Variety (Mar 1937)

50 VARIETY V4BIEYV HMSE BElfCWS. Wednesdny, March 10,1937 MUSIC MALL, N. Y. Current stage event,; 'The-Islands/ at Radio City Music Hall, is pretty much in the gropve; It's another holiday for the scenic iand: costuhie designers. Of sock entertainment there is exceptionally little. Only two items which stir up any lather sire the closing precision tapp6rino by the.' Rockettes and the swift, varied rQuitine of. a siinilar •school that Tip, Tap and Toe, colored ybungisters, un- ,cork. From the visual angle the high spots irevplve around the cute bi.t of -black art .iix_which the hfouse ballot engages and the pdlorful investiture which has been, given the finale set, a Haivana cafe. In the black art in- terlude the girls are clad to repre- sent brilliantly hued flowers of Haiti and they indulge in a miscellany of ^ high jinks ^hat should easily capture the ohs and ahs of the put-.of- tbwners. Ijppening number in the revue brings a tuneful outlay from the standing glee club with Robert Weede taking command of the: solo Tequirethents, and .aptly ; so.. Cafe number allows Raul and Eva Reyes . to .uhlimber a snappy. rumba, Robert . |jan(^rum to give Way to a fainciful tenor and Rosiario OrellMia to mix some coloratura harmonics. 'Fire Over England' (UA) is the feature. Also on' the:. screen is a ^March of Time! issue and ai strong array of newsclips., Oclcc. Rbxy is taking things easy this week; -the program' is cut . down to a bit over twd hours (practically a .. short as compared to the weekrends they've been in the. habit of dishing totit here, but it's tasty iriost . of the •way. Maybe the customers wont iniss the added running time and certainly thiey won't squawk: Espe- cially With a stroM b.6. film in TiOve Is News' (20th). Starting, with an extra neat routine l>y the line Vof boys aiid girls, fronted by a very agile and pleasant dance, routine by Lucille . Page, show gets off to a fast pace. Freddie Craig, Jr., doing at one time five or six. or more ''UiiAgs rapidly which, most i' teople do one at a time slowly, fol- ows. He's been out of New York for over a year and a welcome, addi-. tibn to any stage- 3(k>w. . Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Crawford (hew acts) are also returners to N. Y. stage sh'oWs. . Organ -duo spotted this far into a show is a bit.bf uiiuisual spot- ting, but they work as always in a showinanly fashion and as always okay.. Three nicely mixed numbers and a finish with the line in a pleas- ant routine.' Radio Ramblers are three young men in air takeqffs, most Of it clever and all of it w^l presented. Fast- mixture of imitatiohs and Well- mixed, though a couple of them (not- ably the Charles Laughton) are a bit far-fetched. Miss Page comes back, now .with the Gae Foster girls in a fancy dish- ing out. of 'The Bolero.' This is a very cblorful though considerably mixed-up finale. It's bver-brnate and the routines tdo complicated. Or perhaps the girls just got a bit mixed up at the show caught; It's the one weak itein in'a fast-moving 43 min- utes, which isn't so bad. Eddie Paul is in the pit but doesn't bother with an overture. There's a Popeye (Par) cartoon and Universal' newsreel to round off the bill- Kauf. good novelty dip from Hearst has a golfer at rather close range driving balls at balloons held by colored cad- dies. Latter are missed by inches severial times , in this odd pastime. It would make insurance hien shudder. Child marriage problem is brought up by : Pafj which surrounds a 13-. year-bid widowed mother in Galves- ton, T?x., arid cites her as a horrible example of some things that can. hap- pen. In the field of miltaristic personali- ties are the Ethiopian' prince who was recently executed and.the U. S. Navy spy whose conviction also is still warm . n6ws.' . Ethibp prince is pictured on his recent ;visit .to the Ui S. Other titles include Duke of Norfolk and his bride returning from hbneyriiobri and Lebpold of Belgium at coal. mines coming, .out-spotlessly clean. On^.,clip pictures a elab- orate reprodfuction of coming cprb- riatibn ceremohies' in