Variety (Jul 1938)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

Wednesday, July <>♦ ^938 YAlUEtY HOUSE REVIEWS %'ARIETy 47 CASA MANANA, N. Y; Vincent Lopez's orch, flendw Ven- uta, Nick Long, Jr., Ross Wyse, Jt^ vriisser Sisters, HeTimn Hyde Co., Lows Prima's orch. The . BnanU; Jimmy Durante, John Steel, Pat Booney- The fourth eclition of Billy Rose's •streamlined varieties' is pretty fair tabaret-vaudevllle, albeit below par ct the preceding bills: On the other hand, in Jimmy Durante he has^ per- "haps the sockiest name, which may explain the Leblahging on the rest • it Militating mostly agamst the surn total, however, is not the quality as much as the routining. .^Nick Long. Jr^.Ross Wyse, Jr.. and June and Cherry Preisser. early in the lineup, are three dance acts in succession, so that it's a monotonous sequence: -Two of the acts, Herman Hyde & Co and The Briants, ere. returners, although when'; last here the Casa was the French Casino. As usual, it evidences anew that broad com- edy acts, depending chiefly on sight and business, rather than dialog, get over best JA a cabaret-theatre. Rose, Jn a rheasure, did somiething darmg by booking dialog comedians , and, surprisingly enough, ; several of. them got over rather nicely, despite the clatter of the dishes, etc. ..■ ■ New bill debuted Sunday night on Fourth of July eve, which, of course, accounted for the unaer-par tomout Vincent Lopez tees off with a forte band medley. Notice- able right along, were both- bands- Louis Prima's also—beinr head- achey on the brasses. Probably more the fault of the mikes than the musicians. . . ; Benoy Venuta 1"! actually the c^iier,' a nice looking blonde, now doing a WOR su.stainer and with a mild radio rep behind het. She's also been in legit, having succeeded Ethel Mermaii in Red. Hot and Blue,' which accounts for Tm RIdin' High,' done in Mermanesque nian- ner. Nick Long, Jr., taps efTectiyely. Davy Kay is an energetic foil, doing a quasi-'Mad Rus.siah' comedy style. liOng's takeofis on Buddy Ebsen, Eleanor Powell, his • 'Powerhouse' solo, and the rest are all right.'.The heavily hirsuted Kay is not wlthOiit his. clowning moments, although it's his energetic panto that accounts for most of .the'results. • . Wyse; aided by the lanky June Mann,-have their, edges taken off .b.v ' the preceding terp marathon. ' And .the. cute Jliine' and Cheirry Preisser, save for their own sockd and fresh- looking personalities, likewise are heavy oh the acrb-dancing. Tjiey're fs.cute as ever, of course, aiid uh- dchiable jperformer's.. Hyde, aided . per usual by. Sally Burrilli although she had left the act for a brief spelU whams with' his comedy musical props. A new bit added is the streamlined nude on the breakaway harp, which permits for much laR busines-s: , . Thence, Louis Prima's 52d streetr ers. jamming - 'Loch Lomond* ' and 'Flat Foot Flobgee.'. The Briants, just out of the Ed Wynn" show with their knockabOut clowning, get over. They're handicapped, of course, by absence of their atmospheric back- droD; working in front of the band. Jimmy Durante is ^Ivoed on his Broadway return and. vvhile appar- ently experiencing.- something new With those clattering dinner dishes, he gets to 'em iii no uncertain man- ner. The Schnoz has some blight new stuff, such as Tbscanini, Sto- kowski and Me,' 'SlruUway in My Cutaway,' etc., but they also go bull- ishly for 'Well Dressed Man." 'I Can Dp Without Broadway' arid the rest. Tnough some of the fl'St-nighters -tnew many of the answers, particu- ^ily because of the 'impressionists' .Irving also widely circulated the surefire schnozzola quips,. Durante ;iEs a delivery that's all his own. And alone can get the most v;ilue out it . The Schnoz is vamping be- iween pictures, although he has an- oiner Vintoh Freedley musical Of- V M. ^'>^^ likely, however, he 11 stay on the Coast purante segued the show into JO:in Steel and Pat Rooney's special- iii ' pioneer Ziegfeld juven- " ^""•'s very juve and. his SL-iryT,"' SO""* the old Irving Berlin-Dave Stamper-Gene Buck wil V"' *>' past Ziegfcld and Music Revues, blends well with the noswigic Broadway aura that flavors WIS particular bill. Pat Rooney, fol- 3'n8\^ similarly clicks oh his own ■no with his traditional prestige. «i I. George M. Cohan became !S,i"'y 1. which accounted for the lt^?y ^""'^"^»y to Cohan' finale. i.h 1* American flag and rah- lion.i-"' ^hcse days of hyper-na- &'J?' flag-waving doesn't in- if.'