Variety (Jun 1938)

VARIETY VARIETY HOUSE REVIEWS Wednesday, June 22, 19^8 MUSIC HALL, N. Y, Louise, Fonmea, Marie Cnmaldi, Wino i'oljotiiii. Pauline Kdj/e, fltlao ficfrler, Jail Peerce, Robert Weede, Max and Gang, Robert Landrum, Joe Sodja. Rockettcs, ballet, sym- pitonv; •Blockade' (VA), reviewed June 8 ill Variety. 'Variations' is. the caption of the first item of the Russell, arkert presentation this week, but there s not enough variety to contrast \t witn -Blockade' on the screen..As re- sult, it's a long evening and quit? duJI. despite the fact that some of the components' are individually bright. , After the TledermauJi' overture under ' rno Kapee's, baton, 'Show-, shop' unveils. It's an all-ihclusive billing for everything from, ballet to a minstrel finale. And while it per- mits for considerable latitude, its not sullicieritly varied. , The ballet opener with "Louise FofnacBi Marie Grimaldi. Nina Sabatini, Pauline Kaye s^nd Hilda Eckler scintillating in the plastic toe artistry backed by the ballet corps is overlong. The Jan Peerce-Robert Weede duet, 'Forza del Destino,' is relatively brief, ijut where a sharply contrast- ing and lighter touch is .necessary; this, too, is in like vein. Max and His Gang, accordingly, have :'em hungry for a little clownr ing, which this ex rt canine quar- tet delivers handily. The terriers are facile performers and.Max'« own acrb-hooHng gets across the fuel that he work's ■ plenty ■ hard on his own, not merely content to pace his pooch'es. The 'Minstrelsy' finale plays like a Bill's Gay 90's revue, out of a Billy Rose Casa Mahana afterpiece of ojd- timers,..' whereas . the' • Hall, with its topftight production ;:advantages, could have really boiled with it. The Nat Karson setting hoyelty brings on the entire corps, irt ai staircase formation, but the medley of last- -tempo songs and the general pres^ entation are quite off-the-cob. Rob- ert Landrum- sets the pace with 'Bi ing Back, Those Minstrel. Days.' Vin Lindhis's Glee Club pot-piourris a flock of pops, Joe Sodja does a banjo specialty: Iby that time, quite late) and even the Rbckettes with their usually surefire finale almost failed : to rock 'em. However, they did lake it, off strong, in- customary style. No excitement arourtd the Hall opening, night with 'Blockade' on screen, despite Catholic church's ob- jections. Biz light. Abet. STANLEY, PITTS, plenty giggles. Takes off Valine and Lbmbardo ruthlessly and hi- lariously and curtains, close,/in after his corny impression of a ]a}:z band of 20 years ago, with all of the antic interpolations. It's a great closer and leaves 'em smiling. Dave Biroudy's house band bock in the pit agai and;dolrig a brief overture ot the semii-classics, fea- turing a fiddle solo . by Charlie Riley, fii-st violinist with the crew. Biz at getaway pretty good, wjth the downstairs just a trifle' short of ca- pacity and'a-nice representation in the balcony, Cohen. EARLE, PHILLY Philadelphia, June IT; Sammy Kaye & Orch. Crane SisluTs. Georges ■ Campo & Elsie Ray, Shed & ■ Raymond, Charlie Wilson, To»nmj/ Ryan, Jimmy Btou.1i. Three Bnro^i,"!. Lou Schra- der house orch; 'Little Miss Thor-^ ou^hbred' iVfB). ants. Slain infants and women on junks and bodies of coolies strewn^ over pavements are shown. It's followed by Mine..Chiang Kai Shek's appeal to the U. S. to boy- cott the Jap.<;. She speaksHuent and precisi! English and niakes an jni- nressive, appearance. ' These clips, . I plus an added short on fatality pior Jh"" ^HmL"'nuir' a'nd^°i^en^'that ' By comparison, the.rest of the bill PARAMOUNT, N. Y. Red Norvo Orch (13), Reil- l!