Variety (Jul 1936)

34 VARIETY VARlt 11 HOUSE REVIEWS Wednesday, July 15, 1936 MUSIC HALL, N. Y. Big hall's stage fare this week is tip to par. It's a lair mixture of all the theatre's unusual talent and ele- ments into a pleasant half-hour con- glomeration. Starts with a neat dance item, 'In- vitation to the' Dance,', which fea- tures Marie Grimaldi, Nicholas Daks, M. Arshansky and the corps de bal- let. It's a lavish item, tastefully executed, with Florence Rogges choreography on the line outstand- ing and topping the solo efforts of the name trio. 'Before the Mirror' brings on" Paul Dennis and the Glee Club. Dennis makes his debut at the house. He is a young man whose stock is rising rapidly and should continue to do so, since he has splendid theatrical back- ground plus a neat baritone voice. Unfortunately, he chooses (or was handed) a comic number for the oc- casion. And the big theatre always stumbles over its own toes when it essays comedy in its stage shows. 'In the Ring' follows. It intro- duces, curiously enough, a circus ring, with two circus acts. First is Cilly Feindt, which turns out to be a beautiful and clever white horse. Act is from the French Casino. Then ..Mickey King, a .surprisingly good-looking young woman who does acrobatics on a rope, with variations on the late Lillian LeitzeTs tech- nioua. Very good and over strong. Show is* ended on a happy note bv the Rocketries, again tops in work of "the kind as staged in a brilliant precision number by Russell Markert. \ . ' Up ahead are the Richard Leibert organ number with Beatrice Joyce, soprano, aiding—or vis she? And the Erno Ranee overture, . especially bright and tinkly 'this week.. 'Bride Walks Out' '(Radio) is the picture. • Kauf. plosive crossfire, harmonica and gui- tar playing and eccentric hoofing. When caught they did a Truckirt* s. and d. routine; several minutes, later the succeeding flash act presented two girls doing same. The Gray Family (4 girls, one boy) have appeared here in vaude and also in niteries. Look much' better current visit than ever before, and securely tied up the audience. Dbing solo, duo, trio and company tap drills, present both nice grade of hoofing and slick appearance. The dancing orgy is alleviated midw/y when youngest of the lassies, Mar- gie, sings medley of pops into mike; o.k. for the spot. Screen feature is "Bride Walks Out' (RKO). ; Bert. ROXY, N. Y. ; : :i Witho.ut b.o. draught oh tlje stage, . pothing extraordinary on the screen in 'Fatal Lady' (P£r>. : The Roxy had nothing but its cooling system to battle the terrific hangover "Friday^ from Thursday's Tecbrd 1 heat in the ■city. But its cooling system y?as running full blast the evening of. the • opening £ay and about r three-qtiar- , ters of a'house comfortably, but apa- thetically, witnessed the proceedings The Berry Bros. (3), speedy, chocolate exponents of the Harlem aero terpsing, and Johnny Burke, whose time-worn doughboy monolog gets the benefit of production here,- 'were* the only*- ones to really. rouse ; the audience and get something-more" than just-polite applause.■' Burke ' opens pleading with a girl in the War Department for his "bonus; some.' clips of an old picture, he made arte rung in, and .then he. steps .to' the front of the toostrum to .complete his- Toutine. The opening' set him" arid he found easy sailing thereafter at - this catching. "••'': The Btfrrys, formerly two and now: • au!?mented by a half-pint brother,, fully deserved the. excellent .re- sponse.' They're fast and furious, and they are topnotch'hoofers. Tommy Trent's amusing puppet act comes early in the show; , pre- ceded by Jast week's Fred Allen amateur contest winner, -a kid who • dances and plays the piano at the • same time. .Only other act is. that of Clark and Eaton, mixed acro- , contortion team that's set off nicely by the Gae Foster*. girls. At this show the team "looked • especially good because of the ragged Group- ing of the line (probably the heat). First of the Foster routines sounds better in Freddy- Mack's intro than •it actually is. Title is 'Stompin' at the Savoy,' but there is far less heat ; in this number than there was on the pavements outside the deluxer. Girls, however, really go to town in the 'Mothi- dance, a holdover from the week before, in which the girls work 1 on large balls. A couple of them fell off. but on.the whole the .