™ the cynicism of former days. vaurtlJ?S^^'l?^.tangent on a i?"9eville bill, biit somehow that nB«,"**v°°<'«"« symboli.sm Ukes on in^jajues to Americans, consider- olJ-?,"0lher type of nationalistic ide- SSfc 4?'"^?*''' Anyway, it fits well ^ {f; the Independence Day period, TnlJH, Cohan salute and. what s .'t , doesn't stem from any ^Uh^^J}*'* ^^"»tion. All. the cast— t.'? the exception of The Briants- Sff made their marks on merit. So ,«ie flag-waving : fol-de-rol just aressed the picture mainly. _v,onftn, of course not being pfcs- an uncanny double, Dave Mallen does a song-and-dahce that was strik- ingly like the. original, even unto facial' ihien and manner. 'He's been doing Cohan for years. Will J. Ward does his pianologs in the mezz bar for the supplementary drinks. Abel. EARLE, WASH. Wcishtnoton, July 5. Max and His Gang. Lucille John soni Will & GUidys Ahearn. the Bilt- morettes and 16 Da7icin0 Divorcees; 'Cocoonut Grove' (Par). House producer Harry Anger has a.KsembleO' currently one of the most pleasing little revues spot has of- fered in weeks.: Acts are all clever, smartly dressed and smoothly pre sented and this impresses the audi, ence, which comes Without heavy advance build-up and. goes away surprisingly : satisfied—which Is ex actly the aim of house's new policy. Interesting angle, whether intended or hot is that show is completely devoid of tap dancing by anybody, although soft-shoe,' acrobatic and hriarching-hooflng predominates.' Opens with line tearing off varied kick routine on full 'stage, and spliV ting to let Max enter for. solo soft shoe acrobatics. Looks, pretty, weak iat start but when he brings on 'gang' and he and the dogs get started on follow-the-leader and joint acro- batic adventures ~hou.se is his. Trav- elers-close on his bow and two. of line: gals part 'em to usher in Lu- cille Johnson. Statuesque blonde wraps thin 'but pleasing coloratura around 'COsi COsa,' ■ 'Music, Maestro, Please* and. 'Seihore Llbrfi' from Tosca' to' get bke hand. Slips over to side tnike to warble; 'Mickey Mouse's Birthday Party! as curtains sorecd on wOodland set with line in Mickey-on-ostrlch costumes popping lip behind wall for cartoon routine Blackboard' is let. down' from .over- head and mice read aloud names-of Will -and Gladys Ahearn.' only,-act getting, inti-oduction. Will .bounce.s out. for nut cowboy song and gal appears for rope-twirlin?. toe-danc- ing during chorus.' Will takies;. it alone again for swell rope spinning and sock tunning ' gags and gal is back for smash ballroom dance, with each taking turns keeping rone alive. Variations. of above build steadily for swell reception. Finale is complex marching num- ber by line with .toy guns and mili- tary ' motif: against firecracker set featuring the/Biltmorettes in smash acrobatic hoofing. Biz fair. Crai0. HIPP, BALTO BnltimoTe, Jiitly 2, OUen & Johnson's Hcllzapoppin' Revue, with Three Radio Rpgues, Walter Ntlsson, Reed, Dean & Reed, Billy Adams, Roberta & Rajl, Shir- ley Wayne; 'Blind Alibi' (RKO). Back after, an absence of several years, Olsen and Johnson head their 'Helzapoppin' unit in -72 minutes of socko entertainment from curtain to curtain. It's fetrictly screwball doings but with skillfully selected special- ties and adroit showman.ship. Audi- ence at opening show gobbled it up and mounting favorable comment is helping' to bolster 'Blind Alibi' (RKO), film portion of. current combo. ■ Opening, to bare stage with house lights on; Olsen and Johnson break some funny .chatter with characters in all parts of house coming down aisles to join