/s, ferry Alteu: Paxil NinO Chezzi, Tommy Rigfis, Coleinon & Sanler, .Mildred Bailey; 'Cocoanut Crbue' (Par;. STATE, N. Y. PittsbuTgh, June 20. Will Oshonie's orch, Janice Todd, Dick Rodpers, Morton Daniels, Ru/e Davis; 'Gold-Diflfflers in Paris' (WB). Snappy show, smartly, paced by the Osboi'he crew and with Marion Daniels (New Acts) and Riife Davis providing the . socks. Strange co- incidence that brings Vallee (on the screen , in 'Gold-Diggers') and Os- borne together, for, there's no love lost between thein,' and that's fur- ther emphasized late In the pro- ceedings by the caricature of Vallee that Osborne delivers' in his series of maestric impressions. Osborne- outfit is all wind Instru- ments, with four saxes,, three trom- bones, three trumpets and a bass horn, but only occasionally do the boys let out. . For most part, it's muted mel y and effective prac tically all of the way, Bill this sesh i.s an enter inS affair from practically any view^ point, but just lacks spice . virhich would transform it frorn mediocre bracket, to .something to chalk up in the book. Principal quantity missing iseems to be variety. Two of the three acts tossed in by the hous?. to supplement ■ Sammy Kaye crew are comics of a sirhilar type. And entertainment provided from band itself consists entirely of riiale'- chirpers,, three, of. 'em. Remaining act is pair of femme ballet-typc terpers. While orch' is pretty swell and each of the acts receives solid exit palm-F>ounding, result as a . whole juif mis.ses final click.. And nothing is added by failure of comics to do anything moire than take perfiinc- Ibry' bows , with the aUd begging for. encores.- Kaye crew open's with nifty back- drops and lighting, including two changes of drops lb fit in with tune; being churned... Maestro's entrance, nice. Style- of the orch designed to appeal to both the sweet music lovers and jitterers, changing pace oompletfely in middle of the show. Starts off' in the Lombardo tradition, shifting to swing. Both good,., al- though 11-piece outfit ,is made up primarily for the sweet stuff and is much better, in'that. Sniooth, with melody and rhythm well-defined. Added novel touch is Kaye's w.lc. trick of having song titles .sung.' Warbling band.smen are Charley Wilson, Jimmy Brbwn and Tommy Ryan, who does song title as- well as: another complete number: Brown best and gets nice vpcal backing frbm- orch on heat arrangement of 'Blue Heaven.! .Wilson' missing slightly in oompah. Crane Sisters a pair of reddish- blbnde lobkers. in airy kind . of dance.s.. Ever so often tos.s in bit of knockabout comedy. For second tiii-n work behind .Hawaiian-rpainted scrim in nice bit of' kootch 'while band plays'Sweet Leilani.' , Two .'comic acts both, strong.- First is Georges- Campo and Elsie .Ray. Campo, a pantomimist, reminiscent of Harry Langdon. Sv^ell in rubbery -falls while .gandering newspaper. Socko hand at finish, but no. return. Second act is Shea & Raymond, long and. short guy. Do gagged-ub loo.sc- leggcd terping. Offer good com- edy, nicely timisd, and garner plenty of, laughs. Herb. lormance opeiiing Wednesday night (15), when, the IbWer level was rather roomy. ' . Red Norvb band, which is ladling oiit a somewhat soft-swing tempo, had things iii hand, and passed mus-, tei- o.k. with the resident ju'venile jitterbugs in, tlie. Paramountl, Won no great acclaii " roving just pass- able fare. , Orch, paced by Norvo but front tinkling' his vibraharp: .,stands out not so-keenly on its own as, when backgrounding a singer. That de- velopment is plausible in light of the fact Mildred Bailey (Mrs. N.) works' -with and gels billing over the band. Crew has been arranged to accomp her swing singing, than which there is no better among all ofay temmes. Miss Bajlcy was dbing with Paul Whitem'an's o'utUt years ago .what most Of the Jam jibbers now are getting hep. to. She closed ' and yknotted up the show with four songs. One thing badl.y amiss is her 'wiggling and writhing around when doing 'Week- end of Private Sccretagry.' A >varbler with, what Miss Bailey has oh the vocal ball doesn*!' have to resort to such stijff; she shbuld keeo her dignity: Torsbtossing is all right for', those