Variety (May 1937)

Wednesday, May 5, 1937 VARIETY HOUSE REVIEWS VAKierr si future is also the Subject of other clips oix the program, such as Gene- ral Pershing and Admiral Rodman sailing to attend the ceremonies; iPathe) Palace Guards in practice drills and a miniature mechanical replica of the'Coronation of parade ' in a London shop window, both Fox clips. Mrs* Wally Simpson's house in Baltimore, now a siiihtseeing mecca, is ianother Fox clip. ^ ^ ^ ■Current bill> except for the forcr going clips, is rather routine in .its layout: Covers a wide variety of subjects, but nothing of, major inr - tetest,'Candid camera craze is shown iParamount clips ftom Chicago niteries, ith Jimmy" Durante^ a will- in'' subject, ' providinig . spine laughs. 'Universal clips show-football heroes taking part as femmes in a^college show; picket agitations of the L.. I. 'press strike at Jamaica, N. Y.; the late Clem Sohn making a bird-man jump similar to the one in which he - was killed; and the placing of identic flcation tags on wild geese in Maine. Spring floods throughput the coun- try are given the^once-bver by Pathe, which alsd has a moderately-amus- ing clip interviewing Senate page boys on the Supreme Court situation. Other Pathe subjects are some steel mill footage and fenime wrestlers beating each other up witli abandon; Paramount clips. show college stu- dents in Peace Strikes; baseball in Japan; the arrival of WPA-made rum froin the Virgin Islands; the new statue of W. J. Bryan,in Wash- ington, and the Honier . Peel, child- marriage in Tennessee. Par. divides the fashions display on'^he bill with Fox, program- going a bit overboard on this Subject, it would seem. . Other subjects screened are shoe "''strike in.Maine, beaches and amuse- ■merit resorts getting ready for the summer trade; trout fishing; mail and, passengers flown to the Orient by the China Clippers; the, representa- tive American mother; Shirley Temple with Gracie Fields in Hollyr wood; the. egg of an elephant bird (one foot high); the. boy with the X-ray eytis; prisoners in Oklahoma reformatory; surf scenes in Aus- tralia: Fordham college girls study- ing vitaniines, and horses racing in the mire at the'Jamaica track. Bill is concluded with issue" of 'March of Time* (Radio) covering Food for England, Amateur Sleuths and the Supr-eme Court. flowl. PARAMOUNqC, L. A. Los Angeles, April 29. Charles (Buddy) Rogers, one-time screen juve faV, and. more recently in the limelight because of his forth- coming marriage to Mary Pickford, is topping the Fanchon & Marco - stage show here currently and mop-, ping up. Sharing honors with Rogers is Connie Boswell, radio torcher, with la warbling turn that packs a solid wallop. Another radios artist, with a hefty, following, particularly in the. hinter- lands, is Stuart .Hambleh,. cowboy warbler, making his initial stage ap- pearance locally. Other talent in- cludes Mary. Martin,, attractive arid capable torcheir,: and Jack (Rasputin) Douglas, comic, both of whom are part o! the Rogers ether offering. Efiow runs heavily to, warbling, Witii a couple of routines by the ; house Fanchonettes that add to the picture. Rogers functions as giiest conductor, emcees and works With most of the talent, ih addition to demonstrating • musical versatility/ , Show has a hoVelty opening^ with Fanchonettes draped over two sets of steps against a deep purple back- ground, therp going into a black and white shadow effect against colored drapes, cleverly executed. Before girls exit, part of them do a half strip to have caricatures drawn on their backs by Mme. Gabrille, cray- on .artist, which falls pretty flatv Rogiers then puts thie band into a. hot number,, accompanying on .the trumpet, which he handles in expert lash.ion. Douglas follows with a somewhat, noisy line of chatter and does a bit of warbling. H^?s followed by Mary Martin, who does a, splo, then duets With Rogers.. Material is smart the offering islers 5Plidly. Hamblen opens with a Ijallad, then switches to rendition of -Old