the layout Explaining that if garment workers were able to produce successful revue, no rea- son for stagehands not being able to duplicate feat O. 4 j. bring out trio of alleged singing deckhands who warble as curtains close in and line appears in nicely routined can-can. ■ Pace holds with travesty on mur- der mystery next Glsen and John- son as dicks, and very funny through- out. Set good for spot for first of spe- cialties, Walter Nilsson, standard in unicycle stuff and. tops in his line. Makes effective entrance following gals in old fashioned costumes astride wheels and keeps up good How of funny chatter throughout. Intro- duces some trick gadgets and scores heavily on high-cyclie stuff. A blackout and precision number by line follows, after which Reed, Dean and Reed take hold' in one. Reed Sisters, nice appearing . har- mony singers, give out With swingy arrarigement'of 'Old Man River' fol- lowed by 'Rhythm in My. Soul.' which brings on boy with clarinet for some accompanying hot riffs and a three-way hoof-off. Youthful trio do just enough, going over. nicely, Three, Radio Rogues, pin spotted for impersonations of radio arid pic- ture stars;: tie inatters up tightly in spite of staying on a bit too long and attempting too many characteriza- tions. Some of material used is-a trifle blue'; for family audience, but lads'have what it takes and whack out a solid hit Shirley Wayne, dead pan hill billy singer and hot fiddle'player, is on here for punchy interlude and brings O. & J. back for a pianb and violiii bit, just right for notch before finale, whiqh has line in review of dance modes through-the years. Billy Ad- ams; diisky hoOfcr, and Roberta and Ray, shag duo. intet'polate effeclive contributions: Closing ourta'n brings oh Seven,Dwarfs with Olseh as Snow CRITERION, L. A. . . Los Angeles; July 3, »■' Paul Gerard Smith puts the thea- Ire On .a diet for this bne, which he bills as 'Hollywood: Hobohemians.' There are but, 11 people in the troupe, no scenery and 'i cOiiple of piahOs for a'cconripaniment;! The job of the valiant .11 is lo rubberize the Smith ; material for a two-hour stretch, and there are times when it just dosen'l'bounce. Of the. U participants, Iwo are at the pianos and. one is on for a'pair of stbogings: 'another, the ; aulhor himself, works between scenes only; Which leaves lo; seven people. the duty-of keebing things iribvihg for 20 programmed scenes.-That they man- age as well as they do is a tribute to their individual efforts more than anything else. Trixie -Friganza contributed—in addition to herself-^her. bwri mate- rial, and that's quite enou.t;h to care fOr a few: spofj tf,g, 'ijjjj^ yy^j right along with Trix there are Ed- die Foley and Leah LaTour, working singly and together, with Leah now spelling it Leture. . Jimmy Kelso does everything frcm his juggling to a dramatic sketeh. Pat O'Malley, the veteran leadins man, plays every position on the'. field, Ole Oleson handles niost of the comedy. -Ruth Faber, the utility woniah and cqm- pany all-arounder, does everything well. , That's the line-up, except for Al Terry and Perrih Some'rs at the pianos, with Somers slipping off the stool twice to help out in the skits; and William Harling, who also helps out,. He maybe is the . W. Franke Harling,: billed as composer of the show's .loner, in the music line; title, 'One More: Dance.' ' As for the content the scenes in- dividually run mostly to the black- out type. P. G; Sinith likes his pis- tol shots ...for the curtain, 'leaving the audience more than slightly shell-shocked.TIe.also iikeis a police- man in .every scene, as Pat O'Malley will testify. Pat is in harness, prac- tically all night Joe Cunhihgham was billed for the m-c- spot, but ' w.as a last-mihute withdrawal, and :Smlth substituted.' Making Smith an actor once again, but strictly accidentally, and for this time at '^bat: only., Cunningham's presence would'have made quite a difference, of course, but regardless, the. show must depend On its ingre- dients rather than what's said be- twetin the scenes. Standouts, are Miss Friganza'.s spe- cialties, in .which Trix demonstrates that talent remains talent Under any circumstances; Miss Faber's knock- aboiit-number;' Kelso's sblo spot; the Foley-LaTour singing throughout the show; and Ole Oleson's panto- mime with the hnarshmallows. Not a btick dance in sight which is some- thing for. a sta^e performance these days. ~ The writing Is best in an operatic satirie and the 'Snow . White' take- off which brings the company On for a roundup .finale. 