vi^hb can sell the ears sans ;the, eyes for added effect, but not for one -with her ability! Terry Allen, boo-boo, baritone With , band, did 'Dt'eamer, in Me' .up ahead.' He's good and his piping knits in with the orch neatly; Tommy Riggs (New Act) is spotted midway for fairly good ef- fect. Paul and Nino Ghezzi preceded Riggs with theii" vet and-, always winning manual eiiiiiilibristic.s. Have Injected ■ several new stunts in last couple of years, and there's no act around of the sort which 'can sell its wares with, more finesse Or show- manship. • ; Five Reill.ys (New Act) was first act out and- over gracefully- with flashy and.fast hobun.g. Later on a couple .of kids. Coleman and Santer, who had - wo'j shagging con- test at -Madison Square (warden during the recent Benny Gbbdman- Cbunt Basie charity swing.carnival, did- several minutes. Nothing to stuff, which Could have been seen at any dance-hall.' Bert. pressing on. a regular theatre .pro- gram. Here it's libi'ary stuff along with a" collation of. general news events, arid merely passes. Lew Lehr, therefore, is a \yelcome interlude, though his material is not so hot. One shot has-him monkeying around' a trick camera that flattens oi- elon- .gates lobker-inners. They're still showing some skiing stuff, this time frbm somewhere out in Oregon. RKO-Pathe offer? nifty fashion stuff ' and some, handsome lookers, in the way of models. Fox goes social with an okay clip oh a blueblobd charity shindig. Adelaide Hawley talks of bathing suit fash- ions fbr ' women, but' those ngle shots oh the subjects are n:s.h. Paramount is ahead with shbts of young, McCall,. confessed Cash baby kidnapper. Sport , stiirt includes Ed Thbrgerson talking oii sand sailing in Egypt and womeii angles among other fishin.?; Items. Also, on the bill is Johnny Vander Meer, Cincinnati hurler who pitched two successive no-^hit, .no-run games, with a .bit of that 6-0 conte.it against Brooklyii shown. England's back-to- health movement for girls and' a huge British military pageant at Aldershot get some' attention. Atrt- bassador Joseph P. Kennedy is shown ivith two of his children at the open- ing of ,a:spccial zoo for children, in, London: At Ecaussincs: Belgiu . they hold ■an annual fete for girls' to.play with boys aS' a. kiiVd of match-making suree. - Fox has aeronautical .stuff; showing warren Allen, .62. makin.g a parachute jump, afteiv laying off the stunt stuff for several years. The old bov does bkay^ ■ Balance is mostly a routine of oddities, berso'nalities. news events, rodeos,, storm.s, flies and the inevit- able, comedy wr;estlihg bit.. Sham ROXY, N. Y. FOX, DETROIT tliere-s enough comic byplay to ac count tor a flock of laughs and Os- borne's breezy-nonchalance helps. Band opens with 'Listen to the Glisten of- the Three Trombones,' one of the organization's recent re- cordings, and a slick novelty, with the addition :of trio of toy trbmbs at the end. Swing right into the swingeroo, 'Don't Be That ay'.' and then Osborne brings on his gal vo- calist. Janice Todd, for a single rhumba ditty. Nice-looker and a fair .set of pipes, but nothing out of the ordinary. Miss Daniels follows with her crack, show-stopping leg- mania and she's followed by Dick Rod,!{ers, a y.oung.Ster, put an Os- borne vet. who slaps across 'Dinah' in a variety of dialects. For ah en- core. Rodgers docs' a grammar school kid. a highTSChooler and a college stude each 'approaching a femme for a danccf. but . the bit's Detroit, June 17. Dansonettes (16), Bemice Parks, Oh the stand I Bobb]/. May, 5a'nnani <£ Miclii, Gene ^Ueldon, Sam Jack Kaulman's house orch; 'Holt ' (Col) Paul Ash Oreh, Dorothy Crook' er, Ben Beri. Matter -<t Davis; Font Franks,. Nick Lucas, Gae Foster Girls. Town's lone vaudfllmer continues the good work currently, dishing up a smart show, except for a frigid re- sponse at early show Friday night (17). With deserved