Variety (Apr 1937)

61 VARIETY VARIETY HOUSE REYKWS Wednesday, April 14, 1937 MUSIC HALL, N. Y. Not until the last five minutes, of tin hour's ivertissement does the audience stir Itself over the stage show this week at Radio City Music HaU. In those ultimate moments, the Rbckettes, dressed very cute in cowgirl costumes 'and' high patent leather boots, line UR at the. back di:6p and come down stage in an unbroken chain of synchronized inovement. When the main curtain "drops and hides them from sight, they are still hitting on all Cylin- ders, They rtiay be at-it yet, for, all the audience knows. The bffstagie entertainment opens v/ith overture of two movements of Tschaikbwsky's Fourth Symphony, •ivhich iis heavy <)ri. brass and wood- wind arid light on melody.. Then Jtussell Markert flashes a full pros- cenium map 6f these United States dn which a giant compass is superr imposed. 'The Compass Points' is the title of the show which has nov: vUty and a wide spread of baCk- igFounds. The male chorus, yery trim in Roy^ Mounted uniforms and - Sam Brown belts, harmonize about the chilly north woods; the ballet in crinoline, costumes' do a southern ;piece localed in old Ne:w Orleans, iand Robert Weede sings about the Gloucester fisherman in a Down East setting, after which Normia Gallo does a mermaid terp which is excellent, as she is both graceful and. easy to look upon. For th? finale, a-modern wiestern dude ranch in a.cactus setting, some very expert, rope-twirling is done by , '.Bud Carlell and Rosa, and then all hands mdvet way back to giye the Rockettes plenty of room and air, They seldom have, been as effective. Nat Karson handsomely acquits him- sielf with the novel stage t>roduc- tion and settings. •Quality Street! (RKG), a new Pathe release of the Diorihe Quin- tuplets showihg the girls bigger, hungrier and hoisiet; Flin. I STRATFOlip, CHi icagOj April 7. For * long tiiTle there has been fio showing house for acts In this vicinity, and this one is said to have been arranged by the William Mor- ris office and' Warner Bros., at the demand of both agents and^ acts, First one played to a capacity house, and to an enthusiastic audience, isomething which this house seldom ' sees, on Wednesdays, so they will probably be coritinuedi providing, of course, it is runi as a showing date in reality, and not a night, when a house simply gets a free bill. Agents were a little afraid the latter might happQh but with tbe assurance of both Morris Silvers aind Warner executives that everything would be on the up and Up, they went into the .first one wholeheartedly, and ;100% in promised attendance,' Bill ran off smoothly, and showed a lot of talent, both for theatres and hiteries, as well as for radio, these .showings not limited to vaudeville. There were a few things happened which were inexcusable, but they will probably be remedied- in the future. One of these is the men- tioning, by nanie or connection, the agents and. reviewers who were present in the audience. Eight acts were presented on this ■bill, and, as a lho^yirig bill, they were spotted well. .Arizona Duo opened. Act, done in five minutes, consists of twQ boys doing a routine of rope spinning and some hoofing. Both are nicely dressed) young, and their work is neat enough to warrant an opening spot on a lot of bills. ' Raftone Sisters held the deuce is^ot. Two girls, yoving, in semi- military costumes, changing to blue' goWns offer an eight and a. half minute act of double accordion music, and a bit of tapping.- Not yet ready for Vaudeville, unless it's hide- aways. - Girls have youth and per- sonality, but lack both stage f sense nd musical arrangements. Masters & May,-:man and woman comedy, and dance team; do a good enough act for anything but the ace spots,: Ran seven minutes here. Comedy, evidently new, is read a little too slowly for best effect, but, eVen. so, it clicks. Runs to the hoke variety, arid includes .a cabbage "thrown from the ..orchestra. Man' works in full dress with-^dead-pan style; girl opens wearing brilliant, green gown, latei*. itching to ab- breviated pink. Nada Star and, Charles Knight, Irian and worixan doing, ballet >york, miglYt