / / .:^' y\' The western drought and dust storms are blown up into rich news- reel material, efforts of; both Fox. and . Pathe resulting in dramatic coverage. Fox . contemplates tbe seriousness of/ the situation by showing- victims moving. Out of the; ,.; country,/while Pathe, with the aid of maps/..and ; effectively ; photo- graphed negative, /graphically, de- picts what's happeriing, at the same time suggesting what must be done. . Pathe adds much to newsreel values , by Just such initiative, coritributioris / ; like that which It offers bh'the dust storiri problem being, highly instrucr ,. tiye as well as interpstliig. On top/of the western dilemma; /Pathe injects a human Interest note. , It sbught: but the farmer ; kid who wrote the :Secretary of War for a.'..- : coiiple artillery horses, soldiers at one of the forts kicking in to buy a discarded teini arid, delivering It to - the bby. Lad talks to the cariieriP, :; but too weakly to be recorded clear- ly. Also.prp-yed a little .shy; LoXvell Thbriias cutting in on hiriv finally .. Except for a. Pathe .exclusive on the Dibnne babies, which the mam-/ mas wiU;]ove,-.tlic, bill.include," !voth- :/ iy^ hot./ The quins continue ..strong ; b.h.;fpdder In (;ellu]oid. U has [aii e::clUsive on 'Barbara Hutton. goin? put to Ucnp >for a di- vorce, hut also, a lot /of. bther .clips ■ marked exclusive which aren't worth ^ that labeling. As, for In.^tar.cp.. Mr. • and MtS. Jo.e Jiferidi fooling: around ^ with each other in .li'loi-itl.T., Tlies.e are. a: couple clvi.nip.i froiii . -\-aiide, , : . (Continued on page' .ii) '