Variety (Aug 1937)

66 VARIETY VARIETY MOUSE REVIEWS .Wednesday, August 18, 1937 LOEWS STATE, N. Y. House should' pile up handsome gross on this week's bill. Stage show is forte stuff minus a weakie stanza and the pic is 'Saratoga' (MG), sure fire at the moment. Business at ses-- sion caught Friday (13) night was trifle short of turn-away. Opener is Mann, Depree and Lee, dancing troupe, with a femme pi- anist onstage. Demonstrate neat hoofology of the semi acrobatic tap brand, rarely allowing the routines too much length, Two men and girl lead with a high kick number to 'Limehouse Blues for oke initial- er. Then offer solo tap by one of the lads, with boy and girl following for more kicks and turnovers to 'Blue Prelude.' Subsequent turns are to 'Some of These Days' and 'Cherry Blossom Lane,' winding up with flash whirls and turnovers by the trio. Girl switches costumes sev- eral times, in each case to decorative effect,' Red Skelton, playing return date ''^fter a short absence, is on for sev- eral intervals. Comic scores every time, having an easy style and some of the silliest clowning. Repeats his demonstration of the different kinds of dunking, with some nifty ad lib cracks. Offers his version of the Way different people go up aad. down stairs, also a takeoff • of a lady get- ting out of bed and into her clothes. Latter is just a variation of that fa- miliar lady-tsdcing-a-batti routine; but it's good for laughs. Some of Skelton's puns are ultra sour and mariyi of his lines are ancient, but he's generally a vety funny buffoon- who rates the big hand he gets." ' Also back for a repeat appearance are Carter and Holmes, knockabout comedians. Lads have polished the . act a bit and are even better than, previously. Don't get as< rough, as some V^ho do this type stuff, but ate as laughable as the best. Again do their rasslin' routihe, satirize a cou- ple of marathon dancers and wind up with sock acrobatic dancing. Judy Starr (Niew Acts), attractive little minx, is on next for three skat versions 6f^ pop tunes. Lively youngster gets a nice hand, despite being almost .drowned by the blaring of house band; Will Osborne's dance band is on. the stage as- the Jlnale . act. Plays 'Jeannine,! 'Loneliest Man in Town,' ♦Night and Day,' 'Merry-Go-Round Broke Down,' imitations of other bands and winds up with wild ses- sion of 'Darktown Strutters Ball.' Dorothy Rogers vocalizes 'Loneliest Man' and 'Njght and Day.' Fairish pipes, nice enunciation and sells a song' well. Also is becomingly togged. Has to struggle against a weird arrangement (foi*. a vocal- number) of 'Night and Day,*^ how- ever. Osborne has obviously. decided to stake his rep on comedy these days. Band offers little in the way of straight music, only the opening number being unadorned .wjth trick stuff and. nonsense. Question whether the outfit will click as a 'comedy bj^hch. Stuff now-being'Offered is mostly picked uj) from other, bands who do it better and have already gained some standing that way. For another thing, Osborne and his lads seem too determined in the clowning. Their foolishness seems studied, without spontaneity. It consequent- ly misses. Hobe. EARLE, PHILLY Philadelphia, Aug, 16. . Earle has a topnotch stage show and is hitting close to capacity. This week's vaude program is stronger in marquee names than last week's. Show is opened by the Roxyettes who do an effective (and short) posing routine instead of featuring the usual fast rhythm tapping. Neila Goodelle, airways person- ality, is then introduced by Bert Frohman, who m.c.'c most of the show. Miss Goodelle registers, sing- ing three numbers, 'Johnny One Note,' 'AH God's Chillun Got Rhythm' and 'The First Time I Saw You.' Frohman in addition to introing sings a couple of solos, 'You Can't Take It With -You' and 'The Glory of Love,' He's got one of those throaty, Harry Richmanish voices but knows how to put numbers across. Frohman has his best chance on the comedy line when he indulges ill a short running fire patter rou- tine with Fifi D'Orsay who is prob- ably the weakest feature of the show but whose 'ooh-la-laing' had its admirers in the audience. The old D'Orsay brand of s. a. was laid oh thick and good for some laughs. She still looks neat. The Condos Bi'OS.,v repeated their tap dancing routine of 'Wake Up and Live.' Tom Howard and George Shelton, featured players of the show, came next to closing and presented what was for Philly, a new routine, and did not include any variation of Tom's very funny rube or dumbbell "act in which he is shown how to collect a bet on some trick or game and then proceeds to do it the wrong way when he gets a sucker to work <in. Instead, Howard and Shelton have simply a comedy interchange which is, however, as full of laughs as any- thing Tom has ever