go for a class nitery or in a revue prpducliori number, but they're pQt stnctly vaudeville. Man weai's black velvet suit, girl a silver gown, and the orie routine on this bill was. -very slow, and ran for a too-long three iind a half minutes. Leaned to the artistic. Technique isri't bad. and playable, in. .certain tyoe clubs, but need large floor. Mabel. McCain, assisted by Lynn Burno. pianist, shows in 16 minutes that she has everything it takes to be a top-notcher except. material. iShe is. a trouper, so she'll probably be back again with some stuff that'll' Rive her the best in the billings. Good serijS.s of quick charnelsr sketthesi and;Mi.ss McCain wiH have ail the work there is.- Worlcs full Stage. Why Roy Cummings should have to show is a question, unless it might be that,he has a new girl with him, a looker, by the way. Act is double socko. fast, and can and could i<n Jnlo any house in the country. Car- ries special backdrop, and works.fuU stage for eight iind a half, really bright minutes of knock about com- edy. ■ \ \ '. . Grant & Daytori, a couple of girl haridbaiancers, are comers, not quite there yet, being a little trembly, and hot too sure of themselves, but with some work, their four and a half minutes will be great stuff. Work in orie comfortably, makg a nice ajp- pearance. Do a little dancing along with the hand-to-hand stuff.' .^riiiles & Smiles, colored iexhibir tion. dance team, do routines which are okay, but will' need to make a little change in appeararibe before they'll be able to get over generally. Girl is very light colored,, and has reddish hair, yet uses whitening on her face; .Certain nite: spots; might go for the startling . effect, but no- body else. Other than that they're offering ll minutes of good dancing. Man works, in white dress suit, and girl is nicely gowned, making, one charige during act. "Whole bill: was m.c.' by Phil Friedlander.i radio, spieler, who did faiirly well, but got a bit rough iri a couple of sbots. Picture, was 'Three Smart Girls'(U). Loop.. LOEWS, MONTREAL Montreal, April li, Roy Rogers, . contortionist wise- cracker, virtually steals the show froria Jean Saiblon, headliner at cur- rent show here, who goes Over well, liowever, in this preponderantly French city. These twc acts^ with Ted Claire cleverly combining m.c. duties with soft ishoe dancing puts the show over no big week-end houses after, a poor opening. Eddiie Sanborn and orch are ori stage and do - a Competent job Jri support. Well-drilled line pf, 16 girls opens to a stomping rbutirie, ■warm- ing up customers who halve been without the- femme element in their, shows for two .weeks. Buddy Rich, in tails and putting over'a smart bit of tapping, nas the first turn, working hard for less sup- port than he earns.. Carole Manner? follows as singer, but fans remain languid. They woke up to a smart line, routine with gals as grenadiers wearing three-foot busbies and smart West Point uniforms in back of Sweethearts, ,3 gals, tapping. Rhythm Riedheads do. a.litlle sing- ing and gagging with Ted. Clare, mlc, who pleases the crowd with a dope imitation,, and a spell of soft shoe dancing which gains him a^ciatU. Roy Rogers, in next to. last, comes on as a drunk, has the femmes screaming as he nearly falls into, the Crowd arid .then gags and . contorts his way into a big success, taking an en.cOre and a ilock of calls. They Were shouting. for him. some time .after he had gone. Show winds up with Jeari Sablon, heard ori air in these parts, and now revealed, as good-looking and dressy, wi.th a. rich baritone. He gives them French patter and songs .which earh him calls arid an encore. Show closes with semi-nude gal line that got arOund towri and jammed Loew's for the w;eek-end. On screen 'The Big House' (Re- issue: (MG) arid .'Lady from No- wheire' (Col) Lane. PARAMOUNT, L. A. Los Angeles,. April 10. Fairly well-balanced, fast-moving stage unit dished up currently by. Fahohon & Marco as adjunct to the big b.o- draw, Bing Crosby's 'Waikiki Wedding' (Par). Stage fare is mostly high calibre, with* only draggy spot being the news flashes, at operiing, delivered by George Byron, who at- tempts to inject