Variety (Nov 1935)

; Wednesday, November 6, 1935 PICT E S VARIETY 95 House Reviews FOX, DETROIT (Continued from page 17) week's program, this time 'Shine 6n Harvest Moon.' He wlilstles part o£ number and receives his usual big hand. Taking over the mc'lng duties, Kaufman Introduces Barbara Mc- Donald who sings while the 16 Carta Torney da;hcers come on.. Chorus finishes piece while Miss McDonald taps, Curtain drops, and she sings again, and then some more tapping. Next, Martha Raye and Kaufman, who pinch hits on the piano, turn in an entertaining bit. Miss Raye appears from the audience section allid 'airtics-start v/hen she Inter,-, TUpts Kaiifman's solo. Following this, Kaufman Introduces Flo Burt and slips back to the pit to take care of his other duties. Before calling pn Brendel, Miss Burt does a song bit* Audience gives Brendel a nice applause oh entrance. His telephone conversa- tion with film stars, Mliss Burt pro- viding the Impersonations, is o.k., but his partner steals the show. They put ,on a 'Garbo' love scene, too, with Miss Burt performing most of the action and comedy. For an encore, which turns out to be the best of whole act. Miss Burt Sings in a nice contralto voice'. El then returns In barrel, which partner proceeds to smash, leaving Brendel In shorts and with two small fans. A switch on the break- away tux. Subsequent fan dance Is a riot, and audience brings them back for a couple of bows. Torney ballet then comes back for a swell military number, dressed In snappy Turkish costumes. . In- tricate formations are .performed pierfectly, and girls draw good audi- ence response. Miss Raye returns for another turn, singing a medley of hl-de-ho numbers. In the. next to shut, Fetchlt repe&.ts almost entirely his act given here last spring, but crowd absorbs every bit of it and applauds lustily. Turn consists of his 'Lazy Bones' act, fan letters, undressing and some stiff tapping. Constantly murmuring, he does a number from 'Showboat' and for an encore offets an Imitation of hlm- Belf. The Canslnos, nifty dance duo, to t^e 'Bolero' in the closing offer- ing, with the Torney girls and a rich Spanish setting providing the background. SHEA'S, TORONTO Toronto, Nov. 2. Continuing his policy of yaude, Jerry Shea is steadily substantiat- ing his claim *that the natives here irant this type of entertainment. And the veteran showman is mak- ing bis point. tandees jammed the rear at show caught, and that is Taudeville news. With no outstanding marquee ■trength on names, Harry Anger produced a 60-mlnute stage show tagged 'Manhattan Parade' that foea over on tempo and diversity. Ub position as production chief at the Hipp Is part of the new Fa- mous Players Canadian policy of Opening up the vaude field In Can- ada by easy stages from Winnipeg to the Atlantic seaboard. Anger producing for a so far limited cir- cuit embracing Toronto, Montreal, Hamilton and Ottawa. With the purse-sttlngs tightened as far as stage sets are concerned. Anger is doing a yeoman production Job. Rice, Liane and Vine get top blll'- Ing, the boys delaying proceedings for an extra 10 minutes or so until the peasants allow them to beg off. It's the standard act seen here be- fore, radio impersonations. George Haggerty, as m.c, starts the proceedings in 'one' with his Bplutter delivery, and gets over without difficulty, Charlie Kemper as the dead-pan recipient of the mayhem coming in for his quota ef response. Pair are all over the bill. Line girls l.i pink scantles are eut In a full stage garden set for a strut routine, with Adelaide and Sawyer trailing for synchronized torso tossing and hip-shaking and later into high-kick challenges; blonde in black