England as they, will be executed and mbvea to Canada where portraits bf the^King and Queen are being painted. Other material of ..foreign ori ih includes the Japanese parliament'in session,, claimed ?by Fox to be phbtb-. graphed for the first time; an African king sentencing his, two boys, for petty theft; a colorful •pilgrimage frbm Cairo to Mecca; daredevils in an auto race in France and" celebria- tiori^f indepehdence day in Cubia; . AmeUa Eai-hart gives newsreel audiences a rather detailed outline bf :her proposed world-flight. plans at Los Angeles. Talking to Par souhdV equipment, she . is a very interesting iscreen isubject. Her voice records,, well. : The^pictures F-M got;pf a new war bomber, monster; oh a tbst. flight, bre very, inipressiive. Beauty of photography is also reflected in the clip on the arrival in N6W York of a Finniish warship, first ever to enter the harbor. Sports include tiie six-day bike races at the Garden in New Yprk, the A.A^U. meet ih which, foot races are well . photographed; baseball teams, in spring , training; golden gloves boxing and a wriestling matcht Lew Lehr is.on twice, both times with animals,, which: iS' getting a -bit routine by now. In one, .with/the baby chimps, the. primates are Vbry cute. Lehr himself gets a feW giggles on both appearances. Business pretty gbod P'riday night at 8 o'clock. Chair. Embassy Newsreel, N; Y. 'Variety and tempo distinguish this week's layout in contrast with many of the past and the big novelty is that there are no fashion clips. Show rims but 50 minutes, this also including two shorts, an issue of Universal: 'Stranger Than Fiction' and a travelog covering Bali, re- leased by Screen Traveler. Pathe concerns itself with the Su- preme Court issue and seeks put sev- eral senators for their views; Sen. LaFbllette started out good but gbt a- little camera fright finally, nearly stumbling to his finish: Management leads off with the steel-union. settlement. Paramount, which photographed this, stresses the. optimism that prevails as a . result of the agreement and gets a labipr . leader to comment bh it. A natiiral foUpw- iip clip, .fi'bm Universal* cPncerns sit- downers in eastern, hosiery mills, fbl- , lov/ed by a Par clip oh the 5-and-lO; . stayers-in at^lDetroit. One of the girls ielis what it's all about, doing so in- telligently. Some of the best shots ever pho- tographed on an angry sea , were brought in by Pathe from abroad -Where a cameraman went but With the Coast Guard to resbue a sinking freichtet off the shores of France. Another impelling contribution, isbme- what off the beaten path, is the foot- age ^taken oh the Shetland Islands by Paramount, whose cameras caught the northern islanders indulging in a time-honored celebratiori after a bar^. flu epidemic: Hearst'f? News bf the Day« which has no identification here in credits pr otherwise and is in the minority on material Emb is using currently^, of- fers a fairly long %trip on life behind the Spanish lines and on the battle- field. Scenes of Seville and surround- ing countryside reflect a peaceful condition while on the French bprder 9nd elsewhere it's the opposite. . A CAPITOL, WASH. Washington, Iliarch 7. ,Femm'es .in audiience . arb slightly disappointed in debut of Red Skel- tpn, which theatre had built up vfiih campaign as new romantib'idol, but (Sanadiah lad socked home enough heavy comedy: in his emceeihg to win solid front .from critics and feven the high school giris^ .Who gasped in horror when he. Walked out bf cur- tain and sbmersaulted into the .or- chestra pit. Show, assembled to launch Skelton by Gene Fbrd, is in form: pt rievue, with house pit band on stage batoned by Phil Lampki resident stick- waver. Skeiton skedded tp conduct, himself, biit has most of time taken up with own specialties and working in with acts. . , Band is wisely held , down to pro- viding background which it does very satisfactorily. Acts, hone of which are too-familiar to local boards, add up to a Sock total and without doughnut bit, which Wows em, Skelton might have, been over- shadowed