GOw Hand' to win approval; Fanchoniettes on for a Tyt-olean routine, theh oi'k renders, a collegie number, lyrics of which are double entendre, and a bjt suggestive in some spots. Rogers sings With the band in this number. Connie Boswell is in rare form and offers a :routine of well-chosen diversifiied turies,. many of thent old lavorites, that wins unstinted.appro- bation Which, ishe richly deserved, for finale; Rogers sends the band into .swing number in which he Piays half.; a dozen or more instru- nrients,. all proficiently. Max Brad- neld batons when Rogers is off stage. Screen feature is 'Racketeers in Exile* (CoU, With Par News. Will Rogers memorial drive short and fne Three Stooges in 'Back to the woods' (Col) for fillers. Ediud. LOEW'S MONTREAL Montreal, Wtay 2.. Calloway is. the whole show nere^ currently and though the good weather kept down grosses over the Weekend.Loew's is doing better than ine other houses. Eddie Sanborn opens with an im- iialion of the Galloway technique jnat gets, him a good hand and inereafler his orch is out. Calloway starts with a sprinkling of stooges in the boxes and the pit applauding before: the cuirtain rises but has no need of .them afterwards. 'His style hits the fans at once arid conibina- tion of soft shoe shuffling, singing and clowning With baton weaving gives him all the attiehtion he and his orch.usually command.•• Show, is quite different frorii his earli ap- pearance hiere. last year. First, sdpport - he, getS; is Evelyn Keys,. goodrlooking tapper who. can plick off all the notes h\ the .scale on toe and heel. Calloway ddes a fine:Work of showmanship both with her and other acts. . He does a little experimentatidn with his orch, treating it as. a solo instrument, aha using crescei^dos, diminuendos. jpianissimbS . and. fbrtissinios . as if it Werie a single .violin.. It is a remark- able Ijit' of virtiioisity that has the. fans highly enthusiastic. Avis Andrews, described as a piriiria donna, a terin, that usually depresses the crowd, gets by so well that she gets close to five minutes of applause arid refuses second en-- core thirete or four. times. Calloway then, illiistriates mbderri danceis.. and introduces . 'Pecking', as a new one which gets him a big ilaugh; Next variety; is a sit-down strike: of the orch with a bunch of good gags arid their disappearance to be. re^r placed, by tiramp band playing and dancing to' music on kitchen, uten- sils arid other clowning: effects. This gets plenty of applause and erid of show is lineup of all acts arid bririgs dowri'the curtain tp a continuous burst of clapping. 'MelPdy for Two' (WB) and 'When Love Is Young' (Col) pn screen. L(ine. HIPP,. BALTIMORE Baltimore, April 30. Making good imprpvsion upon his recent .one day substitution for Shep Fields ,Who had to fill a radio date during , his recent engageriient here, Happy Felton and, his band were -brought back for the cuirent Week's' stage attraction at the Hipp,. Rotund maestro has a .pleasing style arid knows how.,to' sell a cdn^ versationail type of song... Backing hiiri up is ari 11-piece combo made iip of three fiddles,' steel guitar, three sax, one trumpet and ^ three piece rhythm sectiori; Arrangement fea- ture steel guitar to good purpose, In addition to band, present set-up in- cludes, Ann KincJiii fenime singer, Dolly Arden, classy acrobatic dancer arid Paul Sydell and Spotty. Woirking in attractive house set,- doings consume 43 miriutes, nicely paced by Felton in pleasing style. Only fault as constructed now is monotony of too much song stories in the Feltori style. Needs riuxing up a bit with inclusion of a scream; number about riiidway in the doings to make it a punchy act. Sig turi^ parts cuirtain to opening number, cleverly airranged mixture in which Feltbn offers to buy a drink for the audiende introducing each member- of his ensemble as a cocktail ingredient and gradually blending the varibus themes into a spckp orchestra ensemble. :. ^ Medley next featuring sweet.lriter- lude by three fiddles arid steel guitar and ending with a snappy rhumba. Felton follows, this with 'A Jfine Ro- mance' neatly sold and well re^ ceived. Should have changed pace here bul; brought on Dolly Arden, for her sock aero with its skillfully built up finish a^ji followed her con- tribution with. Ann Kincaid singmg 'My Last Affair.' Singer should have chosen breezier type of number to follow slow music used for Miss ' Arden's preceeding specialty. 