Variety (Feb 1937)

Wednesday, February 24, 1937 VARIE Y V HOUSE REVIEWS VARIETY 61 PARAMOUNT, N. Y. Guy Lombardo's. orchestra aug- ments' *Johh'Meade's Woman' (Par) here this week and, from the looks of the okay ; biz Thursday night, is helping plenty at the wicket. House was more than comfortably filled by the time the last pit show went into lion. Musically, the Lombardo orchestra is one of the tops. : On a stage, as .well as air, it is quite different from the usual run of bands. . Twelve-piece outfit, with Guy wav- ing the baton and. brothers Carmen vocals, the - orchestra appeals chiefly through its ;sweet. . arrangements. None of the cut-up stuff of the aver- age crews is included and there, is a practically complete absence of glee-clUb singing, only mass vocaliz- ing being that of a trio from the band, which includes. Carmen: ., Specialties booked. in . ith' the Lombardo band actually provide the sock of current presentation. First there's Burton Pierce, a swell hoofer, but too close to Fred Astaire in style. His second of two routines is, in fact, an .imitation, though not an- nounced. Second specialty sock is provided by Virginia Verrill, deep- throated radio singer, whose appear- ance and vocalizing are all: in her favor. However, she might switch those stereotyped arm motions-/ Third, and a wham at this catching; Rufe Davis, eccentric, hill-billy Singer and barnyard imitator. Audi- ence wouldn't let him go, even after four or five encores. His singing is strong, but best are his imitations of trains, outboard motors, etc. Davis is doubling from the Hollywood restaurant, N, Y. Lombardo, of course, is doubli from the Hotel Roosevelt. . Lombardo band's, highlights are Liebert's corrieting and vocalizing of 'When My 'preamboat Comes, Home* and Carmen's singing of 'Bob Hoo!' Show runs 40 minutes. Scho. ST. LOUIS, ST. L. St; Louis, Feb, Although Lent is taking its an- nual toll, of b.. . activity, at all local amusement places, first week . of religious season surprised film row- as biz at St. Louis actually bettered that of previous, week, and indica- tions point to further prosperity. It all can be attributed to quality , of- acts at Fanchon .& Marco's Grand blvd. combo-house, steadily grow- ing popularity of Johnny Perkins, m. c, and smart advertising. ' Current 70-min. bill reeks with action, and Joe. and P'ete Michon, late of Ziegfeld Follies, cop top hon- ors with, their 12-min. act) although they are. pressed by Teddy Lester and Paul Kirkland.. Show, opens with Perkins, in nautical' attire, coming through curtains as stage lights'flash as_if_lightning^jnd .as.:, cur tains .are. drawn on dash Roxyettes for' an okay nautical routine.. They give Way to Lester, billed as the Musical Pickpocket, and he opens act with 'Stars and Stripes Forever' on fife imbedded in walking cane. Then he frisks himself for series Of piccolo, harmonicas, rubber tube, saxes, and later a guitar, violin and. clarinet from which he extracts tunes winding up with 'St. Louis Blues' th^t \von a swell hand. In. next slot ." Kirkland, who climbs to eighth rung of ten-rung ladder and dances it and himself all over apron in rhythm with band. He also clicked by balancing a paper, cone on various, parts of his phiz, finally setting cone afire and permit- ting it to burn down to skin: Then he ended stint by balancing, on his chili, a girl, seated in one of two in- vei-ted chairs. ' Perkins comes back for another new yjtory and warbles 'My Wife's First Husband.' and palm pounders went into action. Line returns for a routine during which Perkins, standing in aisle, stops 'em by blow- ing whistle and girls find themselves in all sorts of postures.. Roxyettes give way to Stevens Sisters, once with 'Greenwich Village Follies.' with Niecie doing the comics, and drawing audience approval. " Both . sing and do a nice interp of a cal- Then come the Michon boys and thev stop the show with the phony •slcight-of-hand. stuff which precedes Springboard acrobatics, trick falls and balancing feats. Show is brought to a finale as verteti blind opens and