-•routine is sufficiently novel and dar- ;ing,to allow forgiveness for the slips. Stage presentation runs .60 min- utes. Scho. STATE, N Y. Those Ellington boys were warm- ing up the cooling system here Fri- day in a 35-minute abbreviation of their band unit. Along with the orchestra and "Princess Copies Across' (Par), show contains three build-up acts, all standard. It was hot enough just sitting, let alone watching Joe and "Jane Mc- Kenna slap each other around in the deuce. It was remarkable how they went through their' strenuous routine without faltering. The guy who said The show must go on' never did five, or even four, at the State with the temperature at 100. Jack Gwynne, magician, opening the show, made everything disappear but the' heat. ■ George Beatty; third,'is a nomolo- gist; and that's about the hicest thing to be in-this kind of weather. His material is enhanced by splendid de- livery and he has,that rarity of pres- ent day' vaudeville—a special' song. Beatty was about the coolest" looking guy'.in the place: . Ellington-act Contains a generous supply of entertainment, but'in its Shortened. version here is poorly routined. ' Hoofing is" "bunched to- gether down early arid the orches trating in One'section also; Finish is handled by Ivy Anderson,: songer and the only femme.member of the act. . Miss Anderson is a capable girl in her way, but she doesn't rate the sendoff spot, and the audience was obviously disappointed .that the turn finished without'a band number. Musically, the Ellington outfit is of course torrid, but it could do more music than it's doing at the State. Pair of dancing acts are the Four Step Bros., who fracture themselves into a smash hit, and Cook and Brown, eccentric hoofers who are about average,-but are heipedan this instance by^the accbttbanurient. All dancers look better in. front of the Ellington brand of music. - . Attendance not bad, .considering ':the weather, * . Bige. FOX, DETROIT Detroit, July 10. ^ive-act bill here this week has two -standouts, Joe Jackson, an old- time fave here, and Herman Tim- berg's company. Unprecedented heat wave, however, is keeping patrons away, in droves, and there was little more than a handful present at last show Friday (10). • . ; ■ 'Sins of Man' (20th) and latest issue of March of Time are on the screen. . . '."• i • Opening act in the 50-minute show is Bell Bros, and Carmen, latter hailed as a native Detroiter. which iias plenty of flash. Two males can play several instruments well and jet off several good dance bits, top. Femme, a good-looker, ends with a nice acrobatic toe number. m • Duval, the magician, has one point in his favor. He doesn't pull lighted cigarets out'of the air. like practical- ly-all sleight-ofrhanders have done all season in this town. He pulls flashy-colored handkerchiefs out. of his hand and-'from a-metal.-tube, instead. Audience liked him.. . Next on is Jackson, who used to tickle grandma and grandpa at the old Temple .theatre here. years, ago. His wordless antics on the bike seem to have the same effect on present generation, his clowning getting a swell response. Next-to-closing sDot is taken by Timberg's act, consisting of a mixed pair of stooges. Turn starts off like a house afire, with everything from punning to dance bits, but sorta fades towards the end. Audrey - Parker delivers some nifty sineing and dancing. ■ ' Closing act is composed of Bartel and Hurst, one femme and three male partners. Their acro-danfce number is different, but didn't click with this- audience. Overture, under stick of Sam Jack Kaufman, features some nice warb- ling by. Marian Shelby, operatic so- prano, arid Frankie Conners, tenor. . Pete. ample quota of laughs. Boys are cer- tainly original in doing stretch of aero clowning to strains of Wagner s 'Ride of the Valkyries'; fits in nicely, too, Their • water-spitting bit, though, should be expunged. Kenny Baker (New Acts) clicks solidly, and Charles 'Slim' Timblin's blackface preacher persiflage is over as strong as:usual here. Still slips over sev- eral fast, sly and very daring double- entendre remarks. The Elida lassies close,, once again before the terrace set,' doing- what approximates a Wigmane^que wrig- gle to combo of .tune,Si 'Sophisticated Lady' and 'Park Ave. Fantasy,' but itndidn't exactly devastate the - pa- trons. Routine looks like something far back in the files of - these swell ■dancers. Miss Tennis- also on; Wear- ing same costume used in first whirl. Does , a toe terp to-'Look for That 'Silver Lining* that, recalls Marilyn Miller; working to same ^score in. 