applause, 50- minute show could have been a knockout. , Despite patrons' frigidity, how- ever, the four acts and house line turn in some nitty work. Especially is this true of Bobby-, May's jug- filing sctto and the 16 Dansonettes' last two numbers, May's wbrk is ■Vvowish. including several out-of-: thc-brdinary tricks with bouncing balls on a drum while standing on his head, a flashy lighted ball j(ig- gle. aiid lighting of cigarct by catch i in$, a lighted match on end, of I cigaret. too well identified ..with Al Norman and should be dropped for some- thing in the vocal line-. Nexl-to-closing is Rufe Davis;'lhe hillbilly spuiid effects' department, lii.s first visit here since he bec-dmc a flickerite for Par a year ago. This spot's .always been a cinch for Davis and it still is. but he could come up.-with at Icast.one new item., anyway. Everything he does he did the last time around, with even the roiiliiiing' exactly diireieiicc to the After opening show, with a snappy military routine, house line comes back to forrri background for San- nani and Michi's oriental dance iiumber. and shut show with an eye fut 'Bylierfiy Piano'- ensemble. .Lat ler turn, while picturesque, gives evidence that many of the 16 gals can't really play their pianos. " Pleasingly different is Sannani and Michi's 'Javanese Idol Fantasy. Dande duo turn in a nifty all the same. No ] around job in their odd number: mob, however. Gene Sheldon,, in the hext-to- They eat it up and refuse to let clbsiiig cbg Davis aivay. Has to come back at least half a dozen times and they, still bog for more. So perhaps he wisely figures what's the use. if the cusU>niei-.^' memories are short and hi.-< icperlory is limited: ' r tlie finish. O.sborne goes Ihlb his old finale, satiric lampoons of oilier band styles and "geared for crowd on hand. has lo.st none . of .his ■expert pantomime stuff since last appearance here. Brings in a femme partner- at end for, a little additional nonsense and over, nicely. Biicause' ot flicker's length, Sam ■Tack Kaufman dispenses with over- lure; but .leads pit band for »how, and handles the hv.c. chores. Fair • Pelf. STATE-LAKE, GHI Chicago, June 18. Tobv .Wing. Petet- Hiaoins.'Mosters & RbUi7is, ehTisty. & Gould, Stalac Bros. ,<t Peorl, Suieetheorts, Verne Buck;,''Niirse ' rom Brbofcli/il* ' (U). Show currently could stand con- siderable revision and . rearranging. When, caught, it failed to, build to legitimate vaude entertainment due to the inept cancelling of each oth-, er's'; effects by succeeding acts. Overboard on singing, both good and bad, and a jumble of acts that tried to do a little bit of every- thing. With, • healthy s.a. and an as- sortment of songs, Toby Wing suc- ceeds in giving the customers what they come to see. She isn't stingy with her bUmps, which she uses to punctuate her numbers. Audience likes her breezy manner. Peter Higgins is up near the open- ing of the show, much too soon for a warbler who proved himself a money draw here in his last ap- pearance , in this house. He is a singer \yith genuine , .vaude per- sbnality and salesmanship, and while he scores' in his early spot, he would be moi-e aid to the bill in general if spotted later in the .show. Bill is opened by Stalac Bros, and Pearl on -tecterboard and somer- sault work, all nicely executed. Peai-l in between times tosses off a couple of good acrobatic dance rdii- tines. Excellent appearance aids entire turn. Plenty ot hoke comedy makns Masters and Rollins a surefire act for this,family trade theatre. Com- edy dancing, the singing and mugging make up a general a.ssort- ment of variety standby stuff that this audience - finds to its ,liking. Christy and Gould do a little bit of everything on the comedy side. Burlesque-acrobatics, gags and jokes all slapped together for mixed re- sults. House line was down to 10 girls, when caught, but still excel- lent in its hign