'Good Time Charlie,' which dates back to a Willie Collier performance in a Friars Frolic. Is a dated dramatic slow spot in a show \yhich otherwi.se has pace: ' Smith arid his bo's broke it all in some time ago in Hollywood. This downtown date may give, the try more city-wide if not .so miich pr.o- fessional. attention. The policy is twora-day at 30-and-35c tops; seats reserved. Gallos Stage Productions is the nominal presenter in what ap- pears to be a four-walls-only deal for the centrally located house. . Bige. STANLEY, PITT Pif(sbur(ih,./i(Ii; 2. Gene Kri4pa",s orch, Jrene Duye, Leo Wat!!«)i, Nichols <t Roberts, Toniniv Trent; 'Cocoanut ' Grove (Porj. Benny Goodman's No. 1 alumnus, Gene Krupa, is still feeling his oats' a.s .a maestroi but he'll come out Of it Right now it's air Krupa and tym- -pani with too little emphasis on the band; That's okay with the mob at present, however, for the jive hounds are.going stark, staring nuts over his tom-tomriiing, and yelling for. more. In-time, though, the novelty's bound to wear off and Krupa must look lu music for his future in the band field. As a Goodman four-star attraction, he came through with just enough. At the head of his own outfit, he's paying, lob little attentioh to the. other 13 birds and is leaving the ful- fillment. Of a style, without which no organization; can hope for a consi.st- ent ride in the dough, tO chance. But Krupa'.s young in the game; he'.s bound to learn and, with such a slart can hardy mis.s. What he doesn't seem to realize now i.s that a,solid hour of drum- beating, no matter how .spectacular, can , grow prelly monotongu.s. All right for an occasional, even a fre- quent, novelt.V,. but over the distance' too much or avgamble. Kruoa .shoukl also. think of that .section of the,au- dience that cothes for relaxation and not the jitters. Orchestra consists of four .saxes, White .'airid Johnson as Dopey, an three Irurnpel.s.: three trombohe.s, okay finish to a strictly ckn.v unitfba.ts. guitar and piano, in addition. flu'rm. I to, the drums. A heat novelty is the miniature drum in, frontC each stand, which the boy.s all pound in a jurigle-like tom-tom version of 'Blue-Rhythm Fantasy,' Once in a while a soloi.st slCj.. up from the stand to beat out a few bars, but most of the time the spotlighf.s on Krupa's elevated stand, in center ol stage.. He should .concentrate on de- veloping a couple, other personalili'c?. • He's carrying two specialifl.':. both singers,. Irene Daye and scpian Leo Watson. Miss Daye is a looker wilh throaty pipes strictly in swing ti'a- ditiOn, with Watson doing a doubls- talk scat, improvising mcariiiiglcs.s lyrics in w"hat really ambunis to a one-man vocal jam session. Ori his. own, down front at the mike, he gel!; tiresome, but Krupa cOuld dress the turn up effectively by bringing for- ward a couple of hot saxe.s and horn? to mix it -up with; Watson at close range; Bill also includes a couple of other acts-. Nichols and Roberts and Tom- my 'Trent both steady visitois at. the Warner deluxer. Shag experts are still high in favor and tie the .show into a knot. Trent's marionette act gets better; he's changing his mate- rial around and over big herie, as usual. Dave Broudy's' hou.se crew in pit dpihg a brief overture. Bi-/. excel- lent Krupa giving h u.se its be.st' Opening ' several weeksj despite rain. Colieii. PARAMOUNT, N Y. X"n,vier Cuffot orch, Frnncf-' r-(ii;(i- /ord. Hoi Sherman, Oxford Trii>. 