done. He's try- ing . to tell a story and Shelton, a perfect straight man, is talking about a dog. Later, and even fun- nier, Tom starts another story which Shelton says is too rough to be told. Latter pretends to see a cop in the back of the house and finally has Tom believing that he's going to b6 pinched for dishing dirt. The two sneak off the stage for a funny black-out. Some of the comedy of this pair may be slightly too subtle for the Earle crowd, but there was an un- broken succession of giggles and guffaws. Some of the material was bluer than Howai'd ever attempts over the air. Roxyettes close the show with another unison number ea^ on the eye. It's a fast and well-routined show from start to finish. Waters. DENVER, DENVER Denver, Aug. 15. Breaking house record on opening day. Major Bowes' Anniversary unit settled down to strong business. The unit is a smooth-running show, and dressedup as it is by Bernie Hynes, Denver manager, the results are tops. M.c.'d for the most part by Donnelly James, orch director, who gets out of the acts all they've got Stage setting includes huge birthday cake with two candles on front cur- tain, and a large sunburst effect on back drop. The orch works oh stage so that James can. do the m.c. job. James, just back from his long honeymoon, chants a ditty of com-r pliments to the audienice. Dorothy Heick does a good job on the xylophone, in the orthodox manner, first with two and then with four hammers; Julie Phelps Hall sings 'There's a Lull in My Life' and 'It's Delightful,' and is okay; the -Five Harmonica Jacks give their niouth-organs' the works; lallian Nunno, who sings as well as dances, has personality and ability; Francis Gibby, violinist, handles her fiddle and bow cleverly'and finishes with •The Bee*; here Donnelly James does the 'Peckin' dance and is forced to encore, introduces Sid Raymond, the -show's. m.c., who'handles the show from here. Bill Boadway, boy soprano, sings 'Street Song' effectively; Tony Russoi, garage man, gets near music out of air in fire extinguisher, bicycle pump and inner tube by manipulating rub- ber mouthpieces on them; Sid Ray- mond does some impersonations. of movie stars, and the Three Youman Brothers imitate several bands, using a violin, clarinet and accordion. Lester Harding, local baritone, sings 'Gone With the Wind.' Crowds at the Denver are indica- tive of the help radio can be to-the theatre. With record crowds at the opening day means that many would not wait until later, in the week to see those they had heard over the air. And on the second show B^iday (3:30) the house was practically full. 'Love Under Fire' (20th) on the screen. . . Rose. HIPP, BALTIMORE Baltimore, Aug. 15. Well rounded variety show at the Hipp this week with the Three Stooges monopolizing the billing and 44 minute layout as well. Other acts include Ruth Aarons and -Victor Barna, table tennis cbamps;- Tommy Trent and a revue of juve" talent ■ garnered from participants in the weekly broadcast, of Uncle Jack (Don Hix), from the Hipp stage via WBAL aind tied }n" with the local News-Post. ■' • ' ^ Utilizing'Unfcte Jack and his Jolly Crew (nievi';;acts.y to open, show-gets off^ to qicely pl^^be'd start and gets an added.' lift ',via..^„T6mmy Trent in deuce... Uslng'^i. Somewhat modified version of the .pla time Punch and Judy show, Trelht wangs out a novel and entertaining turn, sewing things up solidly with an added bit in which he manipulates a radium treated puppet of a dancer trucking in the Harlem manner. Had to en- core" and beg off. Ruth Aarons and Victor Barna, in their table tennis, follow and rhain- tain interest. Description of sport by announcer who keeps score dur- ing game that follows sets audience for exciting interlude and while some of the volleying back and forth is deftly and skillfully'handled, re- sponse at finish was rather mild. Might be good idea for Miss Aarons to wear shorts or more feminine type of sports wear than the rather mannish slacks used at show caught. Eddie Laughton. next doing straight for the Stooges, strolls on in spot notched for them and gets matters off to a breezy start with a routine of gags. Interupted by the trio who get a real ovation, the act proceeds to build into hilarious in- terlude, and genuine sock. Boys are using much of the material asso- ciated with their last appearance here, but they have gained con- siderably in sureness and skillful timing. Make every laugh count and do just enough. With their back- ground of socko shorts via Colum- bia pix and well sold holce, no question but what the Stooges have built themselves into a real attrac- tion. Opened big and have been holding up steadily since. Have just claim to big biz being done. Film is 'It Can't Last Forever' (Col). Bttrm. MOGADOR, PARIS Paris, Aug. 