Variety (Aug 1938)

Wednesday, August 31* 1938 VARIETY HOUSE REYIEWS VARIETY 27 RanaalFi Wand, N. Y, jbMii roumgman. The WMrUu, gStf Veimtn, Shoffften, MorioR MiiMl vmude bfll preseated here ^_!^ «etui> oper «i* nrat Here re-r SS? Wtac ttte butialcr was paced; cHcfctatonly ^s|x^ :C^ttDwup was «eQ-rounded and 2>a^niiiBii« ▼frtt'aBy *"»•» start ^mS^ Kenny Younennan, mx, tbe tuk of (El Itaat panl- SS^ the i«* totned .to by.BdiEe ^^^Xtte fifst show. Bwi 'em in a^etaat Iwsbter w»h. his: gags S!^ sarewT antics; • ^owTdiscoidaRt. i»o«e at the outset - wtte semfinft ot the pickup cresm, S^ncd by a substitute leader until .^^A^ arrived. Latter was rushed Smt from the Hoxy theatre, where iTuads the house orchestra. OutSt giroved ak it went alona howevw. id at the close did » metQey of . well rtceived Berlin tunes. Gamut of Bertto penndngs, from tte earliest to the wrtet's current Sis. was impreasrie^r &i SSSinentals. who were ads© on the last bin. weBe spJIt h(k ths^on eadi 23e of the stagey lacms mikes. Sex- M sane title lines and jBatche» of Srio^tom each favorite, then raith- Sed- in the center to Btoaa har- S^e 'Now It Can Be Toli' and ite tfUe time from 'Alexander's .Rag- ^ Band.' WeU done: Bit capped the evening's doiiigs. Ash opened the second half of the two-hour show wBh Itussian Lullaby.*^ Crowd >couldnt «et enough of the warbling of Benay venuta and Jerry cooper, spotted in. the first, and sec- M»d halves, respectively. Each forced to beg off; Miss Venuta did two cur-- tent pops and. encored with one she sang in 'Anything Goes'—'Blow. Gabriel. Blow/ Cooper repeated the tunes he did at Loew's State, N. y., a few weeks ago and encored-an un- prosive 'Stardust* ^ Whirlos' rollerrskating, act opened the show. Two girls and. boy ispun and trick-skated to rbild. applause. Girl's roUerbearinjed tap was just so-so. Foiir Dudleys, colored ~har- monizers, swung, out in nice style end were followed by Martin' and 'Davis, strong-man act Okay but stunts, followed too closely those of the Ghezzis, who- were here on the last card. '' , .. Shaggus closed, the first half of ' tte show, hysterically eisging: each other to greater efforts. Interest in the- hop as a stage nbvelty has petered out so the turn didn't mean much. Acsck high-kicker. Marion Daniels, who's beeii at the Music Hall and Astor Roof. N. Y.. this season again proved her class. Gal . mdus her flips and leg! work look ridiculously simple. Satirical ball- nnmaloeists. Jine. DuBy & Lewis, were good for a few laughs.. Smooth V<^dng coDd>ination. Yeutt8inan.'s m.c'ing and nonsense throughout was okay. ComediM coold, hbowever. dig up a few new gags. But the crowd liked 'em. APOLLO, N. Y. Zephyr, John Mason, iLa Rue, A-Vigal, Larenza. Robertott, Jimmie Barns, Haztl Diaz, Luti Rtmell Orch (14) , urith Somtv Woods. Red Allen,. George Washington, McCain 4 Jltws, Six Cotton Club Boys, House Lfne (12): 'One Wild JViffht' (20»h>, Harlem's Apollo, stronghold for colored vau'de, is swinging with Ijiiis Russell's orchestra this week in a show that's marked with coa- Biderable variety. However, the sum total doesn't measure up to more recent shows at this house. Russ^'s orch, occupying i band stand in the dosing. notdi. with a background of skyscrapers, is plenty .swingy in spotST-but only in spots.. It lacks the proper specialties that would jput it over. There's Russell, toothily personable; Red AUeh. who blows a mean trumuet but whose warbling falters on 'Body "and Soul'; George Washington, who. jitters wough 'Swinging at the Cats' Ball' and Sonny. Woods the- big clicker, Jno knocked off four tunes, includ- -™g an encore, to rouse the payees to their only real enthusiasn-i at the Mte show Friday night (2C); Out- Jioe of Woods, there's little enouKh to the specialists, ialthough Russell's hand is good enough for this sljot. Scattered attendance at show caught applauded sparingly. Russell's band J8 obviously just a breather between the belter • known bands to coine with the opening o£ the fall season hext week. - ShoW is considerably long and Jays the cob aplenty. There's Hfad Diaz, a hefty.' Westian gal, who fails to excite in a couple of spots, particularly one in which she Wttodies 'Please Be Kind' in duo With Lorenza Roberson. -whose bari- y^ng, too, isn't pai-ticulaily en- 5?"