Variety (Dec 1935)

Wednesday:, December,. 11, 1935 V4RIEIY HOUSE REVIEWS VARIETY 21 ROXY, N. Y. When Nljlnsky, the Monte Carlo Ballot, the American Ballet and •their cohorts made America very bailetomanla-minded a couple of years ago, they probably didn't real- ize what, they were letting the citi- zenry in for, The Roxy thinks that .•what the other guy down the-street can ao. it c&n 'db; ' ■ But there Is ballet and there is ballet. The Music Hall, nowadays, has ballet. But the Music Hall is a bis, rich theatre and can afford two troupes of girls, one for ballet and one for regular line routines. The Roxy can't afford two troupes, so figures that. its one line can serve both purposes;- It's a svsr^ll l.desL, ex- cept that the girls can't dance bal- lets. They stumble some, but that doesn't stop them. Some of them can't stand on their toes all the way through, and rest a while in between steps; but what of that! They <lo a bit of wiggling when they try to glide; they turn a floating sequence Into.a marathon; they turn a pirou- ette in a spiral. ; . Maybe it all doesn't matter. For a few minutes the girls are allowed to be themselves, line up; kick their tootsies, go into a precision move- ment. For those few. minutes they are flne entertainment. The rest of the stage show this week isn't much, either. The pror, ducers were straining so hard with the ballet they didn't bother much with the other acts. The Roxy is a family audience, apyway, these days. Thejr applaud almost any- thing. . There's the Demnati Troupe, a full dozen of hefty Arab tumblers and pyramlders; the Accordion "jF^rlo, three girls who won thie Fred Allen radio amateur contest by playing accordions "right smartly and who have pretty costumes for their show business debut; Cass, Mack, Owen and Topsy, as good a quartet of acrobatic zanies as is available in modern-day vaudeville, and Joaquin Garay, a Mexican niale singer who sings through his hose but whom the audience seems to enjoy. Only bright spot in the bill (out- side of the Cass, Mack, Owen and Topsy Interlude) ig the overturlng of Freddie Mack and his lads in the pit. Screen fare consists of 'Miss Pa clfl,c Fleet' (WB). Kauf. MEDRANO, PARIS Paris, Nov. 27, American acts are more neglected than usual here this fortnight. Topline goes to a grand cat num- ber. Six tigers handled by a gent calling himself, Tdgare, who works stripped to the waist, with a curved dagger as his only arm, plus a whip which he picks up now iand then It's eye appeal, mostly. Togare has a build which can be (and is) com pared to that of Johnny Weissmul ler and Buster Crabbe, and the house p.a. lost no opportunity to tie up with 'Tarzan' in his bally, Animals don't work much, but they are good to look at. Number one showmaniahip. Pre-fntermlsslon play goes to Adriana and Chariot; tremplin team Chariot bounces off the elastic net with much more than ordinary grace; and he's a comedian as well as an acrobat. Femme partner acts as catcher. Act has lots of class. So has Concha and Concha, equi- librists of whom one is a contor- tionist also. Despite a certain monotony, due to fact that about 75% of the act dependis on the smaller boy's back-bend, it's a good attraction. Big stunt is a combina- tion of equlllbrism, contortlonism and. iron jaw work, underatander perched on a rotating ball and • gripping a vertical bar with his teeth, on top of which also holding on with his teeth, the little fellow hangs his feet back over his head. More iron jaw work is done by Two Leotards, preceding act. Italian tightwire number, Four Rosettis, includin.5 several young performers, gets by because of its appearance of spontaneity. Readings, bicycle act (French, de- spite tlie name) carries more humor than most acts of its kind. LOEWS STATE, N. Y. In some respects this shouln't be a review, but a news story. When oniB actor does more than CO min- utes on the stage, which }s the run- ning time of the current show .at the State, it's almost on par with the 'man bites dog' theory. How- ever, while unusual in vaude, it is now nothing uew for Milton Berle, Comic this week is getting one of the biggest buildups ever given an actor or act at the State— a. trailer- introduction that plants him right from the start. This screen intro- ductory also lists the talent in his support, Sid Gary, Helen Charles- ton, Duke Norman, Norman Fres- cott. and' Glne, DeQuincey and Lewis, but thereafter the show is known only as the Milton Berle Re- vue. All are actually strictly in support of Berlp, more or less sub- merging their Individuality to the headllner in