through rib fault of his own. Introduced via Ibudspeaker, iSkel- ton. tall^ carrot-topped "College grid type, walks out cold and tumbles six feet into pit. Spotted as he climbs but and gbes iritb chatter.. Curtain opens on band and Skelton, after some patter, brings on Edna Still- well. Girl makes prietty fbil arid gets by with 'Sing. Sirig, Sing.' Next , on are Jay and Lou Seilers, who tun off deadpan hoofing :bit, schoolboy pantomime iand slapstick cbmedy on barrel-staves, scoring with each; Scrim comes down for Sue Ryanj who gives all and .gets plenty back in imitations of torch Warbler, opera star. Whose tiaria falls over ribse and 'Alexander's Rag Time Band' a lia 1913 and 1937. Skelton takes. bver here, dragging table, cup. of coffee and dish Pf doughnuts out for demonstration bf art of dunking.. Talkirig with mouth- ful and heavirig occasional -sinkers into audierice is sure-fire. Marilyn MarloW follows with' straight tap: and Toreador tap, that had reviewers coriiparirig her. with Powell, .RPgers and Whitney. Skelton bri again to: break his. neck: leiading prch in conr certo. Not as subtle as Reginald Gardiner, but scores heavily. Jack Powell, veterari drummer^ nex,t and socks as usual, Skelton again, this time: with super-realistic pantomime of girl getting up iri ia.rii.i highly similar to Cookie BoWers' male counterpart and not as smboth. Last specialty is Four Kraddocks, whose strong-arrin tumbling would be good straight but dbhe in swing rhythm gets ovation. Skelton adds final hovel touch by appearing to. bid audience bye-bye and walking through house tp lobby tb reiterate good Wishes individually as folks, leave. Pic is 'Maid of, Salem' (Par).' Craig. FARAMOUNT, Y. Another sock band attraction in. Benny Gbbdmah, who has a heavy following around. N. Y., plus else- where, will greatly aid this week's picture, 'Maid pf Salem' (Par). Be- tween Gobdman and MacMurray, who has done considerable work on the air, the importance of ra.dio draught will again manifest itsielf here. With the previous picture, 'Jphn Meade's. Woman' (Par), howse booked Guy Lombardo band, Which, like- Gbodman's, is very popular with the yburiger •"eleittent. Lom- bardo 'is currently at the Hotel Roosevelt, whilb Gbodman is playing to heiav^trade at the Pennsylvania hotel. "T^e former goes in for a isweeter brand, the latter for heat and plenty, of brass. Bands both have big follbwings.. Mariageirient booked Goodman to follow Lombardo partly because of this contrast but also with the thbUght iri mind that something hot like Goodman's organization Was ad- visable with a sombre picture like 'Salem.' At the . first show, Goodman held the running time down to 43 miriutes but covers this distance almost, en- tirely with his band arid its memlr bers, only three outside ispecialty acts having ^been booked. These total, to only about 10 minutes, ariy- way, being Fritz and Jean Hubert, Edith Mann, tap dancer and Frances Hunt, .vbcalist. The band itself has nb difficultjr sustaining the time it wbrks ' iand is having a bad tiriie of it when it dpesri't sloP the shpw cold bn at least twb occasions. , It's a smooth-operating band, ri^^ost of its 13 men, plus Gppdman, are hard, at wPrk all the way. the drumriner. Gene Krupa, is the busiest of all. He sets a stiff pace virtually from fall bf the flag to the finish, Goodman, himself, running a close ^cond with the clarinet. A lot of wind goes through that particular instrumerit. A hard workout is also given ' the vibraphone by Lionel Hampton, 'who. hogrties the shpw, doing three numbers. This sequence is a highlight bf the band's per- formance.. Cxoodman and Krupa figure "in the trio of numbers, all three men going tb their tasks with plenty of steam 'behind them, and wbrking uh to a big froth. There's lot of rhythm here and. elsewhere, added to the brass that's always dominant. Of the outside-booked soecialists, Edith Mann (NeW Acts) "and Frances Hunt (New Acts) both click. Lat- ter is presently being tested for pic- tures by 20th-Fox and. may . be a good type for the screen. ' The . Hubeirts are doing substan- tially the same act that they've car- ried for years, but more, recently the slaos sequence hais been enlarged: a bit to inbiude,. of all things, the blackfack. They're ai heavy hit here and fit well With the Goodman crew. In addition to the pit show, fea- ture, news and a Fleischer cartoph, house booked Audrey Harris to go. with the Dbn Baker organ concert.