'A Dav at the Races' by Felton and the band, follows, a bit on the corny side, with Paul Sydell and Spotty on next suDplyirig .a. much needed lift and wowinff them from the statr. Here was a sDot for a swingy band number, but Felton comes through, instead, with a rather meaningless; 'Song of the Last of the Cabbies somewhat blue for this patronage. 'Let's Go to the Coronation, another song storv, follbws this and while fairly -weil done, loses effect because Of nrevibus number.. . ;.. Closes with very welcpme jam session featuring .solo, contnbuteons bv various sectibns in 'When, You re Smiling.' Very riice .finish an.d;brings eopd: iresporise for closing sig tnai drew the curtains.^;^ , \ . Film is 'Shall We Dance' ^RKO).. ; BuT">n.- New Acts Unit Reviews STANLEY, PUT. ittsbuifgh, April 30.^ Just ari brdinaiy ; threb-act vaude. bilL Thatis the sum and .substance, of burrent layout at. WB de Juxer. Not enough entertainment to .lustify 70 minutes, and falls considerably shbH of fiesh hbre recently. Ina Ray Hutton and her femme band backbone the .presentatipn. but the Melodears seem to . be pull mg up on the wrorig side musicaliy these days. Take the flashy leader .out and ork's effectiveness would be nii> There's too much samene.<;.s. m out- fit's repertoire, starting with that slow, drab medley, and La Hutton s making a riiistake in tryint; to be- come a vocali.st. Not top strong on pipes, arivwa.v; and the. number she nicks to feature,Til Never Tell You .I'Lbve- You.' is out of line. She's a tprchy dame otherwis , in her expert hoofing arid baton-weav- ing, and a lUne more con.sistent ■with that imnre.ssi'on •would be better.- Gal's .still flashing those multinle costume changes, always ' good for CARL RAVELL and Orchestra (13) With Gay le Reese Silver Grill Hotel Lexington, N. T. This is. Tommy Coakley's old barid. When Coakley took his LL;B. degree seripusly; and restlnied actiy law practice in 'Frisco, Carl .Ravazza, his singer, took bver the. band. When Rpckwell-O'Keefe look over it!5 m ri- agemerit, Toriiiriy BOckwell I'e-: christenfed him Ravell—an obviously' ihiprbved biliing-T-arid this youthful and mbderjie da nice combo has. been tburing eastward ever since. The Hotel Lexirigton's Silver rill, is its N; Y. .debut spot and the' iriir pressi is favbrable: Ravcli at the- heltn is a personable blonde ybung-' ster: wh warbles; and violin-solos when not batoning. "The crew back of him knows how tg. miX Up the sweet with the hot'and there's a nice looking songstress besides, Gaylc Reese, for the foxtrot balladeering. Miss Reese, is a N,: Y: girl, once at the. Park Ceritral hotel, N. Y., but the. augmentation is all right.. . Barid.'.wiU do in a mass or a. class place, which says lots lor any diince orchestra. Band personnel,, besides avell. cbmpiises; George Kinney, Jack Vance, Art Pprter,. saxes, latter also, arranger; Tpriimy Smith, Joe Gbute.s, Gene Rizzi, violins; Joe LMcas, Frarik SnoW; trumpets: Reid Tanner, trom- bone - arranger;., Ham Richard.s, guitar-violiri; Bud Gregg, p.iarib; (^arl- Schwedhelm, baiss; 'Voyle. .GUmote,- druriis; Lyle Bardo, rion'-playiri.'' .irr ranger. Abel.- FLORENCE: aitd. ALVAREZ Dancing 12 Mins. Loew^s State, N. Y. Familiar' pair arourid New York niteries; Florence arid Alvarez have st3'le; poise 'and distinctive routines. Offer three numbers in current ap- pearance, first two being staridouts.. With - solo piano, accbmpaniment, open ; withv slb'vv. waltz that under- scores duo's easy grace. Nice kicks and turns,, thpugh lifts aren't quite up to balance; pf efforts. Second number, very .short and best of act, is to *Way You Look "Tonight.' Gal's costume for this rbutirie is excsed- irigly becomi Backless silver gpwn, with. long, .pleated skirt,"-sets off tall figure.and dark hair.. Unbilled accoriipariist offers piano Solo while Florence and Alvarez change duds. They then offer mod- ern routine to . 