their, various bits with (and even without) Borle. Soine of the bits may he old, and some of the gags fall a bit flat, but in its en- tirety this show G^n only help build to the State's steady vaude clien- tele. It's got plenty of cbniiedy, which means enjoyment for all. Biz Friday plght was Very good, with 'Hands Across the Table' (Par)., the screen feature and help- ing towards making the evening 100% comedy. Berle's gags, and a couple of blackouts, clicked at a good average, with Duke Norman's dancing, Helen Charleston's mimic- ry and 'Girie; TDeQulhcey and" Lewis* hoke adagio mixing up the enter- tainment dishes nicely. It didn't seem possible that Berle could milk any miore laughs after his solos, blackouts and bits with Gary and Miss Charleston, but he tops him- self with Norman Frescott's mind-, reading turn. Berle - snakes' an cz- cellenf .Sheepsheald. Bey, and then also Injects himself into the ad&gio turn for laughs. He's doing four shows, a day at a pace, that seems almost Incredible. In a way, Berle's current stay at the State is a hew comparison be- tween current and past vaudeville. He's working longer and harder now; in one day than he would have done in a week In the old'two-a-day days. scho. PARAMOUNT, L. A. Lbs Angeles, Dec. 6. Jack Benny is.back In his old en- vironment, emceeing the stage show at the Paramount currently, only In this instance show Is mostly Benny —and Mary Livingstone. Pair dbing a sure-flre mopup, with opening day customers rellishing every bit of their offering.. It's 'flrst appearance of comic at the Paramount in about nine years, although he's been at the Orpheum here frequently since then. Aside from an opening routine by the Fahchonettes, who offer ^ tap, a la 'Truckln,' plus Tony Martin, baritone froni pictures, and the Three Chicken Sisters, Benny and Miss Livingstone do bulk of the en- tertaining. Comic drew a spontaneous ova tioh' on Initial appearance and all of his efforts weria liberally rewarded. He gags his way through, and finale has him trying to do a violin solo as picture sheet is dropped back of him for the next feature. Introduced early. Miss Living stone does a poem about Los Ange les that's a darb. A little later she's back for a comedy sceine With Mar tin, the warbler, that's good for hpwls, and after that for a song number that registers solidly. Martin, personable lad, uncorks a fine pair of pipes, iand his four numbers were mucK appreciated. Benny doesn't miss the opportunity to gag his radio sponsor; tries out his hand at batoning the house band and clowns with the three Chickens. Trio Is comprised of Blanche Stew art, Doris Toddings and Kay Des^ lys, with first named a . standout. Towards close of act band moves from pit to stage, with Dion Ro- mande, maestro, demonstrating to Benny Just what It takes to prop erly conduct. Benny gags Ted Lewis, then goes Into his violin bit as the sheet falls. Act is mostly hoke, but typical Benny material, and scored solidly at opening performance. Screen fea- ture is 'Milllohs In the Air' (Par) with Popeye cartoon, pictorial and Paramount News. Trade at first matinee good. Edwa. A. B. C, PARIS Paris, Nov, 27. remand Gravey, film star makes a vaude debut here in an old sketch by Yves Mlrande and Genri Geroule, 'Octave,' a farce In which a drunk, supposed to be dead, hears the con- versation of his survivors while he is laid out. Both leading vaude houses-hsre this, week hav« turned- Business, go.od to films for headline material, Al hambra using Albert Prejean. Reason is that it's tougher and tougher to get firstrate acts, and competition is such that meat for the press agent must be found out- side of normal vaudevillet channels. Gravey makes good. His sketch is funny, and Gravey has.Just as much femme appeal bh the stage as on the screen. He's an old-timer from legit. Jane Rehouardt Is billed on an equal footing with him, In the sketch, but has vii'tually nothing to do Sketch takes the bulk of second half of show. Rest of program con- tains relatively little outstanding. Fresco and Campo, announced as American,, do a good knockabout act that does much to redeem the first half. Beuvell and Tova; ballroomers, have a hard tlnie getting over In this boulevard two-a-day. Best of the purely French num- bers is a little singer, Drean, who knows how to make a comic song cross the foots. They keep calling him back. . Two good numbers.. follow the sketch: Paul Berny, a juggler who throws balls out Into the audience and thus "garners lots of good humor, and the Lecubna Ciiban Boys, rumba band with plenty Western Hemisphere pep and