'Sunny.' If possible. Miss Tennis should shift costumes for each prance. Latter half, of show had slight suggestion of slowness, Alle- viatipn could be effected by swap- ping'positions of the; two "line num- bers,' or, perhaps,* Switching spots now berthed by Timblin and Tom, Dick and Harry.. Pretty good attendance "final Fri- day performance. Harvey. Ham- mond's singing-organlog and Metro newsreel sandwiched in between flesh andflicker. Bert. HIPP, BALTIMORE Baltimore, July 10. . When first performance Friday got under, way, lower floor was filled. Outside thermometers were bursting Under strain of mercury hitting rec- ord 107 degrees. Once the mob had .settled comfortably , they evinced strong liking for the'show in gen- . eral. Opener is Hector and his Pals, dog act, with, man pacing'his 11 pooches 'through , assortment .of o.k. stunts, . mostly of humorous rather than awe-inspiring sort. Deucirig. Charles ' .Carlile copped top honors with ease. ~4Tenor has much improved since last taught at this house,, and looks -ripe for another radio whirl; was. on .Lucky Strike Hit -Parade last win-" , ter. His delivery-, has been pointed* 'xj, and pipes much, sharpened; One •of his pops was N5in, to Tell, a. Lie,' and Carlile displayed shrewd show- ' manship when he announced he was doing the number out'of regard for Billy Mayhew, Balto 'composer. Glenn and Jenkins, vet blackface comedy twain, hold the trey trick .without any: difficulty. Still in the porters' uniforms, dealing out the ex- SHEA'S, TORONTO . - . • Toronto," July li. : Currentelaborately-mounted com- edy-show' indicates that producer Harry Anger is being permitted to dig down a little- deeper in the cash- box. Result is-a set-up that steadily builds and rates as the finest Anger- effort in many moons. Loosening of the managerial purse-strings also in- dicates what a whale of a difference a few kopeks make on production value. - Shea emporium has currently gone 'Navy Week,' entire house staff of cashiers,- ushers and coatroom at- tendants wearing whites arid braid. Even the; stagehands are in naval togs, unconfirmed rumor having it that two- of them postponed- their vacations in order to wear the uni- form. Al Trahan is taking the applause honors. It's his fh\st engagement on this side of the pond since his recent return, tha'; lengthy stay in England making for'little change in the acti Bill.. also : marks the local return after' a long, absence of the Keller. Sisters and Lynch, trio socking over here. ...... Al Aylward and the. pit boys are on the 'stage this week, lads' in white uniforms being tiered under the guns and turrets of 'H.M.S. Hilarity,' a solid 60-foot eye. Whole new front and drapes, plus the supplementary use of the Imperial's lighting eauip- ment, adds to the- lavish r'fect of this, full-stage battleship set; Billy Wells' and Four, Fays open with a nirhble . eccentric. -. Two Daveyjj hold the deuce with clever juggling of anything from plates to bayonets to a cannon-ball, male half of the act doing, most of the work. Keller Sisters and Lynch follow the Daveys with their unique har- mony warbling, their 'Garry Me Back' number rating an encore.-' Don Davis, ringer introduced as a' local being given a . chance, is ■' on for. comedy fiddling and across okay. ■= .Al Trahan, however, is the lad the! customers Waited, for- and he came' onto ,an ; ovation.'- Still -using 'Wgi.hi-' "hat class'.CpT opening at thekevbo^rd but, with the advent of Ladv Yu- kona Cameron, goes hokey and from there on the comedy never lets up. Inter^oersed throughout the fint're fll-minuie show ere Wells and the Fays for nut routines and clever steoology. Biz «knv conj^e-in*' the ORIENTAL, CHI \ Chicago, July 10. Standout attractions this .week- at the Oriental are Mitzi Green and Billy House. Mimic, spotted next to closing, goes over big in this town. Starts her act warbling ■ 'Dangerous Rhythm' and >then into 0 her imitaj tions, using 'Music Goes Round and Round' as vehicle for her mimicry. Song-is rusty, but audience forgets th<j- time when they see Mitzi's imi- tations, of Wynn, Brice t ArlisS and Billy House m.c.'s 70-minute show and goes over as big as his tag each time. He's also on at end of bill with his standard 'Resolutions' act which still gets its full quota .of lauerhs. . . Others on the bill.are De Guchi Japs,;Milfon Blakely. and Carter and Holmes.. Quintet of Orientals do a risley act and turn in some, fine gyrnnastic stunts. P. a. system en- riches the pines of Milton .Blakely to good advantage. Blakely chants 'One Alone' and then swings into 'Small' Hotel.' Dorothy Hild girls come on while he's singing this num-r be** for background. Slapstick arid knorkabont comedy is furnished this week by Carter and Holme's. Pair handle themselves well and don't get too custard-pie- 'sh, Two of their outstanding rum : hers are impressions of marathori dancers .and imifatin" of wrestlers. 'Boulder Dam' (WB) on screen. Business good at Friday supper show. Loop. CAPITOL, ATLANTA ■.' Atlanta, Ga.