8. Music-hall as such makes another stab at catching on in Paris with the reopening of the Mogador under the direction of Mitty Goldin, present operator of the A.B.C. and the Tri- anon Music Hall in Montmartre. With Mistinguett topping a- revue for the second half of the opener, (Goldin is trying out what he calls a new formula by devoting the first bracket to variety acts with the revue as the closer. But with that combination this house is the -only one now open offering even a half- variety bill, ftU others of that genus proffering revues. BiU used for the opener augurs well, if wha^ is to follow is of the same caliber, although a great many of the acts have been seen on Paris stages hot toa long ago. Mistinguett still, has a way of her own with Paris audiences and her suppoiting cast this time is of good-choice for her type of revue: Carlos Machado, Drean, Al Kreamer, LeO Kok and G. Lambros. With these, two troupes of girls will be used, the Blue' Bell Girls and the 18 Mogador Ladies. Ciro Rimac with his Cuban or- chestra - and dancers top the acts, which include King .Koiig Perduie, George Dorlis, Frank Libuse with' Margot Brander, Andre ZibraUand Marguerite Jade. ' Price range has been placed a little above the prevailing music hall charge, but at 4ec. to airound $1.50, it is low enough to catch some trade which would not pay corresponding charges for bigger revues.: Goldin's taking over this house makes him' the biggest music hall manager in Paris. "Teddy Erenthal formerly operated the Mogador, mak- ing, a stab at music hall last summer, but -with little success. It is stated that Goldin paid very heavy coin to gain control of the house and rents and operating costs are high here, which is one jeason Jlie place has always been hard to run at a profit But Goldin must be sure of himself as he has chosen the worst time of the year to open, a house in Paris. All of France goes on va- cation in August. Hugo. CHICAGO Chicago, Aug. 14. That final barometer of show busi- ness, the box office, speaks in a loud and clear voice in this ace Balaban & Katz house this week, in the praise of Eddy Duchin and band oa the stage plus the picture, 'You Can't Have Everything' (20th >. It's a salable, playable combination that is zooming the register to high marks, and w.»U satisfy all comers. On the stage there's a happy ar- rangement of talent, full of ability, appearance and personality. It's a youthful, smart looking, up-to-the- minute set of performers and this audience had a great time watching 'em. Primarily and - principally, the show was all Duchin. The other players were good but they still rated as by-the-way in comparison with the pianist. He was surefire throughout, with audience cracking into spontaneous applause at every mqve he made. The dames, particul- larly, went nuts about htm. Leads his band through a number of pop tunes and hands out plenty of his own pianoforte specialty, both with the band and' on his own. Had everything for this house. Dyna- mite b.o. and a clinch indoors: "What else do you want? Specialty workers were led by Pa- tricia Norman, rhythm singer in the current mode of athletic warblers, who- mix truckin' with vocalizin'. Plenty of swing stuff and socked this mob. Neater and more prim was Miriam. Verne, a smooth little tap-1 ster, with good appearance and a pleasant way of attacking a time step. Stanley Worth was the band's vocalist and okay. With Duchin presenting 'em, everybody was okay with this audience. Cedgary Bros, do too many en- cores. Either they should cut their act, or do it at one time. This run- ning back and forth as if at the de- mands of "the audience becomes an- noying after the third return. Good comedy . knockabout, however, and over well here. Mario and Floria have plenty of ballroom d£ince-team appearances, and toss off a couple of excellent ballroom stunts. They lack variety in their routines, how- ever, all of which have the same flavor. Gold. MET, BOSTON Boston. Aug. 16. With Jane Pickens and Harry Savoy topping the bill, this week's productions work out okay. And again the 'Swing-O-Paters' 16-girl line socks in a colorful ballet num- ber midway in the show. Miss Pickens registers well with a wise selection of vocals, smartly arranged, and pleasingly stylized: 'Where or When?', 'When a Gypsy Makes His Violin Cry.' 