too much comedy in the brief space allotted for sup- posedly last-minute news. Severial of the flashes at today's early mat had been widely heralded irt yesterday afternoon's local dailies; Fanchonettes. are. back the house this week,, after absence of several stanzas, and present a coup- pie of deftly executed .routines.iPat Henning and Betty.; Raye provide most of the bill's comedy, with Paul. Robinson wowing the pay. customers with, his manipulation of the. har- nionicas. Sameroff and his troupe of well-trained: canines work smoothly and effectively, while the barid, un- der the batori of Rube Wolf, offers a medley of Hawaiian tunes, well- played. Number features Pat O'Shea, soloi.st. with Wolf warbling a native ditty and clowning, as he is wont to do. Henriirig-Raye act smacks of its old Orpheum time flavbr; with Heri- ning's Hoke registering for. solid laffs. Mi.ss vRaye feeds and does a nifty tap dance for good measure. Robin.son is credited with playing 18 harmonicas. What he. actually does i.s shift frorii One harmonica to in- other 1th lightning precision, never missing. a note, and using instru- ments of various sizes for excellent results. ' . Fahchonette routines comiJrise a pony nunribei--, with the gals in four groups of five each put through paces by drivers, and a cherry blos- som finish,, using .Byi'on as a solo- ist. Number , is pretentiously staged iand fits -in nicely. Par riewsreel is. u.<!ed for filler, but .some injudicious cutting, in attempt to save time, has several of the clip.s, chopped off abruptly. Trade capacity, with house headed for hew Ci'osby attendance record. Edwa. A, B. C, PARI3 Paris; March 29. - House follows to iotm, with plenty of singferS, this trip, some of whom have been seen too "often. Despite that and the fact that other acts also have, made frequent appearances lately, the bill as a whole makes good entertainment. Liveliest part is a. on6-act comedy, an institution .which seems to have made itself a permanent feature on bills here. This one stars Max Dearly, comediari, and Huguette Duflbs, who makes her first musics hiall appearance after years in legit- Three acts are billed as American, one of them on for. two turns. ■ Anita Garcia, French singer, makes believe she's. Spanish, in the opener, but falls short. Voice ' is.. pleasing,; however, and songs draw .well for a number as badly' .spotted as-it is. - Mady and Cord, French acrobatic team, follow a routine that lends soriie heeded motion. Their fast and rough treatment of each, other gets laughs all the way through. ■ Oiivard is like a.great mariy other French': comedy singers, but-, his. showmanship is good^ and =his songs are the type that the French always like-^little music but plenty of gag lines. Mignone, Americari diaricer, recently seen at the Bal Tabarin and Alham- bra, is spotted tWice on this pro- gram. Her. first offering is a control dance. Working more. than, half the time , with one leg straight Up, , she is graceful arid . siipjply enough to please. Her second trib' opens the second half with a straight acrobatic routine. Plenty. of showmanship disi played and both dances garner well. La Mome Piaff, who started her (iareeir' singirig on, Paris streets, han- dlies the French version of torch songs well. One Song is of a gayer mood, but it is her sad ..chairitiHg which brings her back a second time. Often Seen ori thef" Paris"::stage and. liked. Peggy Taylor arid hei: partners) fiOb La Marre and Jerry Collings are next, with a new offering. Their. farCe dance, is executed smoothly and gets laughs .all the way.. Sud- den ■ disrobing of Miss-Taylor, sur- prised even the French, arid okay. Felix Paquet follows with French comedy that is all French. Catch- line songs arid stories make up a routine that is well liked. Gilles aiid Julien, French singers^ offer some more catch'-lirie' songs, of which the French seem never to tire,, arid si. few serious bits of har- mony.. Uiiequal strength of twO voices- distracts. , . After Mignohe's second dance, Charles Friant, ' of the Opera- Comique, sings, two selections, from light opera. Complaining of a bad throat he ciit his act short, night caught. Playlet, 