enough musical quality to get by here. Stern.. IMPERIAL, TORONTO . Toronto, Dec. 7. They're celebrating Dance Week here, judging from current stage prez. Only exception in the 67 minute bill is J. Harold Murray, who gets the marquee billing. The blonde baritone, in talis and using the mike as a mask, sings a couple of numbers, clinches with a Foreign Legion marching song that is dra- matic in theme and delivery and is brought back to do his 'Rio Rita.' He knows how to sell a song and gets over to a grand response. Traveler parts for line-girls grouped in front of a massive fire- place for no apparent reason, with Rollo Picket out in tails for a drunk dance on stilts. Then Dick and Kdith Barstow, boy in tails and girl in scarlet gown aind gold wrap, out for a concerto tap in waltz tempo and the line girls finishing with a kick routine. Charlie Melson and Irmanette trail in 'one' for alleged comedy chatter, with girl then doing a violin solo and Evelyn Oakes up from the audience for some nasal Impedimenta. Melson's material has been heavily blue-pencilled, but some of it Is still In bad taste. At the .finish both girls dance. Line girls, in long black and sli- ver gowns, then out for a spasm of modernistic rhythmics, the calls- thenic posturings and shoulder- hunchlngs to 'Mood Indigo' all being done W'lth sad and sober expres- sions, Barto .and Mann t.rall Murray for another dance session, then the ;;irls are back and Dick and Edith Bar- stow on at finish for a tap on toes and sooko with a stair dance on toes. Whole bill is pretty close to 50 minutes of solid stepology, with tlie Barstows leading on merit. Naturally a little dull in toto. Biz good opening nite. Feature, 'Mary Burns, Fugitive' (Par). McStay. CENTURY, BALTO , Dec; 6. Longlsh show that has some good individual bits, but doesn't blend oyer well. Carr ros. and Betty open with standard act familiar and always welcomed warmly. The boys start off with the comedy scoffing at the leverage laws, then scoot for a clotheS; change, thus giving platform to Betty for her solo dance. When the Carrs re turn they do their hand-balances and foot lifts seriously, and crown efforts capitally with that corking closing caper. Fine, deserved recep tlon. •The Johnson Family' (New Acts) deuce. Joe Morrison follows and stays overlong. After doing sev eral numbers, he goes into what seemai an Interminable medley of 'Old Faithful,' 'Wagon Wheels,' 'Home on Range' and 'Last Round up,' Since the Helen Compton or chestra closes with a similar medley of prairie plaints later on it, makes for a confllctlon which should be adjusted. Morrison's final, 'Irish Eyes,' strong. Joe Phillips Is in the next-to- shut. Fresh from a Coast lensing, this. Is first vaude vending ipomic has done since leaving Hollywood. He wasn't quite up to standard when caught somehow. Still doing same old act with the piercing-piped Madeline Kileen and hotcha hip- heaver Margie Lucille serving as foils. Phillips always did pretty well here In trey assignment, and would probably have been more happily spotted there. Helen Compton and Bryn Mawr orchestra (11), composed of solid array of girls, has vastly improved musically since last oh the Balto boards year and half back, shortly after aggregation was formed. •Splendor' (UA) and Metrotone news on screen. Harvey Hammond, at the organ, is running up record run here for himself. quet and, as a Closer, does' a get- awiay from a large brass torture chamber, described as similar to those used during the Spanish In- quisition. He. sells it. Peabody cloises with a speech and gives his Impression of bird effects on the violin, topping off with a fast medley of Southern airs on the banjo. Picture. •Hot Off the Press' (Vic Friday. last show Wiede. National, Louisville Louisville, Dec. 8. Something new for this town to hold an act for-.three weeks, but Eddie Peabody is turning, the trick at the National, with the aid of an excellent supporting bill. The blonde m. c. has undoubtedly found a warm spot in the hearts of locar theatre patrons, giving liberally of his time for benefits and charitable causes. Opening brings on the Mary Vanda dancers, who do four rou- tines throughout the show. Girls are youthful and clever. Their ward- robe is attractive and a couple of the girls are hometown products. Rochelle Bros, arid Bebe, two men and a girl, work with speed and re- ceive good rcspon.se. Their closer is a bucket dance, with their peda.l ex- tremities encased In buckets. It's a good novelty. An old favorite, Don Zelaya, after a long automobile trip from Kansas City, next grabs