'Mood Indigo.' Lacks origin|ility of preceding numbers, but fia.sh finish helps. Femme wears black satin gpwri with long sleeves and no back for this one. Only fair effect. ' Dancers have been arourid in the niteries, hbtels, etc., and .click on the stage as on a cafe floor. Hobe. WALLY WARD Comedy IZ Mins. . Loew's State, N. Wally Ward uses an unbilled gal stooge foi- rou^rhhouse piano and comedy . turn; ith Wally doing nearly all the work and getting all the laughs. . Biears doWn on the slap- stick, doing everything by extreme.'i. Little subtlety, but much of the crackpot action is funriy and it gets the customer's. ^ Besides banging the piano uritil It almost goes up in smOke (Ward actually has a gadget near the key- board that flares up at a hectic mo- ment), the comic scrambles around on' the bench, gives Put variety of vocal noises and muggs.. Act could blue pencil the aricient curtain speech. Hofae. eye appeal, but, niaybe, it isn't too smart for her to be away from the stand sb much lor the goWn shifts. Mob might get wise to the fact that the barid can get alpng just as well, without her, ■ . . Ork numbers received just pas- sively, only Hutton and: the: Ibatured Winstead "Irio, .two boys. and a girl,; getting anything approaching decent. returns.- Leader;; however. gPt it. on her footwork arid nbt-vbc^illzmg. She shPuld leave the latter departmeritto the Winsteads, a good, staridard threesome.', Femme member .has comic, possibilities:. ich she might develop; further. Opening has Harry. Ki m- clair Twins coming bn brie, without even an annbuncbrnerit of their identity, and; dishing put an effective a.ssortrrierit of;tacs. They're on twice collectively arid once each individually, and might tighten tuf'ri a .bit for better results.. They're followed by . , je. mimic, who introduces hi.m.self. and doesn't lorgfit to mention that he's a protege of Riidv Vallee. . Youngster was here with Vallee a yenr ago, but, he's impi'OA-ed si then, .nnd snatches off top return's, of day. Bbr- nie's i itatioris trf>nsccnd vocal; sim- ilarif ies:' he . f"'ts the facial charrir- teristics'a.'^ •WMI. wiih the too'^or <he Al Jolsftn'hc docs. Hns a louuh 1,i>r"^ .izetting awav. :vhi'>>i floe.«n't m;ik'^ i1 any lop ea.s.'v. for Hutton act to tfct strrtbrl... Flickpr. .nlMi h- nv' fWB C 'id a PbDCVp' ctii'lonir .oiid Pjjr n''*"-";"'^f.'i inittf'^ W'lh fiio,*;: of .1a<;t week"'- P'^^'-l in .P.itlsburf'.1->,- roiihdinfi nut MU. •Oneninff prcttv «a()(1> but n»vif - r-rc- A'ipup throe wcit'ks. Cohoi. HDllywopd Ingenues (ORIENTAL, CHI) ' Chicago, April 30. On its openirig; unit looks tb be a smasher. The only thing seriously wrong is that it needs another sock, comedy turn tp help Violet Carlson, carry, the burden. Girl does a fine job, selling her kind of stuff 100% on. pefsbriality alone, and she'd, be a hard act. to IpiloW, but it's pretty' hard'.for any'pei-fprmer to carry ari hour'.s bill single-handed. Whole thing; is bUilt around 'Hbliy- wbpd Ingenues,* all-girl band, an-: other organization Which is seeming- ly-led by hip. niovemerits rather than baton; Weavi s, black silk covei'ed, were on cu With iiisli'uments, biit ihe stick seeriis to be a flash behirid; Beverly Jean .Britton, blonde leader, has plerity. of s. a. arid a lispy. Voice that isn't bad on introductions, u.