Variety (Aug 1937)

Wednesday, August 25, 1937 VARIETY HOUSE REVIEWS VARIETY 51 LOEWS STATE, N.Y. Temporarily, anyhow, this house steals the swing thunder on Broad- way from the Paramount. Chick Webb's orch (New Acts), one of the original interpolated-nrusic blasters, plus Ella Fitzgerald (New Acts), a top-flight colored songstress and also quite a recording artist on her own, form the major portion of the State's current vaude show. Also in the Webb act currently as an added attraction is the eccentric team of Chuck and Chuckles, colored buck 'n' wing , comics whose dancing and mugging are of an exceptionally high order.. Webb orch, with the billed name attending strictly to his specialty of whamming the drums and cymbals, comprises a standout audience sock. Thursday night, the audience wouldn't let them go, with the buxom Miss Fitzgerald, who could have goiie on and on, and Chuck arid Chuckles coming in for a good meas- ure of the approbation. Rest of the State's show, down to four acts this week because o2 the band's running time, is standard. Opener is Geynne, smooth magician with a bag full of excellent tricks. Deuce spot is held down by Brown and Ames, mixed double-talk com- edy team who scored high at this catching, while Collins and Peter- son, a steady repeater at this house, are in next-to-closing. They more than hold up the laugh average set by the Brown and Ames. turn. Pic is 'Easy Living* (Par) and biz was good on a very hot night. 5ch'o, STANLEY, PITTS. Pittsburgh, Aug. 20. This town will sign a blank check for Ethel- Shiitta any time. Songs- ■tress and spouse, George Olsen, with bis band, ghare the marquee at the Stanley this Week, but the show and the house all hers by a mile. Olsen brings her on at the close of an otherwise pretty fair program and applause at her entrance evidences her strong personal following. Contrast of the dynamic Miss Shutta with the radio songsters who freeze fast to the mike post stands the house right on its collective ear. She gives them six numbers, includ- ing 'Lady Is a Tramp,' 'Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm,' 'Ozarks Call- ing Me Home,' one of her surefire kid numbers, and 'Delovely.', She quit leaving the customers pleading for more. Calgary Bros., also on the Stanley bill, rate next to her in appeal. Boys Aiake good fun in nostalgic panto- mime stuff, including a 'slow motion' routine that scores heavily. The rest of the show is all Olsen, the maestro presenting two other singers, Edith Caldwell and Leighton Noble, in brief spots and letting band bear rest of the burden. Band is high class stuff, smartly turned out and smartly presented. The boys are well trained in the typical, smooth Olsen mariner and might be sensational, on their own, but the whole works is eclipsed by Miss Shutta. The show runs just a little more than 50 minutes. Picture is 'Topper.' Dave. Biroudy's pit orchestra is heard only enough to satisfy the local's rules. Biz • dandy. TEATRO HISPANO Latest attempt (third) as a vaud- fllmer. does not give much promise of lasting any longer than the others when the theatre was the Cam- poamor and later the Cervantes. Current flesh entertainment does not compare favorably with the pre- ceding Cervantes lineup of fine talent, so it stands even less chance of staying unless reduced nut of lesser entertainment helps. J. G. del Pozo, maestro-producer- manager, tried to please all the dif- ferent elements in this polyglot neighborhood with assorted talent of Mexican, Argentine, Spanish, Cuban and Puerto Rican performers, aided by a Mex film 'Osos Hombres' in a inore than three hour combined fihow. Show portion was not arranged >yell and seemed unrehearsed. Na- tive ^singing and dancing comprised nearly whole show with exception 01 an American juggling act, Russell and Duval and Luisito, funny comic. .Mixture of blondes among the Latin line girls probably included as a lure. Latter outdo some of the solo entertainers. Impresario del Pozo handles the inauspicious opening with his band on stage backgrounding show. Rosita * iores, comedienne-singer and Lidia, also a singer, break ice warbling a couple of native numbers. Was not nf^" to be much and succeeded in inat. Ted Rodriguez, tap dancer; very corny in delivery and style, al- Jifiough young and good looking. ;-ouid improve rbutines. Cesar •Lapia, Spanish dancer, does well in native stuff and seemingly liked by audience. Crooner Carlos Vivan also nit It off in three songs. Marquita J-royana, Mex soprano, one of better acts present, also scored with her warbling. Rosita Flores assists Luisito in second of his comic turns. Usual male and femme patter bit familiar iQ Latins. His first appearance in drunk tiurn Is just as unfunny and stretched as the second. Easily pleased audience did not seem to ^et more than one chuckle from antics. Dancing of Ana Maria in solo and withxTapia one of show's high spots. Both are accomplished and smooth, deserving the encores received. Evidently management is not even trying to interest other than Spanish as demonstrated by purely native music, dancing, etc. Nothing seen or heard could be called popular or familiar to other thari natives. Whether or not they will be in- terested is doubtful. • HurU CHICAGO, CHI Chicago, Aug. 22. It's Rudy Vallee who's pulling .'em in this week. This appearance is an- other victory for Vallee personally, but a let^down in expectancy as far as the show is concerned. Not that the acts aren't good, each one is posi- tively a class turn, but strung to- gether, they just don't jell into a fast, frothy show. Baron and Blair, top notch dance team, with plenty of ability and looks, are a good example. Set in this show, they're too much in the mood with everything else; a cold, technically perfect,; but spiritless mood. Their first routine is the per- sonification of this, their second and third, lighter and more buoyant, get away from it, but not enough. Probably the reason for the feel- ing of slowness and coldness getting so firmly established is the opening and number which follows. Set in a swank but simple blue, and white stand, beautifully lighted, the band gets away to an uninspired rendition of 'Heaven Help This Heart O' Mine.* A faster number would have been better; even the radio theme would have pulled more applause. But 'Heaven Help This Heart' it was, and nobody cared; they cared little more for -the band's impersonations of other type bands either, and the bill didn't amount , to too much until Mildred Law came on. Hers was the first showing of any warmth or pep. She's a good little hoofer, looks swell, and should go places. Then come the Gentlemen Song- sters and Vallee to go a good solid number, which holds the pace for the appearance of Florence Mayo and Pansy, the Horse. They don't let it down, either. It's a nicely Saced act, well handled. The prop orse is still the best yet seen, com- bining the ridiculous with the subtle touches Lobo used to give the dog impersonation. Then come Baron and Blair, who triumph personally, but who should have used different routines for the good of the show as a whole. Vallee's own specialties are all that is expected, except in the opener. Does a couple of numbers, one in the middle of the show ('Mad Dogs and Englishmen') that lifts things beautifully, and would help better if moved up. Sometimes he's backed up by the Gentlemen Song- sters quartet and the Happy Sisters trio, sometimes by just the former, but in either case, it's for good effect. His finale, though, is something which shows why he's in the top bracket,, and, whether or not any- one's ever accused him of being a dramatist par excellence, he is that, and easily. Few interpretations of 'AH Points. West' could have reached the heights of Vallee's, and probably none could have topped. Here again is simplicity and dignity, and a total lack of anything in heroics, yet it whams home a pathos remarkable in its power. Patricia Bowman can't be forgot- ten; she's a coon shoutin' style singer who's okay in everything. Lifts the show right out of its tech- nically perfect rut, and puts some fire into it. Backed in one number by the Happy Sisters, and finishes with a bang-up shag routine using Red Stanley as her partner, Carl Curtis, kid protege of Vallee, sings a swell song and taps a mean routine,. Picture is 'Confession (WB); busi- ness at third show opening day. ca- pacity. Loop. Brit Admish (Continued from page 14) salaries reportedly paid to Holly- wood stars and execs, comes the argument that, if producers want to induce more capital for improving picture standards, the move should develop from within and that, by scaling down