and the brunet in white satin. Good looking and-nicely dressed, pair score. Then Rio and West before the traveller lor their instrumental rou- Those Royal Jesters of Donco Dally Minor <Oct. 11) N*w PartdlM Rtvua By WilUr WlDcbell '.'Moore ind Bevel rocked the . house with their . funny hoofing travesttts." JANE moore: Aim BILLY REVEL. Per. Met. Walter Bat4eh«Ior tines, with the pit band lending nice support and the flannelled boys go- ing over strong. Line girl^ back before a Manhattan, skyscraper set for another session of those mod- ernistic rhythmics which seem to have been I'evlved here recently. It's all very staccato and seriously done in black and silver draperies fp*' an arm-tOBslng finale with shadow ef- fects. Adelaide and Sawyer back for the finish in blue and silver gowns for a concerto waltz and ec- centric. Then Rice, Lane and Vine for the. next to closing spot and the line back again in a Halloween full- stage set with giant pumpkin en- trance apd colored lanterns for tiieii" hot tap flnlsK an'"d^?orge'Hafefertf bringing everyone oh for a hand. Good vaude show that satisfies. News-reel and organesque rounded. Features, 'Clairvoyant' (GB) and 'Two Sinners' (Republic). Mc&tay. STATE, N. y. This is all-laugh week at Loew's State on Br6adway, an excellent flve^act layout, containing plienty of comedy," matching up perfectly in the giggle end with 'She Married Her Boss' (Col). In addition there's an 'Our Gang' short, which* while aimed for the Juves, nevertheless fits In with the program's light vein. A-good house took everything in stride Friday night; Chic Torke and Rose King, for years One of the topflight family comedy turns in the biz, are head- lining, only they've departed some- what from the family iangle by in- jecting a couple of shady pieces of business; on© with the prop horse and the other during Miss King's buffoonery with the pit dirummer. But despite this, they still deserve top ranking, adding considerably to their former comedy routines via a music hall bit and a good male stooge. Trudy Torke Is also in the act, along with a male hoofer and piano player, but they are soihewhat relegated to the billed pair and the Jester's biz. Following their middle-frame spot is the comedy dancing team of Barto and Mann, plenty on the hoke,°,iside and also Including some shady biz. They get plenty of laughs, but some of .them are of the "Shock order, these coming when the long of It adopts the . baby-girl costume tind becomes Involved In some.awkward positipns with his tiny partner. Their cleaner work Is strong audi- ence stuff and it's In the majority. Deuclng is Bob Howard, a Cab Calloway at the piano and without his. radio-record band for back- ground. His swlngy singing and plaino Jamming is as hot as anything below, or above 126th street, and his routine Is marred only once. His closing, imitation of a mechanical piano would be more effective else- where.''than a9 his closing number, while his delivery of 'Tiger Rag* would probably tie shows Into knots If coming at the flnale. He can play a piano and he can sing with plenty of personality to back both talents. He's regularly on WHN, also • a Loew enterprise. Dave Jones Revue (BO, staridard and nice-looking flash involving almost every type of dancing, closes the show, while the 6 Elglns, mixed acrobats, open. Latter do every- thing with hats but clean them, and then add some spectacular Indian- club work for good measure. Scho. MET, BOSTON Boston, Nov. 1. Hokum runs rampant across the boards of the Met- this' week, midst a melange of varied acts, embel- lished by a touch of production, a flash of scenery, and tl>o line num- bers of Betty Friedman's Elida