<!cd as sparingly as it' is, but giveii the appearance pf blissful irinbcerice;'for- gettirig the •■ . Band is erack organization, with good execution; appearance and ver- satility.; Latter, is given a plentilul play, using all girls playing same in- struriients in ba1i.vo, harn\bnica, gui- tars; accordion and saxophbne spe- cialties. .Nice effects in. every case, with 14 iristruments, all the same, augmented by pit brchestra. Added ,to the band are foiir: acts, .and liere,-. a.s .extf-a; Mile.. Corrinc.. who. prbbablyv accounts'lor a good deal pf the business, more even than 'm.bst;riudies at this house, for she has',.built, up a reputation here for' stagirig arid foi: actual dancing. Does a toe routine jn a bliife spot.. ' Novelty lis 'furnished by. Paul Ro- sirii, - brought in: after doing his slelght-bf-haind at Palmer houiie here for 23 weeksi His act, slick; and deft as .it always is, is built up con.sider- ably by having girls from barid arid Violet Carlson Work along with 'Ror sini< in some cases dbirig the sarite tricks that he does. Two other acts—Floi'ence in Low, Chinese contortionist, and Wilkle and Ray, miale kriockr.bbut tap team-r-complete the picture with, their accbptable work. Chinese girl makes rip .attempt to. mix dancing with her. wbi:k,. and . the two boys take the; kind of falls and do the; fast .stepping that counts. ■ Acts are sandwiched; in between specialtie.s by the band, .spine done in front of orchestra arid some in one. Violet Carlson, iri the middle of the show, .has gotten away, from the top-rough stuff of a couple years ago arid has settled into a well-timed sock routine which includes her Spanish number gasping prima donna, arid a burlesaue eXhibitibn dance with Ray, bf Witke and Ray.. Not on the unit, , but deserving of a mentiori in :thi.s week's winner -of WENR amateur hour. Wiriners play this . housa weekly. Eddie Rickard plays a cbncerUna for both musical and cbmedy effects. Loop. Okay» Baltimore (CENTURY, BALTIMORE) Baltimore, April 30. Although ho loriger playing stage shows, Loew's Century returns to a two-wbek session of flesh in order to present this fifth edition of an all- Baltimore flhow, tponsored. annually by the News-Post. Two-week period nec3Ssary because of arrangement with local musical pinion, which per- mits bff-and-on-stage show policy, providing two Weeks' notice • of in- tention to discontinue is given pit- men. Horace Heidt and band: billed for next week. Current edition of 'Okay' staged- as heretofore by Gene Ford, brought over for stint from house maria- gerial duties at Clapitol iri 'Washing-- ton. Dance rputines- credited to Hairy Cro.sley, sent in by Loew of- fice with program also crediting 'pcr- •sonar supervision' to LoUis. K. Sid- ney. .Laureine Bac,. who conducts Saturday morning dar»ce class pfi Cieritury stage, also credited .as; assist-, ing Crosley. As.caught on; opening iJhow, irig.s run 61 niinutes. Pretty fast- 'ing .stuff, but. sPnie paring here apd there wDUl help. Line and pririci'- pais made up. entirely . of Balti-' rripreans, with Jackie Heller brought in. as Tti.c. arid Lida Miles adagio fbursbine added for finale sock. Opening reveals line of, 20;=linedAJp. irt frent of,21-.sheet stand; annouricTng revue, 'Short numb.er.s. bririg; on Heller, breaking; through'po.ster and' doing.'Love tqi Keep Me Wafrri' in typically: gPod style... Fast hoof "rou- tirie . by choru.s loliows, and sends .matters off to an oka.y start. TWp .phortse)»sioris b.y; Lavei*ne Bloom and .Emma Blische in an aero specially,..arid the Balianti, Twi ,; ;hobfei'.s, gairbed as gobs, hold up pace nibeiy. .Jack EvaVds .in impressibri of Amds and Andy .characters, .lol- iows- to fair return.s, Anribuhces next number,. The. Hot Foot,' an briginal:by Ford, in which.line goes into rnore okay hbon.tig. a la Harlem, and smartly .sold. Frank Rudel, evidently a retired Irouper from . the old days, revive.s the old ragpicker .bii.vine,"is here, completing three picture.*? iiVade of I'ags stuck onto framed blackboard Next .<;pot brings on little Kenrielh Brown, five-year-oId music.'il prodi- gy, who has appeared on Bowt."