the mike and land.s. Peabody brings Z;elaya back on for some friendly chatter, both remin- iscing over their London engage- ment at the Palladium. Ah act new in .these parts, King Brawn, introduces sonriethlng new Iji the. way of escapes. Brawn Is in- troed as havln.T made several spec; tacul.nr escp.pe.s before Russian gov- ernment ofTlclals, and proceeds to liberate him.self from a straitjacket and ch.'iina. He also wiggles through a smal! brass window, a tonnls rac- CHICAGO, CHICAGO Chicago, Dec. 7. Excellent production stuff by the Fred. Evans ballet, Francis Palles- ter'5 costumes; and Leo Stahr's stag- ing make a. real click, of the. stage show this week.' Evans did par- ticularly well on his three da^cc routines. With 28 girls to w6rk with, Evans really is going to town. Four acts on the show and all good, the single difficulty being the spotting of two dumb acts in a l-ow. Walkmirs are a splendid acrobatic act, doing sensational perch stuff. Two girls work high on a perch sup- ported in balance by an- under- stander. Following is Ed. Ford, back with a new 'Whitey,! and this dog Is af clever as the former pooch. Ford Is dressing In a tux these ^&ys In- stead of as a t>olic.eman, but It's the same routine. It's a good vaude act, and Ford gets the most out of the dog, though occasionally tend- ing to overdo the drunk routine. Kay Picture! Is handling a spot all by herself for a tap-dancing sequence. Miss Picture is a stand- out hoofer for a femme; she has a loose, easy style that's almost boy- ish in its technique. A neater cos- tume would be more sultable*^ for her style of work. For the finale production number there was Saul Grauman and his musical stairs. They fit in fine. Act belongs in a unit. Grauman is using four girls as assistants on the stairs which ring .tuned bells for each step, so that the girls pound out ia, tune as they dance. Ubiquitous Mark Fisher serves as m. c. and singer. Picture, 'Hands Across the Table' (Par). Para- mount news. Business weakish last show Friday. Gold. WB-Reiiraw (Continued from page 6) company, whose presence was he^ cessary today at a conference of the rc'presentatives of the leading motion picture companies and. the officials of the. International Alliance of TheatrlQal and. Stage JEmplby^.s., in the City of New York. "The financial outlook, in the ab- sence of any .unexpected labor dis- turbances, is bright. YoUr C0m> pany in the fiscal year ending Aug. 31, 1934,. after all charges, eai'ned a net profit of $674,158.96. 'The comptroller informs me that the profits'for the first! quarter of the current fiscal year are estimated to be slightly in excess of |1,000,000, after all charges. This, you will note, represents a larger profit than earned in all of the last fiscal year. "There has been a continued In« crease in attendance at theatres ex- hibiting our pictures, and we have good reason to believe this increase will continue. 'Your company steadfastly has lUght to Improve and to raise the' level of entertainment afforded by Its productions. We are pleasied to report that the production of Wil- liam Shakespeare's 'A MIdsumnier Night's Dream' is meeting with world-wide success both from an artistic and financial standpoint. •We anticipate an equally enthu- sla,stic reception foir our forthcbiit- Ing productionSi which Include 'Captain Blood,' 'The Story of Louis Pasteur,' 'Anthony Adverse,' 'Green- Pastures' and others of equal im- portance. •The management wishes to thank the stockholders for the confidence which they have shown in theni. It is sincerely hoped that this year will be the best since 1930.' EMBASSY, N. Y. (NEWSREEL8) There being considerable public Interest in the 1936 presidential pic- ture, Pathe has started a series to review various„WhIte House! possi blllties. The first is Gov. Landon of Kansas. He comes under* camera eyes this week at the Embassy and leads the current news, parade Pathe visits Landon in Topeka, goes Into his home, turns cameras on the family and tells considerable about him, then lets the so-called Kansas Coplidge speak for .himself He hasn't so much to say-but says It well. -Turning from the Landon Repub- lican possibility for the nomination on that ticket, the Emb show swings all the way into Georgia to see what the present president.Is doing. He's caught visiting a resettlement proj ect. Hearst follows him on this in- spection tour but behind this reel's back, the Par camiera toters have sought out Georgia's own govex-nor, Eugene Talmadge, who doesn't like Roosevelt's policies and says so. The typical southern statesman has some pretty strong statements to make. With air this politics as an appe- tizer, the Emb fans are reminded Christmas Is around the corner and that prosperity may be somewhere near that same corner. Par claims Xmas shopping is up 20% this year and Universal brings out the'latest in toys, puppet shows for the kid- dies. Hearst goes behind the ticker tape to contemplate whether ,or not stock trading activity reflects some- thing real or phantom. This hews- recl maker visits' stock exchanges to get intere.stlng shotis. From here oil, the current show is rather cut and dried, this not excepting the Ethiopian foot.age. Tlu.