^ in the suggestive-■ number. However. Roberson effectively does » iew on his own. 'Chi ,' 'Brother Can You Snare a Dime* and 'Little I*dy Make" Believe.' ^McCain and Ross, two llalit- JUnned- adagoists. sift throucth their lj<rtjnes smoothly, po-ssessinp none ™the Gongoisms so freqiientl.v as- *wated with teams of this type. Jimmie Harris,, togged in tails, taps a bit, and well, but lacks person- ality. The Six Cotton aub Boys. frec|.uenUy on this stage, are back again with their precisionis . rou- tines; also, ia an opening sequence as mutions. of the law in the show's intrp skit Their taps on drums, while garbed in white military, is toos. Russell's band, with the leader cpostantly. at. the piano, except foe occasional introes, consists of tour saxes, .three trumpets.. -Oiree trom- bohesi guitar, bass violin and drum. &nd's swing rhythms arev mod- erated, and all to the- good, ex- cept Qtat it seems to lack dash. ' Woods' tenor is excellent and be knows how to put it over. Wai^bles 'YoM a» to Head;' 'Paradise.' This Time irs Real'- and. - for an encore, swings 'Old Man River.' House- hne, usually 16 girls, is down to 12 this, siessibn doe to the addition o£ ttie Cotton Club Boys. Biz Zephyr, John Mason, La Roe and. Vigal ate. in a couple- of poor skits." However, the aud here seems to go for thent. Embassy Newsreel^ N. Y. Mild wedc in the newsrei^. .(jhief interest in. .this bm are the sports ctipE. and the novelties. Usual assort- ment of' staged bits for laughs or publicity, but. they're not as obvi- ously faked as normally.. And for once :there'isn't a beauty contest, an artist- getting his map photoged by picking, the - loveliest women, nor even a baby' parade. - Initial subject is Frank Hawks' air crash' death. Fox shows the wreck- age of the plane, then, several, shots of .the speed flyer before his death. 'All plane* .wreckage is apt .to look pretty pulverized and this:is no ex- ception, so the cliD is merely morbid: Fathe offers Gallup's report, -via bis latest straw vote, that Uppsevelt still has a cleas-majority of voters sup^ porting him, theugh his "purges' are lessening the edge. Best Of the sports, rerfs are de- voted to tennis, with tw>3 doubles matches showing same fast net plaiy as the Australians beat the Gerroahs in the. Da-vis Clip matches (Foir) and Don Budge and Gene Mako winning at Newport (Par). Budge is also shown beating Sidney Wood (Pathe). Universal has what might have been a handout clip if it had been skill- fully handled. Subject is a'match between the champion U. S. and British blind gtd^fers. Instead of showing various closeups of the men hitting (fiffetebt shots, they, merely offer a single look at one of the men whacking a long iron, shot and folT low it with him putting, out They eveii neglect to say what scores the contestants had. Other sports subjects include Helen Wills Moody (Fox); a nihe- .yeiar-old; boy swimming the Niagara river, wi>ich doesn't lock nearly as remarkable as the commentator tries to make it sound (Fox); moppets boxing (Fox); getting footbaU equip* ment ready for the new season (U); auction sale of yearlings at Sara- toga (Par); War Admiral winning the Whitney stakes at the Spa (Pathe); a surf swim race in Cali- focnia (Par): several amazinpr bil- liard shots (Par); the national out- board championship races at Red Bank, If. J. (Pathe); a mechanical pitcher for baseball batting practice (Par) and Hank Greenberg socking a hornet; against the Athletics (Par ). Doug Corrigan. receptions in. Chi- cago (U) and Memphis (Fox) are .shown and the hewsreel fans, must by this time be as tired of the sub- ject as the flyer undoubtedly is. Two siibjects of potent international in- terest are. Admiral Balbo's visit to Germany, on which Paramount has done a bettei--than-average job, and Lord Runciman's conferences with President Benes in Prague (Pathe). Other fairly engros-sing clips m- clude the half-flnished Grand Coulee dam (Pathe), a sheep drive m the mountainous northwest (Par), the largest U. S. merchant marine ship under construction (Par), Howard Hughes landing at Floyd Bennett Airport N. Y., after a cross-country flight (Par), shots, of war games^ with a jack rabbit scampering for the tall timber. (U). 