Roxyettes climb., rope ladders, arranged to resemble a', ship's rig- ging, and then come back on apron for a fast routine. Screen offers 'One in a Million' (20th) (2d run), and 'Racing Lady' (RKO), latter be- ing, shown at all matinees except Sunday. Biz very good. Sahu. FOX, DETROIT Detroit, Feb. First house-produced show in sev- eral weeks, following long, run of units. Chuck full of talent, produc- tion flows smoothly, and only things lacking are settings. Inclusion of latter, plus placing of orch on stage, would have set the. 55-minute show off in fine style. Miniature stage for closing act, Sa- lici Puppets, precluded putting a pit band on stage, but there was little excuse for forcing all turns to work before drop. Aside from these dis- crepancies^ vaude packs plenty of diversity and wallop, and is a credit all around. On the bill, besides Salici Puppets, which get top billing, are Pat O'Mal- . ley, late of Jack Hylton's band; Gene Sheldon, plus Loretta Fischer, who were here only few months ago; Billy and Beverly Bemrs, chief sufferers from . lack of settings, and Joyce Reimer, aerialist. No names. but plenty on the ball to interest patrons. Although puppet act, the most hovel Seen here in moons, is topV billed* O'Malley runs it a close sec-, ond for leading honors. He's scored * here . in previous appearances, '. and •doesn^tseem r ta-ha.ve- lost'ahy4of*his. stuff. He'continues to droll out nifty English music hall stories, subbing a 'Sammy* tale for. his famed 'Lil' Air bert and the Lif h' bit . On midway, he garners; rbcking applause, but dis- appoints by; hot acceding to audience demand for the 'Lil* Albert' piece. . The Bemis duo,;in deuce spot, has several cute, snappy terping num- bers, and gets over well, Male :and femme's appearances form an inte- gral portion of the turn. Their duo hoofing is sock; ditto Bill's solo. But Beverly's single, in which she .war- bles and. shimmie, is plain brutal. It's a shame, too. because whole turn is otherwise nifty. Pantomime comedy, provided by Sheldon, abetted by Miss Fischer, hits the spot. Entire act is clean, and Miss Fischer furnishes the flash, in addition to a. little hoofing and sing- ing. Duo is. spotted next to shut,: and' grab . off couple encores. Sheldon's . 'sewirig-up-hand' bit is a honey for ah encore. . Opening slot is filled capablv by Miss Reimer, who sells her aerialist turn nicely. She performs some dif- ficult feats on the rone, and gives act a new twist by warbling a tune, while slowly-sliding, down rope head first. Ge.ts a call back. Closing, Salici *s Puppets provide ten scenes, given from miniature stagey include clowns, acrobats, musical, races, etc.,. View of strinf-pullers doing stuff from. above, provided near end. seems to give audience added, appreciation. Overture, under Sam Jack Kauf- man's baton, is tied: in nicely with .next week's-show, consisting of pop tunes from coming flicker. Frank Connors, tenor, provides the war- bling. Kaufman m.c.'s show from pit. Fair crowd on hand - at early eve- rting show (Friday). On screen: 'When You're in Love' (Col). Pete. SCALA, BERLIN Berlin. Feb. 8. With Jack Hylton taking > iip the second half of the bill, the Scala is doing . landslide biz—two shows a day and not a seat to be had at any price. Even though the orchestra is dated for only two weeks, Hylton is copping such a wad of coin, that the rest of the bill is made up of mostly unknowns, with the Scala girlSTdoing^their"feeoneHbesf WW the gaps. Show opens with the local ballet in a pony dance. Fifteen Romanoffs follow in some fine pyramids, but aside from brute strength they have nothing to show. Few minutes of neat tumbling offered by the Three Baldors and then the Scala girls are at it again in a 'Broadway Dance' which is nothing but a mild ballroom Charles- ton. . Bright spot of the first half, is an American tightrope, act, the Four Or tons. Boy. jumping from one. side of the rope through a paper-covered hoop - onto the other side gets a great hand. Daddie in a ballet get- up a la Fannie Brice does a witch dance with broom on the rope that, goes over big. Act has some A-l tricks and nice fun. Trained goose and baby pig come in for their share of applause. > Billed as Natal. 