Bal- let, and above it all Bob Hope rises like ia giant. Hope Is always oke when he's given leeway, and he's better than usual this week because Harry Gourfaln has sprinkled him all through the show. This gUy has a million of 'em and be registers right from his opening line to the closing quip. His material Is screwy, he scatters hokum like a lawn spray, but he" can sell. . Two fempie partners show up to good advantage. The girt with a southern accent feeds beautifully, recites daffy poetry, and plays to the hilt her tag of 'Honey Chile.' Dolores Read, vocalist, registers best when Hope tangles with her second number and draws out a load of laughs from the sidelines. Later pn they both heckle him from the audience. Big surprise on the bill is Gypsy Nina, singer with accordion. Open- ing numj)er received politely, but she wows with coloratura arrange- ment of Care Nome. Little Jackie Heller, handicapped slightly by following Miss Read's vocaling and Hope's clowning takes next-to-close for his peppy s6ng de- liveries. Emerges an easy wfnner, after clicking with 'Swing It.' Shurr Brothers, drunk dance duo, are Introduced by a cocktail Idea by the ballet^ Their blotto eccentric routine registers nicely, but they find, a lot more takers for their phoney adagio idea with an Imag- inary partner. This one opens with the boys coming on, draped in In- dian blankets, and then sent off cleverly with the aid of some chatr ter by Hope in the m.c. position. Ellda girls raise the curtain with a .'Pagliaccl' number, wherein the dejected group snap out of it and go to town In a hodge-podge of steps. Announcing done by Henry Kalis, band leader, who has a pleasant reso- nant voice; but the long-winded explanatory script handed him for the opening scene Is Just too bad. Kalis' reorganized crew shapes up as more able than last season's orchestra. Screen: 'Metropolitan' (Fox). G.O.H., N.Y. This last , half show Is timed and arrayed to a degree. From the .gun until over the line the talent holds a fast and entertaining pace. Over- ture was missing on this catch, but it wasn't noticed by many of the auditors, mainly kids, wbo ap- plauded from the onset. Six miiiutes of contortions by the Crreat Johnson rings the bell. Pret- zels offer little more bending than this one-man act. Assisted by tables and trapeze gear, Johnson twists himself into almost inconceivable knots. Killer is his iron Jaw twirl- ing from the flying bar. Well re- ceived. Sure to appear spectacular In a more Impressive stand. Musical Hickory Nuts (New Acts) follows and maintains the opener's grasp. Hillbillies In appearance but not in stage presence. Songs of the hills to match their garb and demeanoi- put the spectators in a still more pleasant frame for sub- sequent acti Several old-time tunes are rendered In addition to solos by- three of the quartet. Not unjustly encored. Male comedy team, Dave Seed, and a red-headed beaut, are No. 3. Trio graduate In stature from lanky Seed to diminutive stooge, whose success is Incomparable to his size. Genuine comedy dialog that elicits many hearty guffaws. Girl acts the foil, between the two. Intentionally naughty throughput but no one took offense. Manner of delivery pre- cludes any chance of this. Titian does a solo warble with castenets giving stooge opportunity to quick change into toreador togs for a hu- morous tango. A miniature extravaganza cur- tains the stage fare, Frances Farns- worth & Co. (New Act). Different ih that vocalizing Is omitted. A varied assortment of terpology and costumes arje evident. Drops are mediocre and only detriment. Group Cuban dancing, toe work, in addi- tion to more strenuous acrobatic, all get a showing. Large