- Biz big bpening night. Char... STATE.LAKE, CHI icago, March Q. House contintiies tb. give its cus- tomers a lot of show fPr a little money -again, this weiek, as it has dorie for a long time. First, it is the great line of girls that puts the house Way above what would have been its class without them. The girls are still going strong; youthful, well dressed, and doing unusual routines in an unusual way; but now, that they've become, a known factor, the- State-Lake adds another puUer, small perhaps, but nevertheless, soriiething which makes the.entertainm.ent seerii bi.gger. "This is using the brgan to back up the orchestra, both in the pit, and, with a Hammond, ori the stage. Pbl- . icy has been in effect for some time, but with, the coming of Dave Ba^al^ present organist, more effects have been put into. use. Orchestra has a fuller tone, and organist used tb a great extent for special :cues' and for huriior tised this week by Manno and Strafford to good advantage when doing iriipressiori of ballroom - danc- ers. Organ here actually pulls laughs. Two mistakes, not bad ories, are made in bookings :this week; First was thei spotting of Ulis and Glark on, the same, bill with, Lewis arid Ambs. or vice versa. Both bf them are man-arid-:wbman comedy 'teams, arid thiey work in a soiriewhat simi'^ lar way. ' ■ Lewis and Ariies headline; and, iri the spot riext to the line's show clos- ing routine, get over hig. Have played this house half a dbzeri times, but are still selling the stuff in a way that bangs 'em over loud. Some of material used in the crossfire is a little old, but it's the stuff this type audience figures is smart, so thev laugh and applaud. Ulis and Clark also Use crossfire. He talks, and she laughs; an old-time style, but with their pep, it gets over. Second mistakie is having AUen arid Kent, arid Manno and Strafford bri, the same bill. These teams, too, work somewhat alike, inasriiuch as they are both ballroom dancers. Al- len and Kent, in operier, may be classed as novelty, however, 'inas- riiuch as they carry an older bouple alorig with theni. Additional.. pair adds much to act's appeal, and helps send^ the'show off to a good stairt. Manno and Stafford working when the band is on the stage was a show- stbpper at the opening performance, doing straight routines, and the im- pressions of dancers at public ball-, rooms. Excellent technique in both styles, cbriiedy and straight. . Cookie Bbwers, another loop fre- quenter, has as good a single act as plays this house. Billed as the ani- mated cartoon hoise maker, he comes on to do a man-on-the-str6et broad- cast, asking and answering the ques- tions himself. Does an apple eater answering questions, a Chinaman arid his father, an old maid, a stut- tering foreigner, and throws in barn- yard imitations, for good measure. House line dpes their usual, two routines; first one in a serivi-milit?iry •costumer, and closer in white late gowns. Bbth are .far better than those done by average line. Picture is 'Breezing Home' (U). Business; gpod, Saturday matinees. .Xoop. . TOWER, k. t; Kansas City, March 6. Back to :hree acts and three pro- duction numbers this week. Frank Tracy .has tempoed the bill, tb a right pert pace. House has. begun' tP get a favorable Waive of Word-ofTriiouth on its flesh presentations. Current show should pleaSe the newcoiriei-s and, bf cburse; Tbwer alumni. Pic is 'Nancy Steele' (2Qth), with color cartoon and Fox news. ■ ' The line opens with some praricr ing to Lester Harding's warbling of 'Moonlight arid Shadows.' Coming on midway wearing nighties, negligee and carrying candlesticks, the gals manage to> pUt over-a 'too tired' rPUtine that clicks splidly. FPllbwed by the speedy