'Man or Monkey,' works in the audience, hOpping dex- terously from the back of one seat to another. Searching for cooties, arid hugging the ladies are his long suit. Nimble. . Another , number by the girls arid the Carolis close the first half. Italian troupe is first-rate, with, ex- ceptional horses. One lad on a gal- lopirig horse does' a backward somersault pirouettes through a small hoop and lands on a second horse behind him. -Intermission ; : over, Jack Hylton and his .band of 32. get a rousing ovation from the mob. Opening •number with vocal solo at the mike is 'Lost, Strayed dr Stolen.' Audi- ence is caught up at once by the. tempo. Hits come and go, with the mob out front lapping them up. End man, a miniature Paul White- man, keeps, them in. titters with his clowning. He gets. big hand with his. simultaneous solo on clarinet arid saxophone. .Piano player sing- ing 'Dinah' and doing an eccentric dance is . good and had <t0 encore it night caught; First violinist breaks into a hot tap which goes aver big; Joe Rossi, worider child, sells his accordion number, aru*,. accompanied by the band, encores with . Gersh- win's 'Rhapsody in Blu»\* Medley from 'BrOadway Melody' has the audience in seventh heaven. Ameri- can sirigle, Wilbur Hall, swaying .ori his long-pointed, shoes like. the. lean- ing towerrof. Pisa, gets 'ern. He has a way with the fiddle. Band's closing number brings howls for more and Hylton plays one encore, 'Did I Remember to . Tell You?' harp solo with the boys joi 'in. Wintefgarten, Berlin Berli ,>eb. $. It's carnival time in Germany. With the spirit of whoopee prevail- ing and the. big burg full of sight- seers from the sticks, the Wiriter- garten has put on a so-called gala program. Thoufh without marquee, yalue, it's a well-balanced bill -with plenty of talent.. B.o. so good that the performers are doing extra shows, though without extra pay. Such is life in the New Reich. The . D'Angolys. with theiv rapid- fire juggling give.the show a peppy -kiei^or.fr^^ attractive stage'pictures and r catchy tempo make this a good number one turn., ' "■ Two Blixtpns are rather a down with some conventional tum- bling. ■ G uy with the Buster Keaton dead pan doesn't live up to expec- ".tetibn's:' • Hatnka OrdOn. Polish, i.seuse, is doing, a holdove" from last month. She has. the stuff to go nlpces. but she doesn't .always get the-e." As a French coquette, .she's swell, but she's-just not the type to go floating, "around with an. ostrich: fart. -Some One should -drop her a hint, because: she can land on top. ■ Two Montys on baby and giant cycles get the. fojks ?U worked un. One boy, doing art, pffective drunk., balances is partnei* on his 'hs$d while r'oir" a reck'^cstwi'i on a unir.yclfv H's a good finish,- and gets, a big hand. . Hikh soot of the-'M.erry !Chinesr Family' is a .contortionist who gets all. wrapped up in himself. Morland. talking juggler. , is an outstanding feature.. . Ci^f s*age ap- pearance, a slick way with, thi >alls arid a nifty line of gab. by gets a well-deserved hand. Ernest, Yvonne and Vilmal known i the States, open with their Usual, hallropm hoofing. Amusing sptire ifollows showing their impression of ^he. fox-trot as danced in America. France and England. Syncopated w oos*Tstep.. ta'-.e-bff on dprtcir"? in the Fatherland seen through for-' eigri eyes, naturally gaols a German audience. . Five. Colorados furnish the ex-, pected amount of knife throwing arid lassoinp. Singing Fools give some nice imi- tations of Victroia recoi'ds with good harmony. Four Barclavs are made up of: three well-buiU guys and a clown. ^Vorking on three hori^oritpl b-^^s. they do some fine, stunts, with the olown putting in riice comedy re^ lief... Charley and Robert follow with eccentric; dancing. Musical, clowns. Rico-Alex & Co., can really handle their instruments. One- does the Carioca with a stuffed doll whose/shoes are attached to his. . Fine , grotesque effect and