such salaries all round to an economic level, the studios could find. sufficient to satisfy pro- duction demands in other directions. Small exhibs are not impressed by the $1,000,000 picture; such outlays they regard as extravagance which does not add to the b.o, vaJues of product so labeled. In any event, exhibs are scary thai the general public will resent having to dip further into its jeans; patrons are already fickle, says one operator, and pressure would be regarded as a try-on, with the result they would drift away to legit or other compet- ing entertainments. Tendency is to regard motion pic- tures as the poor man's entertain- ROXY, N. Y. This week's stage display has some novelty, a little comedjr, a few patches of singing and a bit of danc- ing, plus a fair dash of color, but it all adds up" to an unpretentious whole and in no way offers ap- preciable support for the feature, 'Gangway' (GB), reviewed in last week's Variety. House obviously is depending on the feature to get by and since 'Gangway' is no sensation, is probably trying to keep the nut down by watching the stage cost. This is frequently done here. In addition to the professional en- tertainers that are studded into the Fanchon & Marco presentation, there are Ruth Hughes Aarons and Viktor Barna, champion ping-pong players. They open the unit in a fairly exciting if possibly unappre- ciated table tennis, match, with a third party doing the scoring for the players—and audience. The game provides novelty, but questionable how many fiiiri fans will appreciate the playing and skill of the players. Regular acts are the oldtime Bud Harris and Bert Howell, with their stooge dancer, Paul Harris; Ted Adair, whirlwind dancer; Anacita Shea, prima, and the comedy dance team of Nina Olivette and Diipitri. Harris and Howell's act cut the most ice, but rank far from sensational with their talk, clowning, singing and instriimentals. Paul Harris stooges around a little, then gets down to work with a couple fast tap dances. He's very, agile' with his brogans and considerably outshines Ted Adair, who, with all his pirouet- ting, is flashier, rather than clever, Adair is spotted in the firiale, where Paul Harris offers one of his dances and the Olivette-Dimitri team does a rather cute number. Olivette and Dimitri are on first in the production number midway for which Anacita Shea, at the side of the stage, lends vocal color. Miss Shea proves adequate for her chores, no more. In this production se- quence Olivette and Dimitri do a comedy, ballroom number that ends satisfactorily but is slow one-half the way. Gae Foster girls are far more enticing in their unique and colorful routine with costumes that have huge hoops at the bottom. They are equally intriguing and colorful in the finale, a showboat scene, when doing a can-can. For finishing scene, Harris and Howell sing 'Ole Man River' without putting the power and steam behind the number that it's accustomed to, but gets by. Char. HIPP, BALTIMORE Baltimore, Aug. 22, It's anniversary week at the Hippodrome, arid Izzy Rappaport is doubling up on the number of acts usually booked in to give the cus- tomers an added treat. Laid out in presentation style with band on stage and Eddie White acting as m.c, show moves along in good pace in spite of wealth of talent on hand. Each act does just enough and White very wisely keeps things moving with minimum of encores and straightforward announcements of succeeding turns. Takes up 70 minutes but it's good variety and stub-holders went for it from start to finish. Opening with a specially ar- ranged swing session, in which four members of the house orch. Holly Mullinex, Paul Harmon, Leonard Hobbs and Paul Spitzbarth, all with previous name band experience, give out in resounding style and to a grand reception; show gets under way in breezy fashion and.holds up with socko acrobatics of the Three Jacksons who follow. White on, with some okay gagging introduces in succession Rosamonde, femme accordionist; Gene, DeQuin- cey and Lewis, three-way comedy ballroomologists and Fifi D'Orsay. Miss D'Orsay has changed her ap- pearance and style somewhat since last caught here, but gives out with a series of .diversified numbers, nicely sold and delivered with the. usual vim and vitality. Eddie Rio, next, in his lady taking a bath bit, then