<j week Fox sends In negative on the occupation of Makale by the Italians and a royal review of Ethi- opian troops. Audiences are probab- ly tired of .seeing troops reviewed, not only here but in Japan and other places, .^tiil pounding away strong on Ethiopia, I'ar this week focuses Its attention on the oil crisis and,rIot.s in Cairo, followed by some nice pictures of British warship.^ in the Med, plus the same occupation of Makale that Fox'has. Relief Administrator Hopkins in uhlmpres.slvo fa.shlon makes a strong bid in defense of WPA ci-ltlcl.sni; a president is installed in thf; Philip- pines and King C-.eorgc II finally t;ct3 back Into Cref-cc. Last week the King w.'i.s f/n lils way, as n]»o \v;is. Wiley I'ost's Winnlo Mac. Lat- tf'i' lias now arrived In Was'hingion. .so n<!Xt wo(k King George will l^e shown silting on a throne .and the Winnio Mae. will be ."Sltllng in th.c.Kmitlisonlan institution in all prribabllity, A fairly inlpro.stlhg clip doals wilh the boy who .spent days in a refrlgr erator- car sustailnlng himself by eating shue leather and a hatband. Par' invaded '/{altimorc. "to got thr- kid to tell his story from a lio.spllal Vt)t. While fox last wcnk pl'kf'd Its, Efforts of minority stockholdeir interests to block meeting of War- ner Bros, stock owners, held in Wilmington, Del., Monday (9)^ as scheduled, failed on Friday (6) Wh'en Federal j;udge Bondy in New York denied application for injunction sought by Norman Johnson. Latter had. charged that notice of the stockholders' meeting to approve settlement of claims of WB against the brothers Warner was legally ln< sufficient and deceptive. Judge Bondy ruled that there was no fraud under the settlement and that there had been no Irreparable Injury. Another minority bondholder suit against WB, this one In form of-an application to examine the directors of WB, .was also denied Friday (6) In th6 N. Y. Supreme Court, Justice Callahan holding In the Pepper vs. WB case that 'it sufficiently appears that plaintiff became a stockholder solely for the purpose of bringing this lltiefation and under the circum- stances the court feels that its dis- cretion should be exercised as Indi- cated.' All America 11, this week Pathe contributes its candidates. Pathe bases its choices on the votes of a board of coaches and presents the 11 gridiron stars first in closeup, then In spectacular plays during the season, much the same as Fox did. Lew Lehr on twice this week, once with the lion act which is mildly fiinny and again with a clip that has two wrestlers battling It out, With the bone-cru.shers he's very comical. Lehr is superimposed onto main title credits and in char- acter. He photoes as a good comedy dialectic subject. Business fairly good at an oarly hour Friday eve. ' Char. G. O. H., N. Y. stage department runs over the usual 45 miriutert, using: nearly 60, due mo.stly to extended stay of Go- dlno Siamese Twins, who close. Hou.se well filled for the matinee viewing, taking In a dual film pror gram, 'Spanish Cape Mystery' iRep) and 'It's In the Air' (MOM), all for 15o. Gate Is tilted tO 35c. at 6 p. m. on Saturdays. demons Billing & Co. (new acts) opens, an anlmal.aRt okay for start- er purposes. Kelly and Hayes fol- low, and also new according to files, but not appearing fresh. In regula- tion comic patter. Frank Mellnd and Co. (4) in next to closing and one of the fastest aot.s to play here In weeks. It's rou.:,'h and tumble stuff, some of it now to (i. O, H. patronage. Besides the main tumblers, there's a girl who danVies and a tail stooge who executes loose legmanla. Siamfsft Twins In final spot, and performing on roller skates and l>layliig saxophones In addition to Infofmal chatting across the foot- lights. Novelty has the young ones on edge, and for this type of act It holds interest. Twosome's wives introduced, and the four get to- .tifctlier for a dance to 'I "ot Rhythm.* A. tenor and girl pla 1st also in company for slight dUv .'S. lilx bri.«k. I