oyer big. Novelty encore done in slow^ rn6tion ~of - two- irniT--killing- each Other.' Even the bullet creeps out of the lin like a snail. : Only American on th*\ bill is the plant in Lou's.Animal Revue, Lou has an unbroken mule and calls for a couple of huskies to come up from the audience, offering 100 marks to anyone staying on top for. two mi - utes. Mickey Mouse short -(UA) closes.. ORIENTAL, CHICAGO Chicago, Feb. 19. Few more shows like this and vaudeville will be back. Looks like it. is anyway, with Rae Samuels at the State-Lake, arid Belle Baker here. Billed as just returned from a sensational London engagement, the latter proves to be the best at- traction the Oriental has had in months. Got a real warm welcome o*i her entrance,. which is a rarity at this house, and scored with eveiy> number/: despite the fact that she was oil about three times the length of the usual act. Even the overdone 'DerLovely' thing was welcome the way she did it, but more than any- thing else the choruses frohi the songs which she made hits, put the turn over. Seven .Of 'em at one gulp, and each one received ;its own iridividual applause. Audience re-; fused.to let her,go without.'.Yiddisha. Mama.' despite her tryirig to beg off, so 'Yiddisha Mama* it. was,' and a finish that very few performers get at this tough-audience house. . Two other sock acts, one good, and one . fair made up a abetter than average bill. After house ballet took the curtai "raiser; Al Bottoroff grabbed the stage with his trick bi- cycle riding, but the grab was of the slow motion variety, arid the act didn't really get started. Has sev- ; eral good tricks, and Bottoroff him- self could be a very funny,man. but the meat of the. act needs to be jammed into a small time, and a few more tricks added to. it. if it- is to play irt the fast company it'has herd this week. Suicide-for-a-giggle acts look upon this house as their home, arirt Ken arid Ray Paige are certainly deserv- ing of. ai date here: Act is; faster than most of the s'tOoge-kill-stooge type* and their bit, 'things which Can and cannot be done i '"-os- tling.' would do for even n. : - '-ti- cated. audience with a l 1 ' v re building. Flash act is iSaiil .GraumaiiV. nd it's, a dandyi Opens with him in front of a wine. bottle back drop, acting as the m.c.. introducing Sunny Ray and Kay George Who do a neat tap routine. Another girl does a : good acrobatic number, and it is followed, by the. first two arid another tap session. Switch then to full stage: discloses the 'stair-a-tone' novelty. . Euilt up here, with the Hild Ballet working on additional stairways, one . each side of the main. Latter is a series of 12 stens. each of whiph has. a plate, in the center, when stepped on, produces, a difiovent bell t"ne. Lights up . too of -the steps light as each- riote is played.. Graumari and his girls do: '.several , tunes in a rem ark." bib way by dtneing on. ihr'-SvS'LGPs- Finish is- ^yith^he-^tagb^daVk^vj^owi the . lights on' the top of t'ri stairs flashing, ond the radium sho^s bf the dancers working as d: tune cpmeji: Torth. ■■ , Act ; sets a fast, oace for Belle . T >al;er.. but she sits a fester-.' onz trv. Frank . T.*bi;.se. ard'' H : ' tf.kes :cire cf it in a big wry; Is. VIoin^.h is. reg- ular routine, piano, tr.J.l girl. stbbge< telephone directory, big hand 'rnd all. Does O'.'a'y as. alwr.y^. gcti'hg: ilenty of bel l v. j»iv.ff*iw-s:- and leaving y.'ltii hire' .dpotou-'js. v'H.ild ''-dahesrs c'.ore with their tbti' routine for. the show. ' evil's PJnvgrOund' Business excellent. Fri PALACE, CLEVE. leveland,. Feb. 19., rought in by Nat Holt as an extra attraction to supplement 'Park Ave-. nue ! Al Trahan pulls off his usuil thunder-copping stunt to the point Where it isn't funny (per- sonally) to the regular unit's top- biLers. Revue was cut considerably i'V'". with 'Ladv Yukona Cam- eron. . Without .them it would liave ,o^ked tio so-so/ for thi hardboiled stand. As a double attractibn entire ■sJibw is smart enough to : it an upper- r.ncket gross. ■ MET, BOSTON oston, Feb. 18. At opening'show this