Sylvia and Clemehce, the bill garners a smooth fast keel and doesn't lose it. Line's last go is in polo rigs. . " Morey Amsterdam (his wife, Mabel Todd, .Was seen here last week) head- lines and the mob goes plenty for his line of hoke. He keeps a steady stream of giags, nbt all good; going the eritire time he is bri, With ex- ception of a lew momehts When he saws a sbb ballad on the 'cello. Gags 'are fast enbugh that audiience can just abput pick Put What they like and have their: Pwn private gufr faw over it. He goes pretty far back for his Admiral Byrd-South Pble gag, but it gbt nice returns. Sylvia and Glemence are ajppar- ently twb tireless gals whose forte is knockabout. They direct a share of their patter to . individuals out front. Amsterdam ..does the same thing. One of them shbuld cut it out, at least for this week, anyway. Large and Morgner call their turn 'Monopedic Rhythm.' One lad is shy a left leg, the bther a right. They come out hobked together with a Cape over their shoulders, in a drunk bit that was good comedy. They indulge in handstands that are nat- urally not but of the ordinary, but please considering their handicap. One stunt, however, is outstahding. One lad leaps over four chairs set back to back, and is caUght by his piione partner. Rated top hand, at show caught. Ted Cook, m. c, keeps things mov- ing right along. His stick work with the biand averted minor catastrophes, several times at the Friday mat viewing. Hbyt. FOX, DETROIT Detroit, March 6; Looks like: good fare at this hpuse currently. Downstairs . jammed aind upper seats well-filled at late show Friday eVening. Pic, 'Lbve Is News' <20th). On the bill are Wini Shaw, who treks back here to warble a few torch numbers ever so often, since ^e started in a local nitery;! Sheila Barrett,' Who just concluded Week's, engagement at the Detroit Athletic Club, which didn't hurt buildup a bit; Loyal's Dogs, best canine show, seen here iri a long time; Radcliffe and Rogers, sepia song-and-piahb. duo who've gotten over here before; and the Samuels (3> and Harriet. Hayes, terpers. . Miss Barrett, who's dbne consider.-; able nitery work, plus some stagb and radio, really goes to town with her impersonatioris. She has plenty of poise and'-sblls her stuff well. Takeoffs of Lahr, Mae West arid Li- onel Barrymore Were especially strong; .Billed bver Miss Barrett, Wini Shaw has a tough time fulfillirig the honor because, for one thing, her- alded ias ' -'local lass, who made good' hatiyes here refuse to, go for 'home-tpwners,' However, Miss Shaw turns in seveiral nifty numbers and makes a good appearance. vBest ef- fort is her old fave, 'Lady in Red.' On twice, the three Samuels arid Harriet Hayes coritribute comic tap routines first tiriie out, and then shut, show with a. Snappy riiilitary num- ber. Radchffe and Rogers have al- tered act cphslderably, since last, showing here, but, still can stand plenty of polishing on the. comedy angle. Boys'piano playing and war- ,bling far outshines their patter. Loyal's Dogs are sock ih opening stanza. Not only are canines Well trained, but whole act eriibodies a wad of flash; Verdi's 'Force of -Destiny' consti- tutes Sam Jack Kaufriian's overture, with pit brch rendering a special pop tune for Frank Connors to warble. Kaufman, also handles the m.c. chpiies .well, t > 11 .) ■, ! Pet9»-i\ STATE, N. Y. It -was claimed that the excellent attendance was due as much to the stage biU's draw as the feature pic- ture, 'Champagne Waltz' (Par) if not more so. But that was not indicated on perfbrmance. Show really starts when Cross and Dunn come on, the three preceding turns not counting for much. Be- tween the warblers and Milt Brit- ton's bunch of nuthbuse riiuslcians, there is 43 minutes of the riinni .tiriie, none of which lags. Crbss and Dunri, With Eddie Weber at the ivoriiss, are just back frbrii Miami. They went doWn south for three weeks^ and the date was ek- terided anbther twb weeks. They go into the Versailles, one of ^ Manha t- tan's smarter night spots on Thurs- day (11) on a' three-week ticket. ' Poweif-. tbnes