> July .11. Despite heavy opposition, the Cap held its own with business' boosted considerably -because of Schrneling Louis brawl films, second-run,- which afforded Atlanta's large colored population - opportunity to check up on report that the ex-Brown Bomber was doped. Colored balcony busi- ness exceptionally, good'as a result. . Stage unit is topped by Ned Nor- worth - and Co., who get plenty, of laughs. ..Norw.orth is also a smooth m.c. ' ■ LeRoy and Pals, featuring 'five cleverly trained • canines, delighted' youngsters. This marked second ap- pearance 1 of-' this act on . Capitol stage. Stanley and Macklyri, also a repeat from several weeks back, also managed well with their eomedy and dance routines. Nanon Gardner, who. formerly flipped about in the 'Folies,*' filled two spots with her taps and spe- cialty dances. Cute personality gets her_jover. Bawn Sisters, newcomers to this territory, offered Atlantans something new with , their two rou- tines of cape dancing. Fight.pictures and other attractions ran the entire bill to two hours and a half, so the 15-piece stage band just sat around and played ilie tunep for the acts. Feature picture, *Law in Her Hands'. (WB). . - . CENTURY, BALTO : Baltimore, July 10. 'San Francisco' (MG) is lingering a third week, longest run any flicker ever achieved at Loew's 'luxer. Each week, however, different stage-show has adorned the boards, because h.o. orders haven't been handed local of- fice until flesh for coming weeks had been set. Inadvertible, but unfortu- nate, that the zowiest stage-show in some months had to arrive during "this third week of the film; when it wori't get half the recognition it de^ serves. . '>" Has been growing more apparent that best liked and most successful stage-shows housed by the Century within past season have been those upon which some production efforts have been wrought. Current exhibit, aside from being hangup entertain- ment, is also (and perhaps more im- portant) less drain on the Loew purse than most shows house plays. ." Opens" with the Elida Ballet (12 girls have been virtually playing stock 'tween- Balto and Wash. Loew va'udfilmefs since early" spring) do- ing a line routine, to. 'Storripin' at the Savoy.' Slick stuff, as expected from these excellently drilled lookers, hoofing before a "nifty terrace setj- ting 'against a drop depicting Man>- hattan skyline. The drop (must be a prized Loew possession^ it is seen here so frequently) is rather out'of focus with • the terjface props, .but folks will keep their peepers pasted on- ; the'' lihe. Midway in ^routine, 'small," 'adept "toe-dancef, Elehor^ !Cermis, ..sprints' .'on for' some" solo strutting"• in ihk*hued ; tights." Edngt time partner of Paul Haakon, Miss Tennis' forte has always been inter- pretive ballet work, which is much superior to her jazzy. strutting, al- though her latter type of legging is better than average. Tom, Dick and Harry", trio of LOEW'S, MONTREAL • / Montreal, July 12. • Shirt-sleeved fans filled Loew's this week-end, despite tropical heat, to see one of the best vaude shows in many- weeks. Line's opening rou- tine, given fair hand, precedes show's opener, Kay George and Dal Car-i men, good-looking dance team who tap with foils to good results. Deuce is Three Kanes, balancing act, with lead holding fifteen-foot pole on which the second Kane balances. This got the audience going and for every variation of the act there was renewed applause. Third is a femme who does a minimum of work. Ray,. Lee and : Dunn; soft shoe dancers arid knockabout teaih with a variety of freak bits, were winners from their first appearance at this viewine. They built up their act to call after call, ending with an en core they were too exhausted to give. Line delivers a garden routine that crowd liked, though it was per- haps a. trifle long. Harry Holmes, piano murderer, furnishes a speedy turn that starts fast and stays that I way. Ki£ stooges in box are played up well and he could have stayed on ; twice the time. Show ends with Saul Grauman and his four Stairatone girls, look- ers and smart dancers. They do a number of routines, tap and toe-tap and flips. Act is new here and audi ence took it in great style. 'Dracula's Daughter' (U) and 'No body's Fool' (U) on screen. Lane. STANLEY, PITTS. Pittsburgh, July 10. Bowes shows wearing thinner and thinner, with current unit, fifth to; play here in less than a year, the!: poorest yet from" every angle. Ap- parently the talent, well is running dry for Bowes and this time he's . sent along a group that,~without the prestige of-his name, ■ would have had a tough time getting inside -a ■ theatre. Theh, too, there must be something in, Bowes' contracts WitfThis proteges that assures them an encore every time they step out on a.stage. Audi- ence. r,e s.p o n s.e. .notwithstanding they'll take that second number or bust This .afternoon, only two or three turns out of an even dozen got enough -palm-pounding to carry thein off into the wings, but back they came just the same to go, through their hopelessly inadequate) repertories. - Even with this, -showj ruris- lessthan 50 minutes, whichlj may- account for all the larceny.