-' ror grams, cordion. Only attempt at sketch follows. Titled 'Meet the Quirituplets/ it pre- sents the quins as babies, fallowed/ by five nondescripts in a song and dance to -'We'rb. the Fellows; Who Married the Quints.' : Walk on of five dames in picture hats and flow- ing gowns next lor Florodpra .sextet finish Wlth men. Not bad; Produc-.; tiPri. number■ next presents jfjirls on platlbrms in modernistic. rPutines. embellished by. very> effective lighiV ing. A real sock, and really earns reception; it got; . Heller .takes hold herei doing 'Sep- tember in the Rain,- 'Serenade in the Dark," 'Little Old Lady' arid ?How Could Ybu'>' all sold With plenty of showmanship. CPmedy novelty, 'Baltimore Opera Company Walks Its Do^s,'; follows to plenty of laughs as various singers walk bn with different dogs .and, go into Sextet; from Luqia.' Of; cour.se, dogs joined in, and results a real howl. Bathing girl finale preseriting eritii'e compdriyj Svlth four.some ada- gip by Lida. Miles and Go. .»!pliced in, clbsed matters . nicely, garnering plenty of cUrtain calls. Bur7n, Metropolitfin Varieties (CAPITOL,- ATLANTA) Atlanta, May i. . .Redeeming feature of Nick Sanin's unit is work of Five Abdallah Giils and music of his Imperial ussiia Cossacks band,; augmented by seven house looters, which he directs him- Relf; Show takes 4i minutes, iit tempo at times is that ol prover iul ana'il. Fails, to measure up to calibre of units Cap has been prbsenting -and personnel, numbers only 1.9, about four hands shy of average unit that plays' this time. ;;Brlef overture :i.s; cue . for line of girls to come on and Pffer creditable tap routine. They're followed by George': GoPdrlch and Marie. ; Lec, cbmedy team, With fbrmcr starting act with song, 'When Did You Leisive Heaven?' After so-sb line of patter Goodrich offers 'Did I Remembcr?' Koch Sisters, Kay. arid Helen, look- ers with persoriality, piresent a' im- ble • rope^skipping dance arid merit the good hand they get. Follpwed by Mavis in a tap rbutirie which.she winds up . fast with flipflops and acrobatics. Sanin then brings the barid car down, front -lor 'Pennies from Heaven,' featuring trumpeter, Arthur Hpff,. "TPoters are dressed in Cosr .sack costume, unit's mounting being in Russian motif.; Goodrich and Lec back at this:' point Wi^h a brief comedy bit and' the line, also' 'returh.s for a corribo tune and teirp routine, singing 'Bialn- bow on. the River' aind soEtsho6jng. Comedy and hokum by Tpmriiy Van and Sarah Vernon , offers noth- ing to raVe abput^;; Nearest thing to socko is the Abdallah Girls,: who close the shbw with a creditable exr hibitiori. of dancing, tumbling, acro- batics arid pyramid building. Show needs a good, punchy act to make it click and re-routining wouldn't hurt. A lot of the gags were away past the risque border- line and Cap riiariagement made .'em use scissors plentifully before, secpnd shPW went on. - Despite murky weather and chapigQ in time, which Atlantaris haven't got- ten, used to yet, house was overflow- ' ing when first show broke Sunday. Luch. WMEX, Boston (Cbntl.nued from page 42) resources pf /rhe Northern Cbrp., licensee of Wl^EX, ..Thi.s move put pf an enibari*assi predicarinient,:wbuld be based, on ap- parent conflict.^ bet'ween Bramhall's report and his statements at the hearings , last; March when he an- nbunced. he .was.. ls!?;atl.sn.ed ith- flrianciat dbpe .supplied in support of the; applicall In w irid i ng up the hearing, the examiner said, the Cpm- mi'sh was entitled; to know the spiirce of the $87,000 cbnslruction fund; which .the company bpastbd and served, np;tice if the data. Was not forthcoming, he wpuld pibint thi.s put. i is report.. But the .report.made rip reference to this ph , Branihiall merely accepting-at; evidence Which he criticized. Whether the additional been supplied Was still, a mystery last week. Asked by VAiiiETY-' hi ' doubts had been fempyed ;by sub- mission of cyidenee 'after' the close of the hearirig, Branihall said he uncertairi whether the .su ary facts ever had be.bln pre. ofTicially. to..the Com; ish. Mo., the .slant Ij'i.st week .that, the . wu.s no longer of .any concern-..viM'ce he. had been, informed. p(;r.'--()n<illy that' thji^ stockholdcr.s were reputiib'l^ pei's ns and amply wcll-heolvci ly meet Uig bills for neW equipnif nt.