'Cuban Pete' and 'The Man I Love,' which she in- troduces as 'George Gershwin's favorite song,' all add up to a charm- ing session of tune-selling, enthusi- astically applauded. Harry Savoy, in next to finis slot, hurls a lot of gags, puns and hokum at the customers and fins in with an overdose of kidding about the lack of their appreciation. At least that's What happened on the supper show of opening day. His daffy imilalions are oke, his fooling around with Louise Tobin Is medium, and d good portion of swift gags hit the mark. In the Porcelain Ballet-number the house line tears off a conventional, but sightly routine on their toes, en- hanced by artistic lighting. This is all in way of introducing Jeanne Deveraux, soloist ball6riAa, who wins some heartening plaudits for her ar- tistic spinnings and posings on toes. Opening line routine is set against a 'Dead End' type of background and the girls do a lot of weaving in and out of hoops. . Red Donohue and Uno, the mule, close this sequence w-ith the familiar, slow-paced nov- elty, distinguished more for the ex- cellent training of Uno than for its comedy. The laughs are widely spaced and thoroughly milked, but the antics of the responsive mule are sustaining. ■Variety Gambols (four men, three women) close the show with an ex- citing combo of -acrobatic, tumbling, perch and tran^poline stunts. Well routined act that keeps things mov- ing, with the best ti'icks spotted in the right places. "Artists and Models' (Par) ""on the screen. Fox. PALACE, CLEVELAND Cleveland, Aug, 15. Nat Holt of RKO Palace had to do some tall and neat corner-cutting to keep this from being a rather dull, ordinary vaude week. Five Jansleys open with tumbling and foot-juggling,' flavoring, agile work' with some horse-play as 'one lad gets rough bouncing, "Team has a real circus atmosphere but knows how to sock in more intimate houses. Four Merry Macs, from airwaves, harmonize engagingly in four num- bers. Although their English. buzz- saw ballad is old by now, their clever arrangement is good for a strong hand. 'Coming Through Rye' in swing-time isn't as effective as their other tunes. Smartest tapping seen here this season is done by Tip, Tap and Toe. Dressed in soldier outfits, this dusky trio tears off some of the slickest, slithery rhythms atop a huge drum. Lanky leader is loudest click as he swings his rubbery legs over edge, threatening to fall off every second. Herman Bing, for a pix player known for his supporting comedy roles, shows acute showmanship. Somebody who knows the- business has written him an extremely com- pact, terse and bright monolog. An old operetta trouperv himself, he gives theni what they want by roll- ing his w's and r's, sputtering and mugging without overdoing it. Pat- ter's amusing yet. unusually brief. Characteristic gags are worked into a vivid travesty , of an opera singer, an aria irotn 'Maytime' and a take- off on Bing Crosby. Does.a quaint step in going off so abruptly that it takes house by surprise. Diaz, Don and Dolores execute the type of airy, artistic adagio toss- ing that is easy to take: Two stal- wart lads hurl slim girl around breathlessly. Still a fine routine, al- though they should develop some newer tricks. Same applies to Al- phonse Berg, repeating his stUnt of pinning evening gowns on' three ■shapely models within 60 seconds or less. For a closer, the Three Sophis- ticated Ladies supply the necessary flash with their dance stuff. 'After starting out vfith a few polite steps, they jump into a potpourri of slap- banging acrobatic nonsense and hard falls that send 'em home with good results. Pullen; ^ JOWER, K. C. . Kansas City, Aug. 1.3. Week starting Friday the 13th was ' a hexed opener for this house. And the , week looks to stay in that groove. Biz away off. Pic is 'Wife from Heaven' (20th) and no feature for this house. Vaude stacks up as better than average. House hasn't worked over- time throwing the vaude section to- gether, merely hauled out the worn pattern and let it go at that. How- ever, individual acts don't need much help this week. Gil Lamb, eccentric hoofer, head- lines with his partner. Tommy San- ford, harmonica puffer. Lamb is in the closing slot and wows the few payees on hand. Lamb knows his .biz and is a first class salesman. There's a reason for everything he does and he sells it Plays his hoke for what it is. Sanford. however, has a wierd conception of make-up- his white mitts before the thick grease isn't a happy combination. His harping is oke.. There's probably soihe sort of "a reward waiting for the guy who writes something to re- place 'Nola' in harp-player's reper- toires. Lamb builds to a bang-up close; line follows in' a swift gypsy routine and for some rea.son house shoves John Colvin on for a lyric sequence that's way but of tempo with the build and kills the curtain. Fain and Foster rub their resined digits over waterglass rinvs. Mixed team also goes in for bell-ringing and put over a swingy tune. Girl squeezes a groan-box while pedaling a set of bells. They work formal. Doris Rhodes has a pleasing set of pipes that she puts to work on pops. Has a dental fla.sh that tolls 'em they like her stuff. They do. ' Harlan Christie, emcee, has a field day