bringing, out his brothers for a series of ancient gags. Slow motion hold-up, the comedy horses and hoofing that follow saves the day for the boys, however, and had them begging off. Next, spot, with Lela Moore in her clever half man, half woman niake- up and flirtation bit, handled for a solid hand. White then takes hold in a routine of well sold songs and gags, registering in first class fashion. Tip, Tap and Toe close, and how! Challenge hoofery on the drum shaped platform had audience yell- ing from the start and insisting On more at the finish. Film is 'It's All Yours' (Col.). Burm. NEW ACTS CHICK WEBB ORCH. (18) With Ella Fitzgerald, Chuvk and Chuckles, Bardou AU Musical 38 Minutes; Full State, N. Y. One of the first swing bands, this crew is the attraction of the Savoy Ballroortx in Harlem, a hot spot for ofay sightseers as well as colored terpers. With that background, plus the sock singing specialist, Ella Fitz- gerald and the top-notch dancing of Chuck and Chuckles, an added at- traction for this date, the band couldn't miss here and didn't. Tlieirs is blasting music, height- ened by the most forte drumming (Chick Webb): seen on Broadway since Benny Croodman's crew was last on Broadway at the Paramount, but evidently a terrific audience etimulus. Opening night (Thurs- day), the Webb outfit and the spe- cialties found it tough getting away from an audience which appeared willing to listen to ''em all night. Highlight of the band, which, in- cidentally, is batoned by the per- sonable Bardou Ali, is Webb's han- dling of the traps- and cymbals. All he does is drum—making no announcements and bowing only Speed Selling (Continued from page 3) a Girl,' 'Goldwyn Follies,' ^Hurrl- cane' and 'Life of the Party,' all of which stack up encouragingly on paper. These are all early fall re- leases and if quality is maintained, the season of 1837-38 may b6 the biggest the industry has ever had. ment, in spite of the fact that the modern theatre offers great comfort and general amenities even to the cheapest seat patrons. But exhibs argue, that is the whole reason for the popularity of picture theatres, and any attempts to change it might destroy a link between the theatre and the fellow in the street. Publix N.W.'s Buys Minneapolis, Aug. 24, Publix circuit has completed deals with Metro, Paramount and 20th- Fox for new-season product, but negotiations with other major, dis- tributors are still pending, accord- ing to John J. .Friedl, Publix .cir- cuit general manager. Twin City independent exhibitors, waging war against percentage deals, are holding oft 20th-Fox new- season product because that com- pany continues to refuse to sell flat. Dope is, however, that, despite the war and agreement not to buy on percentage, ban will be lifted as far as Metro is concerned. A buyers' strike lis in progress, 'of course, against Paramount, the only other company insisting on percentage deals. Northwest's Allied Twin Cit.y members had charged that major companies selling flat were refusing to negotiate deals with them out of sympathy for 20th-Fox, MGM and Paramount, and as punishment. It develops, however, that such com- panies as Universal, RKO and Co- lumbia, not demanding percentages, just hadn't gotten around to the Twin City independent exhibitors. In the past fortnight they have closed with a large number of Min- neapolis and St. Paul independent accounts. Even 20th-Fox claims to be far ahead of the corresponding period a year ago in new-season product deals closed outside the Twin Cities, Other companies also report 'record business,' In practically every in- stance, picture p?ices and percent- ages have been boosted and, based on contracts now being made, local exchanges will gross a new high in rental receipts the ensuing season, even though the expected big gain in theatres grosses, due to improved agricultural conditions, fails to ma- terialize. with his head—but the way he han«. dies his instruments is a show ji( itself. It cdn practically be clas.sed as trick-drumming; that's the way it looks and that's the way it sounds. He drew high applause in a coupled of spots where the spotlight focused on his manipulation of the sticks. A couple of the 14 musicians mak» ing up the orch contribute singing specialities, but not very strong. Of high order,. however, . is the jam