of Dunn and the en- gaging :personiality of Cross make for what they want. Duo's old-fashioned number . With bits of medley stands but. While Milt rittpn is. in the east- em sectPr, brPther Frank is in che west, with another biinch of zanies: Britton bunch never fails to pro- mote fiin with roughhouse, but they are no bargain for stage crews and house riianagements have- something of ia sqUawk, tbo, when the Brittbns are arbuhd. Boys put about $50 Worth of footlight lamps on the .fritz weekly. ~ Still, it seems to be Worth it. Tito's accordion is about the only straight musical interlude, .on iri/bne while the cbnspiratbrs dbn Wigs. Walter Powell, chief nut, and Rudj- Wairs card stunt are stahdbuts. Brittbri Was not around Friday, everiihgt^^ome-- 'thihg^the matter With' hiis ^peepets. Nobody .put front seemed to be'aware of .his absence. Act is not .qiiite as TbUgh: as when the Brittons-Were to- gether, but ihere isn't much differ- ence and they both .come out about even. Paul Gerrit^, one of vaiide's singles who appears in night clubs, , is in the keystone spot. He is a graceful fel- low on skates, but his stories need replenishing. Alligator gag is not funny and it Was.hard-for hirii tp coax laughs jiight caught. Two hoofing youngsters, ill and Beverly Bemis; from the west, are on second with a pleasant routine, com-^ binatiori tap and ballroom gyrations. Allowed five minutes, they, go over fairly. Substitution is WooUord's Weenies, a platform dog turn. Routine is similar to other cani.ne turhs, except that dachshunds are. Used: Opening Was slated for the Polls, but the a-iuaratus Couldn't be spotted so. that the act was fully visible Upstairs^ so the act went out after the first shbw. ibec. LOEWS, MONTREAL , J Montreal^ March ?• The Avhole. show, currently at, this house, is the Salici Puppets, never before seen here, and rapidly becom- ing the talk of the town. Poor open- ing house saw remarkable opii^ion veer tb big houses Saturday arid! Suriday, all dUe to Wbrd-of-mouth build up. Half a dozen other fijler acts languidly received. Audience pays meagre attention to first act pf- the marionettes, but Wakes Up . to a clowning turn where knockabout puppets chase a butter- fiy and house went wild over the music professor, the cPloratura so- prano and flute accompanist. The prof with all the mannerisms of his kind sits at piano, arranges music, and plays 'The Maiden's Prayer' with pianist in.orch covering the music to split second timing. The singer pup- pet kicks train behind hier and exe- cutes the high C's and thrills to flute accompaniment, latter also covered by soloist in orch. Perfect for humor and effect; nothing like it seen here in years. A jaisz brch and choir, a: dance routine with curtain raised to show manipulators pulling the wires and a puppet smoking a cigarette ■ closed the act to tumultous applause and with the Salici troupe taking a flock of calls. Acts prior to the puppet .show in- clude Capps Bros and Dolly, taps; Giles 0'C!onnor, • banjoist; Steve Eviaris, mimic, whb gets gbod recep- tion; Medley and Dufiresne in diversi- fled lunacies,, also Well received. Fashion parade of women's spring wear help fill in. Eddy Sanbbrn brch plays, throughout, 'Dangerous Number' (IVIG) and 'Career Woman' (WB) bri screen, " -Lane. EARLE, PHILLY Philadelphiai, March 6, The. Earle keeps intact this week the record it has set siricie the return of flesh to. the house» 'Again the vaud6 is good and should keep "the b.o.'at comfortable levels. Although the acts don't merit ariy grade dbuble A halos, they : are' correctly calcu-^. lated to mesh with the Market street crowds that the Earle attracts: Topping this week'^. card is Jesse Owens and 'lis band. Ohio State's colored Olympic champ actually does nothing of ariy mbmen* bn the stage, but is tall, ice-looking and makes a clean-cut appearance in white flan- nel; He has a pleasant grin andean okay personality. This stage stuff is still new to him, hPwever. He has spme difficulty in overcpmirig the nerves. Owenjs;walks bn the stage to a pal- I KtbhtinuQd bn.page 5i>