on his own. First he gets oft a comic-poem of sorts and is later seen coaxing com from Judy Conrad's band, aiding with a banjo and piping Hoyt. ROXY, N. Y. Show here is once-over lightly this week, only 45 minutes in defer- ence to the extra-long feature, 'Road Back' (U), which runs 103 minutes. But it is well mixed and contains suffficient amusement to satisfy. Knit together in unit fashion by Fanchon & Marco, ias usual, show opens with a nicely routined affair by the line of a double-dozeiL Karre Le Baron dancers are fronting this number neatly, with Don Gordon L baritoning a bit also.. Dancers are two lads and' a girl in what looks like a new version of adagio. Neatly precisioned, with the males nicely dressed and the routine aloi..; some- what unusual lines, it is a number distinctly above average. Vox and Walters, standard ven- triloquist act, are spotted here for better returns than they've had irv years, due to a good extent to the double-voice comeback generally, because of Ed Bergen's sock radio click. What also helps is that V.&.W. have new dummies now and are dressed up all the way, including material. Paul Gerrits does his unusual number here. He's dressed in tails and whit^ tie, employing a soft voice,' polite appearance. Doing which, he cavorts on skates, does a bit of juggling, a bit of acrobatics and a bit of story-telling. Over nicely. Can play anywhere. The line again, with the same adornments as ahead, lie Baron dancers going distinctly adagio this time. It sounds skimpy, but it's not, really. • Kmf.. MICHIGAN, DETROIT Detroit, Aug. 15. Current bill topped by Gene Au- stin, plus Candy and Cocoa, from NBCTs 'Cocomalt Hour,' runs almost an hour in zippy fashion. ' House has had lot better lineups' recently but, with the hilarious 'Easy Living' (Par) ■ on screen, current ^ow matches up nicely for 60 minutes of good, clean entertainment. Fiact that Detroit invariably goes hook^ line and sinker for ether per- sonalities probably accounts for wide acclaim given Austin's act Not that the turn is mediocre; far from. it. Nevertheless, there was a lack of needed punch.at early evening show caught Friday (13). Austin does nicely with several tunes from bis radio program, warbling to his own piano accom- paniment while two partners provide music on guitar and cello. Austin has A-I appearance, and partners drag out plenty of laughs, with pan- tomine comedy. Latter got break in the encore, and trio beg off. Others on the boards are the Six Singing Continentals, from 'Show Is On'; the Mayfield Revue with Georgia Hayes; the Shanghai Troupe, and Pansy the Horse. Continentals, six nattily appearing males with swell pipes, dish out round of nifty harmonizing. Offer several tunes from 'Show Is .On,' topped off hy a striking arrangement to accompaniment of organist Merle Clark, who also performs the m.c. chores. As far as ballroom hoofing goes, the Mayfield Revue is just so-so. But in their Apache number, femme and two males are plenty nifty. Balli'oom setto is their opening num- ber, and trio comes back later for Apache bit. Latter is set. in a realistic cellar dive, and trio's -work is outstanding. Femme has gobs of s.a. Sandwiched between the May- field's two numbers is Georgia Hayes, other member of act Billed as ex-French Casino' performer, she's plenty good with toe dancing on long line of stairs. S. s. and costume are added assets. For sheer nonsense. Pansy, the Horse in opening slot, has plenty to recommend it. "Two males under the horsehide contiribute numerous funny antics while hoofing to femme trainer's demands. Whole setto i3 sock. Shanghai troupe of nine is a natural. Like most Oriental acts, this one pours continual round of aero and wonder stuff. Balancing feats and. strange contraptions give payees plenty for their money, how- ever, and turn is a nice closing bit. Overture includes several arrange- ments of fave numbers, including coupla solos by pit members. House nicely filled at early, show Friday evening (13). Pet^- STANLEY, PITTS. Pittsburgh: Aug. 13. The Stanley goes back to an old- fashioned variety bill this week with extremely shallow stage forcing Mai Hallet and his orchestra to bow out and let one of the two other acts go on in one so that third act could be set. Hallet's got something. Several r>{ the boys in the band are good specialty performers and he has two kid singers with him that register. In addition to that Hallet is smart enough to shift the focus back aiid forth from individuals to tlie ejitire unit often enough to make the ban.i boys integral part of the act insteajl of plain, inanimate tooters ai'n scraper. He has some idea of dres.s- ing too. Band opens cold without any an- nouncement playing "I'll Be Down t) Get You in a Taxi, Honey." then into (Continued on pag? ft7>