quartet comprising pianist, bass^ whacker, clarinetist and flutist, with Webb handling the traps in the backgroynd. Scho. ' ELLA FITZGERALD Sinking 12 Mins. State, N. Y. The buxom Ella Fitzgerald on Broadway in a family vaudfllmer and in Harlem are two different types of singers. On Broadway she's swingy but polite, while in the col- ored spots she goes Ethel Water-ish in her lyrics, but she's a sock whether classy or lowdown. A featured specialist with the Chick Webb colored orch. Miss Fitz- gerald has built up qult^ a rep as a recording artist on her own. She's a forte song-seller, sweet but ho^ with a wealth of personality. Her delivery of 'There's a Lull in My Life' at this viewing was especially noteworthy. State's audience, built up to a high pitch by the Webb orch's swlngopation, practically refused to allow Miss Fitzgerald to get off opening night. She finally had to remain on the stage and oaton the band's closing tune and bow-off with the rest of the aggregation. Sc7io, CHARLES WALTERS Dancer St. Regis Roof, N. T. Charles Walters is a musl-comedy dancer, known in London and Broadway stage musicals. He's of the Astaire-Paul Draper school, re- minding of both in class and style, doing smooth taps in white tie and tails. A facile performer, working neatly and well, he falls into the 'class' category, and in a svelte setting like the Viennese Roof of the Hotel St. Regis (N.Y.) he's a natural. Besides cafe and stage work, Wal- ters suggests screen possibilities. Abel. KETTY MARA and PARTNER Monkey, Dancing 5 MIns. French Casino, N. T. . Ketty Mara and Partner, latter a clever chimpanzee, is perhaps one of the most novel monk acts of its kind. Ketty Mara i^ a 'Folies Bergere* revue importation with the new French Casino show who opens doing conventional acro-dancing, and gets that off nicely, without tippliig off anything else. Then comes the monk, whose holds, acrobatic lifts and grips, etc., are novel and startling. Withal it makes for a strong nov- elty act, OK either for stage or cafe floor. Abel. WC SeRh on Product Hollywood, Aug, 24. Session of Fox-West Coast.house managers has been called by Charles P. Skouras for tomorrow (Wed.) at the Ambassador hotel with 210 participating, including the home office crews. Field men will hear compliete re- ports of the sesh of National The- atres, Inc., at Colorado Springs and film deals negotiated for next season will be discussed with Skouras pre- siding. The Partmar Corp. has closed a deal with Columbia for latter's films first run at the Paramount here and the Orpheum theatre in San Fran- cisco. Agreement calls for Partmar to tiike its pick of the studios output. LES JUVELYS (2) Acrobatic 5 Mins. French'Casino, N. Y. Les Juvelys, mixed team, are among the highlights of the new 'Folies Bergere' revue which Cliff Fischer brought into the French Casino. Man and woman do amaz- ing balancing and juggling on teeter* boards, and top that by head-to-head balancing, with oversized rubber balls cushioning their heads, but making the balaricing look so much more different and novel. It's a turn that borders on the sen- sational and is done with speed and dispatch. . He's in tails ana the act dresses quite neatly and polite throughout, further enhancing the presentation. A sock interlude. Abel. Harris Amus. Co. of Pittsburgh has signed for Universal's 1937-38 prod- uct, deal including the Alvin, Pitts- burgh, and 15 other houses. John H, Harris carried On negotiations for the circuit while Sig Whitman, east- ern district manager, and J, Kaufl- man, U Pittsburgh office manager, worked for Universal on transaction. Independent product deals con- summated by Republic on 1937-:38 product includes the Ashman Bros, chain in Michigan, t'ae Graphic cir- cuit in New England and the Panora string, also in New England, Ash- man has signed for Rep for five situations; Graphic for 11 towns in Maine and Vermonc; tht, Panora cir- cuit for five towns in Connecticut. A 100% product buy has been negotiated by RKO with the Lucas & Jenkins circuit of Georgia, part- ners of Para.»r.ount, with L, & J. taking the entire RKO output for 1937-38, including shorts and 'March Ox Time.' Deal, covering the 40 houses of the Luca.s-Jenkins string, was negotiater by J. H. Maclntyre, RKO's southern district manager, and'H. M. Lyons, branch manager at Atlanta.