- ; ■> Original idea..that the kids had to win a broadcast contest, to get into one of the Bowes' units getting to be something of a joke. This time, the troupe features a roller-skating act, the Lightning Trio, which the m.c. explains Major Bowes couldn't possibly have-on the air,'but which was simply 'too good' for Him to pass up. Both management and the major- himself> however, probably realize they haven't a lot here at the moment, so they're hyping it up with a Pittsburgh night on his weekly NBC'hour this Sunday (12). Locals will have the vote exclusively to themselves and wiririer will jump a plane immediately-after broadcast to join the show Monday (13). Sameness of B6w.es' hopefuls is deadly, so much so that line-up can practically be . determined , in ad- vance." • Warblers as usual- predom- inate, with a jspririkling of musicians and" a tap • dancer or- two arid oc- casionally -a novelty act. .There's al- ways,- in addition, the major's 'proud representative* the m.c, who ex- . changes whiskered nifties with the amateurs. Best bet of unit is a colored tot, Adolohus Quincy Robinson, Jr., a repeat from a recent unit and ap-: parently a permanent meiriber .Of the Bowes, troupes. Tot; wearing a gray derby and white spats, has a million- dollar personality and punches over two songs with such pro finish that he makes the others seem like the rank amateurs .they are in com- parison. Another sepia performer, incidentally a local lad, is Dewey Moon, baritone with a nice set of pipes but little or .no salesmanship, a • fault common - to most - of the' Bowes tribe. - •' Troupe also includes Mimicking Melodcers, five-piece band-and poor carbon '.copyiot the major's Yoiim'ans Bros. Lola Lee, who tap dancfes while standing on. her head; Dorothy Heick," marimba' "player ' who also doubles as one of the unit's two femme pianists, Jean O'Neill, torch singer; John Rogers,- whOv sings - both tenor and soprano, and Dunn and Mitchell, harmonica-banio team. Picture, . 'Sins ■ of • Marf (20th). Business just so-so, -hall-full down- stairs and only a sprinkling rn balcony at second show this after- noon. - . Cohen. hot weather. 'Early to Bed' 'Par) knockabout comics often seen here, on screen. McStay. J supply plenty of - zest, blare and get. Va. City Goes Sundays ■ ■ Lynchburg, July 14. Charlottesville is latest Virginia city to join the parade of Sunday show towns. A corporation court jury acquitted Richard E. Eason, manager of the Paramount, of vio lating the state blue law- by giving a performance on the Sabbath. Judge A. D. Dabney instructed jurors 'the burden is on the commonwealth to .prove' Sunday shows 'unnecessary •and morally unfit.' " Eason brought the test on appeal from a police court fine of $5. Sun day. shows will become regular pol- icy, he said. Hunter Perry, president Of Dominion Theatres Corp.,-' was only witness for the defense. Said persons unable to attend, theatres in the week 1 had requested Sabbath films. EARLE, PHILA. Philadelphia,. July 10.'-. Bjiled as. stars, Three .Stooges are •not only that but virtually whole stage show at Earle this week. They come on last, to cop all the applauss. Their lengthy turn opens with Ed- die Loughton, their straight man, giving them goofy buildup with some ancient patter delivered in crackpot fashion. . Hard to remember when an act has received such a reception as Three Stooges are given even be- fore they begin. Their antics are so well known via pix that every time they 'start to rOughhouse, audience is familiar with what's coming and breaks into applause in recognition; Apparently they're used to that, however, because it never busts tim- ing. Latter, incidentally, is as near perfection as possible to imagine. In occasional moments, though, forme'r Ted Healy satellites verge on overly vulgar stuff. Hard to see necessity for it. Such tricks as re- sounding belches in microphone are good for howls from part of audi- ence, but are bound to offend some. And since almost anything trio of- fer wows 'em, why risk souring it? For another plaint, Stooges never approach spontaneity in their gags. It's all obviously studied and labored. That's weakness. Still, they sock. Balance of Earle bill brings Starnes, Annavan and Seymour, with Martha Neuton and Ruth Coburn. in dancing act of wide diversification. Girl pianist on stage accompanies house band in music for the teroers. Steppers include girl aero, adagio pair with several striking tricks, and boy with corking style of loose- jointed, bounding taps. Others, include Robbins Trio, usual roller skaters; Roy Smeck, trick banjoist, and Brown and Ames, Roy Atwell-ish stuttering comic and midget femme partner. Pic is 'And So They Were Maried' (Col). Busi- ness good at opening show. * Hole.