0(<it- Baker; .'Tropic Holiday' (Pur), n - viewed in cnrrcnt issue. ROXY, N; Y. Colparv Bros.. (2), The : ViTeCninns (5), Liicille Pacre; Capt. Pvoskes Tioers, 12 Doniopators,. Gae Fo.ster Girls, ,Poul Ash house orch; 'Rage oj Paris' (U), reviewed in Vabiety June 15. Reverting more to type after last week's dubious experiment with a flock of turns which, played in'the manner, of an audition, house's cur- rent show is far better entertain- hient :It's varied, having been woven, into a smooth presentationj with : at least one strong' punch in the Calgary Bros; (2). . The Calgarys are doing a manr size act - the routine embracing the drunk opening,' which'.is excellent; the slow motion session; some sing- ing and, as a topper, the ; amusing Russian .dance travesty. This , act supplies all the comedy on the . bill. Showr takes off with Capt. Proske s Tigefs, a different dish for picture houses, but the Roxy amply accom- modates it Gae Foster girls dress up the opening, appear agairi about midway < and a : third timie in the finale.. This week; - the Foster line; is augmented by the 12 Dansopatbrs (male). Jn the fencing number, half- way.down, a clever routine by the Foster-Dansopators combination. Lu- cille Page is spotted for one of her two-tap acrobatic specialties. She works b,n a: small raided; platform in the production 'number, oh the .floor in the fln'ali. Both :Epecialties are well executed, '. The 'Virginian^ (New Acts), male quintet, have good voices and-'make a pleasing appearance, but are stop- ping no shows here. - Again an au- dience must listen to /Ole Man River,' which Is getting tiresoine.. . Paul Ash's house orchestra, in the pit works capably. Business, good Friday at last show. ^ CJior, STATE-LAKE, CHI .Chtcapo, July 3. Rowol Wonderettes, Barneu Grant's Co.. (5),, Leon'Navara, Pat Kennedy. Rhythih Commanders; Sweethearts; 'Love, Honor and Obey' (WB). Standard type of show on here for the holiday but lacking in the 'high- liehta to make It an entertaining bill. Royal "Wo'nderette.s, also known as Schictl's. Marionettes, open ' neatly with plenty of corhedy and novelty. Barney Grant's Co. (a) give 'em the old-time hoke and rube comed.-y in the deuie. Grant works hard and keeps the turn moving. Best laugh item oh the session, when caught was hoke adagio bit Rather tepid for this mob is Leon Navara, who's too ineffectual with his attempts at comedy chatter. Doe.s better when stitoking- strictly to his pianologihg; : Would do better toi slice his time and give 'em a quick I one-two at the keyboard. J •j In the. stage show Pat Kenned.-^; • who's still a top vocal favorite in town, lacks the power of former- days but he has plenty of per.'onalily | for a family time hou.se and hs.-! to : encore. Rhythm Commandei-s. also khowh as Samuels Bros., and Col- |. lette Sisters, wind up ."itrohK. :A1-| wa.vs tops in appearance and st,vle. with their military routine, surtfirc wherever caught and especially so for thi.s type of hbu.'ie. Biz. fair first show Satuidav <2). Cold. . Jrihging in Xavier Cugal'.s b'.nnd. change of pace is effected here; .nfter weeks Of swing. But W'th Frances Langford (New Acts) on the >how, the jitterbug tru 1e is still hot lo.^L Mi.ss Langfor<4 .closes the show and instead of retiring; to the wings, in line with custom:nere, she goes, out of .sight into ithe'oit with the Cugal crew. This gets her mObbed by the up-fronters. - • Mips Lan<jtord goes down singinK, as the lights start dimming; but it's a minor struggle avoiding the auto- graph hounds. -However, this finish, letting the fr'nt-row enthiisiast.<: get that close to her, makes for a cult- closing, even if Miss; LangfOrd may suffer .some costume damages. 'I'he singer last played this house in July,. .1937. Bringing: Miss Langford in with the Gugat orchestra is .seemingly good booking, the tv/o probably ac- counting consId<>rably. for the busi- ness, Cugat .has; .his following, though hot so much the jitterbug, type, the same ,as Miss Langford; In addition, there's - the comedy dance single of Hal Sheri..ah and.the nov- elty trio, the Oxford,'. Dealing in effective rhurnbas and soil rhythms, Cugat!.s orchestra is impressive anc. forms a pleasant con- trast to the swing outfits here ot'laie . Cucat carries '2 regular mu.sicians, augmented by two rhumba special- ists..' The men "wear red coat.