week'§ stage offering looks like a good lineup of en'iiVtainmeut thrt will i prove af- ter its component parts are welded together. Judy Canova, with Annie and Zeke lead the parade ^ in .billing, but they do not walk off with : all the honors. In fact ..smart booking of > surrounding acts; saves the day,, although the show is a bit topheayy on hoofing... . Prqductiori erid. rates special riod this week; and orie number, ''Sym- phony of Light" stands out as about the best bet in the show. Line of 12 girls open in full stage, doing modern arm. and leg work in black silhouette against colored panels lighted from behind, After a sample of this they step down to the apron, while: behind them drops a blank curtain. Conti ing their moderne squirmage the girls' forms are pro- jected onto this screen-like drop in colored silhouette by vari-hued spots from tht foots. Effect is beautiful in the S3.30 sense. Finrle has six costumed lads on terraced steps up- stage beatmg.prop kettle drums.' and. bet'weeri them are two girls gyrating against .. a .circular shadow box. Musical background is an effective, bolero .buildup. For an outstanding lichting-productibn job—take a bow. Leo Morgan.- Opening line number in Spanish theme and closing Nip- ponese number both excellent as to routines and costuming. Latter sets tempo for the ROyal Uyerio. troupej a flashy, oft-sensa- tioriaL-circus— act ~ot -Jap_. Jacrobats- clever with their feet; Three ground nien toss, catch and roll their part- ners throughout a series of exciting tricks that include breath-taking dives, triple catches and neat feet-tO- feet tosses. One of the boys dOns a rubber head piece and "walks" up a flight, of stairs on his head. Ace showmanship, flash costuming and rapid-fire continuing all combine to make this an ideal show closer. Judy Canova arid company take: next-to-shut spot for a mess of hill- billy nonsense and whining of back- woods ditties. It is disconcerting to watch a capable comedienne feel her Way through an opening show, but that is apparently what Miss Canova was doing here. Her orily real sock was a solo of 'Music Goes Round' with some tricky, comic yOdels mixed into a cute arrangement, A letter reading, bit pancakes; a piano solo by Annie registers okay; most of Zeke's . gags hit. home, but there are too ..few of these, Canova awkward posturings are sure-fire, but the customers wanted a little more for their 'money. Donatella Brothers and Carmen look smart:, in the trey. Double- jointed girl twists and double twists while the boys play accprdlans On either side. Boys do an okay duet for Carmen's costume change, then she introduces dad, who, she .says, is the only shepherd horn player on the American .stage... Mama is then given a chance to show what she can do ith the tambourine. Ma and pa are both hot in their respec- tive lines, justifying' the parental dragout by the youngsters; Carmen also solos a rhythm tap. In all,' a great help to, the show. Carlton Emmy, clicks in the deuce with- his trained dogs. Rex Weber, in comic garb, vocals five or six numbers with lazy gestures! Of which the best is an Englishman's parody of 'Old Black Joe.' Dismal closer is •Brother Spare a Dime,' capably sung. Listening to this bid pickle is like sitting iri an electric chair on a Visit through the peri. It isn't bad if "you can forget the awful 'senti- ment behind it. Too. long at the opening,, the show was cut 20 minutes next time around. Picture: 'Green Light' (WB). Fox. - Spotting Trahan oust one. number bei'ore the.-'Annie crertes.a strrnge e'-'ect;.'an: almost .indefinable change, of tempo. Clowning pi nist has been abiient for five yea?:s frbm these parts, where; he usually . dbve-tailed .into straight, big-time vaude bills,- Sharp contrast ;o'f; his legit work makes, every other act;, suu'or. . Pre- ceding' comedy ones, ihclii irig Jack peeper,-seem taniei fading into for- get 'ulness after he str-rts Ir.anglhg a piriro. Arid closing hu-nbe!*, -thoughV: a neit flash, becomes just an dntt- clin-.ax. Bv. a coincidence on Mi'si day,. P'e per. and Trahari duplicated a gag-line about-.