number of people for a vaude act nowadays. Dozen In all. Specialty aero mixed team give a good accounting, as does Miss Farnswbrth in her Inter-' pretative work. Nonrspeclalists also well rehearsed. •Two Fisted' (Par) and 'Dark Angel' (UA) oh the screen. Smith Raises His Voice Hollywood; Nov. 6, Sol Lesser started production on the George O'Brien starrer, 'Whispering Smith Speaks,' from story by Frank Spearinan. David Howard is directing this Principal picture, with supporting cast including Victor Potel, Spencer Charters, Frank Sheridan and Ed- ward Keane. GOGOL IN FIX Moscow, Oct. SO. Elaborate sets are being prepared in Leningrad for a film adapted from Gogol's comedy 'Mapriage.' Spburbs are being restored and the first train In Russia Is being reprpduCed with a Stevenson engine and four cars. STORY BUYS Holly>yoo,d, Nov, 5. 'The Witness Chair,' courtroom drama by Rita Welman, taken by Radio ior Ann Harding. 'Suicide Squad,' by Ray Nazarro and C. Edward Roberts purchased by C. C. Burr. B. F. Zeldman purchased screen rights tp 'A Man in His Wprld* by iLouis Stevens. 'Spendthrift,' Red Book novel by Eric Hatch, has been optioned by Walter Wanger. Philip Dunham sold hia original, I'll Name the Murderer,' to C. C. Burr. Invincible has acquired Dan Tem- plln's 'Wealth,' a yarn of western bonanzas. Studio Placements ollywood, Nov. B, Arthur oyt, 'Twp o'Clocit Cour- age,' Radio. Lucille nail, Addison Randall, Maxine Jennings, Jane Hamilton, Kitty McHugh, 'Follow the Fleet,' Radio. Ray Brown, ,' 20th-Fox. Eleanor , 'Yel- low Cargo,' Henry Arnold, scripting 'Legion of the Lost,'Republic. Ralph Bellamy, Gloria Shea, Joan Perry, Arthur Hohl, Robert Middle- massr Wiryley Birch, . Frederick -V3g€ ngr Gar.«-Mc«rgaji,,.Fidw.aa'(lXije Saint, Arthur Rankin, Beatrice Cur- tis, George Billings. 'Dr. Steele.' Cot, George and Olive Brasrio, 'Charlie Chan, at the Circus,' 20th-Fox. Ralf Hai-olde, 'Song and Dance Man,' 20th-Fox. Gertrude Michael, Alcim Tamiroff, 'Woman Trap,' Par. - Lew Seiler, directing 'Black Gang,' 20th-Fox. Art'iur Treacher; Alan Rlvkln adapting'Jeeves,' 20th-Fox. Adele Commandini, adapting 'The Country Beyond,' 20th-Fox. Lela Bliss, Anita Page, itch Hike to Heaven,' Republic. Ralph Spehce, adapting 'Florida Special,' Par. Arthur Hohl, 20th-Foxi Rita Cansino, 'Message to Garcia,' 'Country Beyond,' 20th-Fox. llussel Hopton, 'Backfire,' WB. Torben Meyer, '(Champagne Charlie,' 20th-Fox. Herbert Hey wood, William David- son, Joseph Crehan; 'Prison Fcirm,' WB. Rath Rose, scripting untitled original. Pioneer. Claire Dodd, Don Barclay, Ken- neth Harlan, Russel Simpson, 'Man Hunt,' WB. Barlowe Borland, 'Anthony Ad- verse,' WB. Otto Fries, Henry Klelnbach, 'Trail of the Lonesome Pine,' Wanger. Sheila Manners, 'Colonel Sacri- fice,' Kent. Reginald Owen, 'Rose Marie,' Metro. Ed Mortimer, Nola Luxford, 'Kind Lady,' Metro. Wade Boteler, 'Whipsaw,' Metro. David Scott, George Houston, 'Last of the Mohicans,' Reliance. Homer King Gordon, adapting; Edward K'. O'Brien, dialog; 'Suicide Squad,' Burr. George , E. Stone, 'Man Hunt,' 'Goln' to Town,' WB. John Meehan, adapting untitled original, Metro. Lambert Hillyer, directing 'Killers on Parade,' U. Keye .Luke, 'King of Burlesque,' 20th-Fox. Henry Wales, scripting 'Legion of the Lost,' Republic. Chester Morris, Reginald Owen, Maureen O'SullIvan, 'Three God- fathers,' Metro. Jane Darwell, 'It Had to Happen,' 20th-Fox, . Leon Gordon, scripting 'No Hero,' Metro; Lester Matthews, 'Song and Dance MaUt' 20th-Fox. Jack Donohue, 'Captain January,' 20th-Fox. William Ingersoll, Robert lecker, 'Whipsaw,' Metro. Sam MacDanlel, 'Riff Raff,' Metro. Ray Johnson, 'Suicide Squad,' Puritan. Albert