'Un Monsier qui s'ex plique' ('A Man Who Explains,') fol- lows. Max Dearly is the late-re- turning husband Who, has. a large liquid supply under his belt. Hu- guette Duflos, his distracted wife,, phones a frierid, Odette Zazarii (seen in bed through, a screen at the back of the set) in the hopes of finding the wayward imbiber. When ishe finally hears him coming she pre- terids to. sleep, but only until he starts to kiss her; She then starts a monolog on his abuses. " Master of "Ihe mute sort of com edy he plays in this piiecie. Dearly draws, laugh after laugh with ..his rriimicry. His aritics follow one after the bthpr throughout the neat job of scolding, weeping and tearing of hair by Mile. Duflos. Wheri the tor rent .has subsided somewhat he pro- duces a braclet, which imniediately returns him to the good graces of his spouse. Rene Paul, an oldtimer in French music-hall, comes next with a few gag songs and closes with his usual rhyming trick; Asking for wOrds in groups of two, One pair masculine, the . next feminine, he sings. a sOng using the words given at. the ends of the lines. He has! been seen too often on Paris stages, but still man- ages to draw. Miller and Wiison, Americari corii- ed'y aero. dancers, playing a return erigageitient, have a sriiooth routine •that rnixes comedy and sf»aight;acro- batics to the right point. '.. Lionel Cazeaux iri the pit, Mile, Oleo announcing. ■ Hugo.., STANLEY, PITTS. Showmanshi 'and entertairimerit written all'Over Jari Garber-s cur- rent layout; Fiddling maestro ' has always ,been a. stickler fpr the rapid- fire teriippi, and present, unit exemr plifies, that in.slsterice perfectly. There's no lost moUpri, acts are ori and off in jlg^ time and it's over, in 5Q minytes. ' Garber is an old hand at the game, and guides, the proceedings with a nl self-effacement, at the same time leaving ri,o mistake about his importance to the show. He m.c/s in a kidding, bff-harid fashion, mixes in casually and humorously with the turns, has; a glib tongu .and an al- together engaging personality. Grabs the spotlight only once arid that's near the close in a violin solo, which he .sells.neatly in the same fashiori that chairacterizes his hahdling of revue in general. No lost motion at the getaway, ■with Garber .slapping out the first of his succession of vocar specialists right with the gun. He's Russ Brown, with, a well-develpped set of baritone pipes, followed, by;Fritz Heilbron, a Garber standby, arid still topnotch in the Garber plan, and then Har- riet DeGoff, newcomer to the act, who recently replaced Roberta .Sher- wood. Gal is. a smart-looking bru- nette and an able singer. Next come ,; Crawford & Caskey. with their ballroom terp and tops. Good-looking teanii loolcs class and dances it, with, three numbers smart- ly fj»shioried' for visual effectiveness and all of them over in great shape. Gal's pretty rangy for .this, sort, of. work but she's the essence of graced fulness ari^' her blonde attractive- ness stands out brightly against part- ner's darjc-skinried.feiatures., ; Rudy ,Rudisal, .bald-pated piano- trickstei: and a'Garber. vet; follows with his pat hoke, still doing the toupe bit and the keyboard acror batics. to' the same kind of reception, big. CJarber announces-Tony. Allen as a winner on the Fred Allen ama- teur broadcast and light bjperatic baritone socks across two numbers with plenty to sisare. Three Ryans (New Acts), a natu- ral next to closing with their kriock- about hilarity- arid give the unit just the purich it rieeds to ifinish lip on. Boys, should clean up a little of their patter, however. Their exit brings Garber on with his fiddle and cur- tains close in slowly while dad.gjves out with the familiar sigh-off themer. , Garber's ork is. a 14.