-'I hope ybu'se po ^le appre-» ciate the higher forrris of enter tain- man t.' with latter getting 1ho onjy heavy laughs on it.: .Tiist .-an illustra- tion of how per 5 alily counts. '. Ail and his Lady Yukoria deliber-' ately run through all their well- known its.. .Their theory! is they've been away so long that their classics will , sound as fresh as a. Roosevelt 1 penny to young generatiori, which is exactly hew it's-taken. His expert horseplay On keyboard and heckling of wife's prima donna travesty are. still i stant house-warmers. Gag of pretending to .adjust tin iriiaginafy toupee is a new 6r\e that socks the old-timers. , Cornplete bill runs 75 minutes, but not too long and never, draggy; Chorus opener with nude on pedestal might be shortened a bit for sharper' eff'ict. Pepper rn;c.'ing is okay, al- though he edits quite a lot of fast balcony repartee with two stooges,. Sammy Cantor , arid Jack Leonard. Latter'should get.some newer imper- sonations; although his elephantine . slapstick gives color, to neat acro- batics of Maxello Bros. Like.most of the iin.lt. two" May- fields arid Virginia aren't originally ■■hot in . their apache-adagio tossing, but they dO. it with colorful compe- > tehee; Ditto for Janet Reed's tqe- taps as well as for Burns, and White., 'Hes^d bver Heelr. in Love' (GB). is pic, a light combo f « Lent. Pxilleri* Sylvia Froos- Sister ■.. Betty Froos, sister of Sylvia Frbos, opened at Boo Boo Hof's 1214 Club in Philly Monday (22) night for break-in of new act Then goes to Mayfair, Boston. Fbririerly used name of Betty Frasier. Embassy Newsreel,. N. Y, No. outstander in the Embassy, lineup this week, although the bill can -be -said-to -cover-the-newsfront ; efficiently. Lead clip shows F.D.R. facing Pathe cameras at Lincoln birthday honorings, with terse edi- torial wordage anent the Supreme Court issue followed by Alf Landon Speaking against changes in the N; V» Another shot of the President' ; is Par's excellent coverage of the Far* ley dinner, with humorous byplay scoring. Good Metro clips are those of England's George VI riding' In state and christening of the Duke of Kerit's child. -Also some effective coverage of the Eucharistic congress in Manila. Universal's contribs to the current bill include Ambassador Davles' ar- rival in Russi ; a flood in Venice, Cal.; state guardsmen patroling strike areas. in Indiana and battle fleet maneuvers as a warning to Spain. Fox provides a number of interesting clips, including sport items involving race horses, skate racing, sailflshing, iceboats, the Davis Cup tennis draw and Dizzy Dean. Also a pair of Lew Lehr's hoke bits. Paramount supplies scenes of snow- bound sheep in Utah rescued by government herders; a freak storm battering the fashionable coasts' of Monte Carlo and Nice; Trotsky in Mexico, meeting at the N. Y; Hipp and demonstrations by. Lenin ad- herents in Moscow; a military parade in Tokyo and the new W. K. Van- derbilt private luxury airliner in the south. Metro chips in shots of Mussolini attending a pair of family weddings in Rome and other Italian, scenes re- vealing Lindbergh meeting Gen. Balbo. Also Lindy and his wife taking , off, in streamlined plane; Universal presents a new one-blade propeller as its aviation bit arid peeks at the framework of the Hin- denburg's sister ship at Friedrich- shafen. .Pathe eulogizes the ailing Dr. Dafoe with shots of the dOc and the quints. Another Pathe item Of interest is Governor Frank Murphy, auto strike hero, receiving a medal at an American-Irish , historical so-, ciety dinner. Dallas blondes have their own sit-down strike in the Mayor's office via Universal, which also presents an inventor showing a Goldbergiari cigarette lighter that promotes laughs. Science is served by a lab shot, of a new fog arid, smoke dispelling ex- periment (Metro) and some Golden Glove aspirants take a beating in a lively Pathe clip.- Program also Con- tains, a r.r. \vfeck, icebergs, snow- drifts, trick seals apd monks and a Are. Bill concludes with the latest issue of RKO's 'March of Time.' Howl.