Contl, George Davis, Jack Baily, 'Next Time We Love,' U. Will Pawley, 'Backfire,' WB, Pedro de Cordoba, Ann Shoe- maker, 'Anthony Adverse,' WB. Maude Eburne, Cy Kendall, Olln Howland, 'Man Hunt,' WB. George Bricker, screen play, 'Law- yer Woman,' WB, Henry Stevenson, 'Glorious,' WB. Dave Gould, Dave Miller, co-dl- rectlng, untitled short, Metro. Samuel Hines, 'Woman Trap',' Par. Maxine Jennings, 'The Green Shadow,' Radio. John Kelly, Mischa Auer, 'Trigger Man,' Metro. George Breakston, David Holt, Ronny Crosby, 'Backfire,' WB. Grace Goodall, 'Gentle Julia,' 20th- Fox. Eric Wilton, legfeld,' Metro. Margaret Armstrong, 'Chatterbox,' Radio. Roger Imhof, 'Little Lord Faun- tleroy,' Selznick. Dwight Taylor, screen play, 'Hats in the Air,' Metro. Harry Carey, John Carradlne, Fred Kohler, Jr., 'Shark Island,' .20th-Fox. Paul Porcasl, 'Rose Marie,' Metro. Donald Meek, 'Kind Lady,' Metro. Bill Gargan, 'Manhunt,' WB. Toots Brennan, 'Next Time We Live,' U. Laird Roylc, adapting 'Glorious Betsy,' Warner.s. .Tark Eohand. unit director, 'Last of Mohicans,' Reliance. Michael Whelan, Gloria Roy, 'Song and D^ince Man,' 20th-Fox. Edmund Gwenn, 'Anthony Ad- verse,' WB. Chic Salp. Frederick Blanilhara, Victo Potel, George iErn.st, 'Man- hunt,' WB. Harry Harvey, "Backflre,' WB. Yancey Lane, 'Frank Merrlwell.' U. Zeffle Tilbury, Alden Chase, En- rlqu Acosta, Alice Feliz,. "Desire,' Par. Claude Blnyon, scripting 'Spinster Dinnei'.' U. Wanda Tuchock. 'The Old Maid,' Pai'. Joseph Sawyer, 'Petrified Forest,* WB. Wm. Wellman directing Gbdfatliers,' M^jro, Harry McCoy, screen play,".unr.. titled Jimmy SaVo comedy short. Roach. Thomas Bell, screen play, 'Kelly the Second,' Roach. John Krafft, adapting untitled original,'Republic. Doris Lloyd, Eily Malyon, Edward .janjiimer^'Kind Jvidv,'jytgtnc.. ^„ Delma Byron. 'Champagne Char- lie,' 20th-Fox. Wallace Ford, . Addison iRandall, 'Two O'clock Courage,' Radio. Louis Stevens, adapting, 'In His Steps.' Zeidman. John Carrolli Alan Mowbray, 'Green Shadow.' Radio. , Three Stooges, untitled short. Col. Jerry Mandy, ' Par.. Harry WB. Ted Oliver; Art Mix, Ethan Laid-, law, 'Mother Lode,' Radio, Edward Burns, TonI Martin^ low the Fleet,' Radio. Tom London, 'Sagebrush Trouba- dor,' Republic. Rosalind Russel, 'It Had to Hap- pen,' 20th-Fox. Philip Merivale, 'Tonight Is Ours.' Par. Edward Keene, Maude Allen, 'Whispering Smith Speaks,' Prlncl* pal, Phillip Ahn, 'Klondike Lou.' Par, CONTRAGTS Hollywood, Nov, 6. Wally Westmore, head of Para* mount makeup department, set for another stretch. Priscilla Lawson safe at Univer- sal for another six months on option pickup. Reliance signed David Scott to term contract; ' Harold Buchman and Lee Loeb pacted for five years with options at Columbia. Isabel Jewell spotted opposite Jlnimy .Savo in 'Alone Alas' as first assignment Under new contract. E. Y. Harburg and Harold Arleh tagged with termer by Warners. Team working on music for Al Jol- son starrer, 'Singing Kid.' Term pact handed Roy Hargraves by Walter Wanger with no assign- ment set. TITLE CHANGES s Hollywood, Nov, B. . 'Battleship Mollle' goes out as 'Sweetheart of the Navy' on B. P, Zeldman release- sheet. 'My Marriage,' set b'y 20th-Fox as new handle for 'Buccaneer.' BILLY AND BEVERLY BEMIS CLARK RODENBACH Chicago Daily News, said; "Headlining the flhow at the Edgewater Beach Hotel is a young dahoe team^ one of the fastest and most engaging pair that has swam into Chi- cago's night-life ken for a long time. They're, brother and sister—Billy and Beverly Bemis. They're back in Amer- ica after a tour of European capitals.-' • Manncrement MILES INGAULS CURTIS & ALLEN OFFICE ilKO Iluildlnir. HocbAfeller CeDter New York City. N. t.