-i3iece outfit, including imselfj but on its own doesn't haVe enough to do. There's a. singer on hand for ev^ry number and maestro might do well to give the lads a hot. medley, just for show purposes, and perhaps revive, one of those old but sure-fire novelty rium- bers; . Flicker 'Marked Woman' (FN) with Par rie\ysreel and cartoon wind- ing up. Biz at getaway, despite stiff comjpetish down the street fro'ni 'Maytime,' excellient, with practically full lower and half balcOny for opening shOw. Cohen. STATE, N. y. Ed Sullivan, N, Y. Daily NeWs columnist, makes his ninth stand at this spot with a high-powered pack-^ age of entertainment. It's a 'Dawn Patrol Revue' concept which not only mixes a flock .of crack talerit but measures big in pace, diversifi- cation and general show value. Thursday's early evening turnout crowded hard and frequently with applause and laughs arid everything indicated extra heavy going at the turnstile. ' Like previous installments, most of those in the Sullivan menage are recruits from the night clubs. And as' happened in the other eight ventures, Sullivan does a slick and neatly selling job in the role of ringr master. - He piles up a substaritial score for:, imself in laughs with a rurinirig fire of comment which ac- companies a link of clips showirig old time film stars in action and. all bound, together by the whiriisical tag, 'Things I'd Like to See Again.' Sulli- van's other rriajor inning comes as straight for Daye Vine, who delivers his dialectic barrage; from a box and helps make this encounter, a crown- ing midsector wallop to 75 minutes of meaty diversion. . With- the • regular house band do- ing its duty on th(B stage, the . riiterie illusion is furthered a long way by assigning the opening spot to the Whirlwindy Ray and Geraldine Hudson. Their stock in trade are dancing; acrobatics of the fast and complicated sort, running through somersaults, butterflies, nip-ups and •whatnot. It all made for a. furious start arid a steady rain of apprecia- tion, Sullivan introduces his next item, Marjorie Gainsworth, as a singpr who comes direct from Jack Dempsey's Vanderbilt hotel, Miami. The columnist adds the. prediction that she is destined to go jDlaces. After this tall, lithe blonde does a couple riumbers. the impfession gathered is that Sullivan is leaning backward, ; somewhat,. Miss Gairi.s- worth is; practically there. All she seems to need is a little polishing in material sellirig. Hers is a sttirdy, resonant ^nd ingratiating soprano, not so far from the level of Grace Moore's. The stiffness in mariner and larynx is iri nb; little mea.sure still there. With experience and-piloting will corine the .ease that looks certain to: make Miss Galn-sworth a prime nersorialily in her field. Her per- formance hit 'em for . all, they had; New Acts. FoUpwirig Miss Gainsworth, Pops and Lpuie pick up where the Hudsbns left pff in pedal action arid razzle- dazzle themselves by both voice and hbofirig into a srinia.sh sendoff. Sheila Barrett:, prove.s, that/her artistrv for rni ing is .still on the upgrade. Num- ber that roqk.s them' most i.s. 'The Speakeasy Girl,' . Her .treatipe . bn Greta; Garbo proves another choice bit. The well-tiphol.«;tered FranccP Fave. who does yoemah: duty at keeping therii both awake- arid well enter- tained around . the niterie.s, slaos them solidly with her volcanic .style bf rhythm sirigirig: She's a fetchinG: number on the hi-dr-hi's; but when she goe,s kittenish, .it',s a lass of an- other altey.. Mis.s. Faye's opening cracks give indication that perhar).s her milieu i.s strictly the hot sbots and vaude might prove too decided a restraint. But..she soon eascjs over irito the right groove and her as.sort- meiVbvrf sontfs. and cut-ups accounts for one cn 11-back after another. 'Maid of Salem' (Par) Is the fea- ture pictur Odcc. RoxY, n; y. Nothing distinguishes this , week's stage show from the run-^o'-the-mill presentations put on here by the Fanchon & Marco people, with four acts, none of special renown, booked to go with the Gae Foster girls and the usual set. trimmings. They are L a m b e r t i, comedian-xylophonisl' Doris Rhodes, singer; Gwypne and Co,, magic ilct, and the trib of Marcy Brosi and Beatrice. in themselves, each of the.se acts is okay but put together, plus the Foster troupe and the staging, sets not being so: much this week, it's a show that skips the riiind quickly Lariiberti, 'standard for a flock of years, stands out above the rest and Friday night, when caught, walked off with good returns: Miss Rhodes was let dowri lightly, after