standard ot pre- cision work'. Currently the only line in the loop. Bi-^ good last show Friday (17). Cold. Embassy Newsreel, N, Y. . Death plays the lead ^t the Embassy this week. Movietone's Lowell Thomas give.s a grim picture of wholesale killing of civilians by in- terventioni.st ah- bombing in Spain. Thomas calls it a crisis in humanilyi - Paramoiinl emphasi'.es this death drama with unusual clins of the air bombing of Canton by the Japs, kill- ing an estimated ,8,000 iVon-combat- Light on line routines. Roxy this week is nearer a straight vaude- ville ' competitor of nearby State. Show is strictly a variety aggrega- tion 'wtih runoff in same tempo. Doubtless the' Gae Fosterites- arc a weekly attraction- to vet Roxyites; but absence of same to- great ex- tent, currently is probably an ap- preciated relief to both girls'and customers. While, laybut- offei"s nothing sensational and even a couple of close repeatsi ,all hit the gong. Picture. Three Bl-nd Mice' (20th), with Loretta Ybung, should attract. Dorothy Crooker; around for some time how, opens the show looking very tidy in her white and red gauzy gown and perforining even more neatly her toritrol daiicing. Entire act is done on one hoof, con- sequently it seems Ibhger than It is. Arduous and rhythmic, it serves well as an ice-breaker. Portion bt the line in top hats, and kindred regalia follow her. but it is little more than a walkon-walkoff intro for succeeding turn. Ben Bcri' tils into the second groove admirably. With emphasis on tlie hoke side, juggles his way across completely. Rings in some ancient routines, but more than makes up fbr material piracies with his- own clever manipulations of clubs and balls'. . Motter. and Davis played their 'Poetry in Motion' act here less than a year ago. Obviously rate the re- turn, on strength of the polished hand rJiisings. fbot-to-slibulder. and assortcu tricks. .. Execution of blcnd- ins each movement into the other and knocking off a couple of mus- cle idea's with one hand-to-hand gripping makes for'much of appeal. Use several girls from line for background. Without much continuity. Four Franks . take fourth i-ung arid .suc- ceed in furnishing enough laughs In lighten, the bill. Also seen around, and recently at the State, gals and bbys render wind insliumcnUilizing for conventional opening and fol- low with tap se.ssions, which., while lacking in originality, are at least speedy. Singing of one girl could well be dropped. Settee romancing' takeoff' of Garbo and Barryni'oro front 'Grand Hotel' is their high- Spot. They're nicely costumed, too. Vaude's vet troubador. Nick Lu- cas, is the closer.- Delivers pop song requests, plus hts own fa- miliar repertoire. rid is riiiig iii for the only large scale production number ot the show. Kurt Alexandir & Sant6ii (4», Jolinnu Woods, Dorothy Stone <b Oiurlei Collins, CItorles 'Slim' TiTublin Happy Felfon Orch (13). Mildred i'entou; 'Altdovs a Woman^ iCol) previewed in Variktv May 4. Show nnis too Ibng, shading 75 minutes. Ajt lea!?t Ave minutes could be cut from tl.ie Happy . Fel ton's clo.sing band'turn, which exceeds a halfrhour. As entertainmeiil. l.ny'out - pars the State average; no t.irrif smackoes. but no stalemates nor .slag, nates: !» Alexander and Sanlo.'i open the .show with the pair, doing same old. but effectively o.k.. travesty of' hal- let dancing. Meii get the rialit breadth into act and the iie;:dcd breaks and novelty from the two unbilled women. ', . Jbhnny, Woods, deticing, stilt pur- veys his. standard assortment of imi- tations. One of the older acts ot the. sort now r:unhing regularly, in vaude, Woods . has t>een eclipsed somewhat by other turns doing fa- cial as well as vocal Impressioiis. But by keeping plenty of speed and smart material in his reper- toire,: the lad, meets the test Imi- tations, with pretty good average .of. fidelity, run the usual .gamut ot film