« and look well. A *ew double; for special- ly numbers.: ' Most Effective are the two .violin groiip numbers with Cugat. Sin one, occasion, four violins work down* stage with Cugat^ clarlneit, trurhpet- and piano solos topping, while in en- Other.. CiUgat. has. -five:- violins . with him; ,. ■ 'Sherman is here with a fine:rou- tine, but it's a little long and.not fast enough; Oxford trio has been in the midwest with its. imitations of bands and-orchestral specialties, pliie a di-^- verting number, in which Disney; cartoon characters are impersonated. Show riins smoothly and in the main sets a: rather fast pace, only Sherman's act tending to slow things up a bit- Harrv RuVln has provided a very attractive background, with, hnore than the customary color. Don Baker diedlcates his organ stint this week to love songs, then and now. He succeeds, too. in get- tihe considerable singipg out of the audience. Ch«r. Seek Acts for Jap Expo Tokyo, June 10. \ Ma.saru Hayashi, President of Vo-i .shimbto :Enterpri.ses, large booking] agency .here, left last -week for En-j rope-to contact acts and show.' Idr ; the 1940 Expirisi.'-h to be held her*: . Will-yisit.America bcfme rtluj-n- ing to Japan. STATE, N. Y. Five Juofllinff Jewels,; Red Skelton with Edna StilluieK, Geraldine & Joe, Iwirig Caesar with Gerald- MorJcs, Mario & FloHo, Rubu Zikct- lintr's hoiise orch; 'Three Comrades' (M-G). . • . TJiis show Is better than average, with. Irving, Caesar standing; out Songwriter is making his second sortie into: vaude. Previous one w<,9 with Lou Holtz at the Palace, N. Y.. in August 1929^ However, he did. a. guest series for the Rudy Valle ra- dio ;show- (before studio aiidiences) and has made numerous appearances t>efore special groups to pbl over his 'safety songs. So he's not frifihl- ened and tongue-tied by an audience. As a singer, Cae^r is still a good songwriter. 'Vet nearly any of the singers who have better .voices than Caesar could take lessons from hirn in putting over a song—and. inci- dentally putting over himself. For he's oh for about 15 minutes and holds the stage all the way. Starts inauspiciously, but .has an infectious personality that soon captivates his audience. After that he can do any- thing. Main point that puts Caesar over is .his sincerity and the obvious.fact that he likes what he's doinf;-:-;n: fact, he's having a whale, of a time. It's an ingratiating combination. He sings only his] owii tunes, which doesn't limit him much, and offers' some of the 'safety songs,' tells about being a composer, explains how he; canrie to vvrit4 different numbers arid interjects any comments that seem to fit the occasion, The fact; that he manifestly be- lieves in his songs helps va.stly in - Caesar's -prcsontatloh of them. He make's no pretense at being a singer, while his articulation shows he ap- preciates the-value of lyrics. ^ But-. by subordinating.himself to his num- bers he gives them added force-^anrt thereby increases his own persua- .sivenes.c. Gerald Marks, piani.st lor the act is. credited frequently; as Caesar's collaborator. ; . Red Skelton's appearance af the State 'Is his- umpteenth In the la..t couple of years. Sihce his last d.ile at the house he has filled the fii vt Commitment of a termer with RKO.; Comedian acts as m.c, as well a*, fill- ing in with three fairly Ion-,' tm n.s himself. Assisted in one by hi' w'.'t :. Edria Stillwcll, blonde looker, Who stooges well. .Much of Sk(>lton's material ,!" f;;- miliar. but it'.s still rca.snnably fiin/i.v. .Still noes in for burlcsfjuing tyn'-" - . wornt'ii in the audience. 'woirR-n (lrcs->inif, pedestrians, siibway i-;(ici.,., U'-.v.' t;rk-<if; Iheir .gals hon-ic froui (COiilinued on page 521