singing four numbers and the Gwynne riiagi- cal act diverted without stirring the orilpokers. . , After the Foster line has opened in a mpderh type of routine set to a pop, the Marcy Bros; and Beatrice act takes conimand. This is: a rather fair act of its type which, blends some:, singing; gab, clowning and diancirig. The girl' who puts her body into a letter 'S- and struts around cutely is a distinct asset, while the boys; do;best in a fast challenge with toe and heel toward the close. Act does six minutes,.while Gwynne, who follows and has been in,circulation With his ,cohveri.tional magical tricks for some years now. requires .11 minutes.' That^s enough. Miss- Rhodes is spotted farther down on top of a production number with the. Fosters iandi Lamberti folr. • lows her, line girls closings-.■ Best piunch of. the sh<fv(r• is- proVi by the versatile Foster gals in' routine ,on unicycles. This number is very cleverly exiecuted and attests further to the patient way in which the,girls have adapted themselves to difficult chores. On the uncertain pedal footing, they form two lines, then go off : in pairs,-later in fours arid other formations, not a single girl falling or coming close to it Fri- day evening. Line does a Maytii routine center; a part Of-which is iit the nature of a TS/tay pole. Feature is 'Soldier and Lady' "('Michael Strogbff') (RKO), on which the burden of draw rests this week.. Char.. ORIiENtAL, CHI Chicago, April 13. It isn't & good show this week, but there is an excuse' that may account in some way for the general meekness of the stage performance. Last-miriiute duck of Heloise Martin, shower-bath girl, necessitated a cou- ple of quick revisions on the layout of the bill. Show lacks variety, with ttye acts all tending to fall into the same category. Not a crossfire talking act- on the Show; and only Frances Arms has anything to say to the audience at all. Without, her, it would .be .a deaf-and-dumb show. Miss Arms de- serves thanks of the audience and house for lifting the show out of a slough of lethargy. She rattled off a solid click at the last show on Frlr day, despite an audience, which had sunk. back. into their seats; Her di-, alect routine brings -em with.a snap, starts 'eih laughing:quick and keep;^ 'em shaking to the end. Has to speech off at the end to' let the show , go on, and Miss Arms' sincere, dignified and warm speech-off should serve as ari example of tops in such items, Rest of the show flounders badly, with only a little ray of hope shin- ing here and there. 'What's happened to the Bo Bruriimels? Their knock- about burlesque musical comedy has grown stale and furry. It was work to get even a meagre giggle out of audience, which was. ready to laugh. They.are straining for effects iri such a manrier that even- the; audience was eihbarrassed for 'em. Ihey need; an entirely new set of ideas. Also noticeable for .ovei-.straini was Lee Paul, card' manipulator, iii his encore bit .ith the: au ience stooges. Paul .should try to kill off that inane giggle; he has.fallen intp. It's an irritating iterii. His abt its.elf is fine, with plenty. Of good stiint- irig. Handles the cards well "4 moves fast. Dancing arid, tumblirig are Jjasis of the tw/o acts up early in the show. Mack Bro.s. and Rita, ana Earl; Fortune and Pope. .First was, a four-person acrobatic turn, dressed badly, especially the girl. Ha.s a number of good acrobatic stunts., however, for the basis of, a soli turn. Earl, Fortune and Pope make, good bn their tap and., specialty wPi-k, but they've got to; do som;6- thirig :about that operiing ballroonv routine. So weak that it borde);s on comedy, arid looks as if best .solu- tion is tp make it- burle.sque ball- room right; through, Boy'.s sifiglc dance rriumbei" is excellent, with plenty of easy rhythm and solid style. ,, Good click, here- i,s .Jane LitllC' john, in 'as .wiririer Weekly Morrl.s B, Sachs-WENR amateur hour. Thl.s lie- up iridicates an excellent exploil.v tion and business-getter aU arouiid. Two pop tunes, and neat set pipes, Dorothy Hild chorus line effecli\'A particularly in the cio.srrig fencji.i.^ number. Picture " • 'Husband Li'<^- (Par). Gold.