and radio figures. -For an encor , Woods has trapped but a new idea; he does a running 'bit. couched as a vaude monologist's act wbiild be if he Had commercials between gags as—Twith some imagination—air^ comics do.. Dorothy' Stone and Charles Col- lins, trey with a real act So nice- ly, thoughtfully and thorpughly is ,the turn togged; out for vaude,-and so .skilfully pre.sented that it would ' wallop anyone who cared.' for and remembered variety show. biz. Miss-Stone's song is a speci and her daiicing. with husband-partner has a meaning and clearly reveals ils originality-ot routine. She weai-s two changes of gowns, both Em- pire, with accordion-pleated cir- cular, skirts, . that, bring' ' back thoughts of' when- vaude's women really bothered about ar.d knew how- to dress. ...Each has a .solo dance, sandwiched between their teaming oil. a lullaby waltz for an opener and^ a rhumba for a wind- up. A', class act that scored capi- tally: 'Ciharley . 'Slim' Timblin lumbers Ihi'ough his blackface preacher act for a good grip on the next-to-shut He shows . a tendency to; slow things up by waiting for laughs at the ends; of. some sallieis when the cackles^'don't come, but when, they do they are ro'bf-rockers. May- be Timblin- has bieen doing this act so many years now he thinks the volume and length, ot the laugh , lines are part bt a ,script. Happy Felton orch is playing 1 quick repeat at tins .stand,' having made its ,Broadway debut less than' two months ago. Jmpressioh this tim isn't as ci'isp nbr as sustained. This Is largely due to fact band'* act is, to major extent, same as on previous, date. Would have repaid Felton to work out whole neiw rou-. line,, ■ Femme ,fri which appeared last time is out this week, having left orch after earlier date and gone with Al Roth's ensemble at NBC New to band is Mildred Fenton, who usi;d to._work with Joe 'Venuti's crew and. prior to that, as a single in nitorie.s. She's a nifty additibn to outfit, knowing how to get up best appear- ance by: suggestion of schoolgirlisli- ness in dress, and evincing smart song-selling. Her contralto pipes ai-e superior tb those of niost band I feinhne vocalists. Sammy Sanders, boy singer wit I band, over o.k. with 'Oh Maiiia.' I which he did last time; Felton. I who's a prime personality to front an orch for slage or nitery. does - two numbers which he didn't do last tinie but a pair are repeated. Orch stuff is all the same, llioush b.k. At final performance openiiij (Thursday) night, biz was iiiOderate. Serf. HIPP, BALTO Phil SaUrl opens at the Dune.s Club, Nari-.a;ian.selt. R. f., July 2. An- other Meyer Davis ouini,.un ,>r Al- len Subel. Opens, at the Loon Lake Hou.sc, Loon Lake. t1. Y., July I. Baltimore, June 19. Jackie B.cekiiiaii, Paul Kirklond i Co.. The Robbiiis i3). Bob Neller. The Virqini m (8), f'elice tula aii liousc orch.; 'Holiday' (Col.). Holding 'Holiday' (Col) for a.sec- ond week, house changed last wjjek' name-laden stage layout for less e;;- penslye, but equally entertaining do. ings. Current, bill gives proof to Ih oft-repealed theory that skillful se-. lection and careful i-oulinihg of tal- ented standard acts can accomplish highly satisfactory and' au ience- pleasing results. If vaude is ever 1o make a coi-iieback, it will be liiyouls similar to this in punch and budget that will make it possible. Jackie Bcckman, dbing a pleasinj m.c. throughout, marshals the P'O; ceedings.. in straightforward and showmanly manner. On, after an on- Majje introduction, he unimiinces th» Bobbins, two m'cn and nice-appcai'- ing femme. After, an opening tlnce- way hoof session and solo hiish ' ick tap . routine by the irl, trio give? out with a sock-laden and veiy fas' lu.mbling challenge, selling a piinch.v pace that gathers effective,nuMiicn- l"m with the acts that.follow. Paul Kirklaild. ill the diMice. .-icores heavily with liis danc? on (Gbntinucd on page 52)