'Seeing Eye dogs in training (U), auto speed tests at Bonneville, Utah (U), designs to handle traffic of the. future by Nor- man Bel-Geddes (Pathe). Comedy is supplied by two Lew Lehr clips, one about a lazy fisher- man being a pip, and a Paramount bit on monkey antics at the St. Louis zoo (Par), here are also the cu^ tomary array of freaks, oddities and plain ho-hums in the news, to_^say nothing of tlie inevitable fashion bits. ^"O^: MUSIC HALL, A. C. (STEEL FIER) Atlantic City, Aug. 28. Ben Yost Singers (7), Ed Kaplan & Poul MohT, Bobbw Bernard. Ab- bott & Costello, Kaplan & Mohr, Tlic GHe.Tzis (2). Ben Blue, Three Ghocotateers. The usic Hall, with its min.strel- vaudcville' combo, starring Ben Blue, packed them in over the weekend. Guy Lbmbairdo in the dancehall may have had iU-, effect oh the. crowd alsol Show is Blue's. althou.Vi he has a lot of good .surrounding talent. JdG LATJBIE JB, 19 BHns.; One. lioew's State, New York It's common, talk around Broadway that to be a head- liner at Loew's. State one must be a columnist. So Joe Laurie Jr. heard about it and left his typewriter ^or a week's en- gagement as in. c. at the State thisv week. This yaungster is .withoot daubt the best actor of ' all the columnists. (Jack (^ter- man is in the night-clulx class.) i^uis Sobol.- Black Hellinger. Nick Kenny, Ted Friend, Ed Sutli-vasi Harry Hirshfield and even Hey wood Broun may all be b^ter columnists, but Laurie is the only one etigibte for a paid-up card: in Equity. For a cplUiiihist. the kid works easy—not. like he is try- ing tomake a deadline. He is confldeatial . and. homey.. He talks - politics, relations, vaca- tion. Hollywood, show business —and talks about them all re- freshingly and entertainingly. Above ,aJI. his material, is as clean and fresh as rain. How this youngster can. remerhber those gags is Yemarkable. His timing is grand, especially con- sidering he has been pounding a typewriter for a lonj*. time and hasn't been near a stage door' He is different than the other columnist-actors in that he doesn't use guest stars.. -He did want to use guestrcolumnists, but those newspaper guys are not as foolish as actors: l,aurie brings his Aunt Emma on tor a sock finish. She is Emma Francis who, at the age of 65, can show up the preseint day youngsters when she, goes to town with her' acrobatic waltz clog. She sews!'iem up tight and lets Joe take eight bows. This Laurie kid is a sure.bet for Hollywood, the Broadway stage and- even the World's Faw; He may not be the.recr ocd-buster'that Sullivan'is, but on the show< caught at Loew's State, the Strand across" the stzeelt wa^t packed. When Lau- rie's attention was called to this he said. 'What's the difference; the idea isio pack the theatres. Doe* it matter if it isn't the one you happen to be playing at?' 'We neeid;more ideas like Joe's for show-business. Joe Laurie, it. has. nothing to worry about now. He can throw his typewriter away (which- he should have done years ago). Ifs personalities like his' that will bring vaudcr ville back, if it's ever coming back. His act is good for the big 6r small time; it all der pends which will come. back first Laurie is a lesson to col- umniists and actors. He proves that the cohitanist should learn how to act and that the actors should learn how to write (and read). The exchange'would help the newspaper business, and the stage. Jolau (Known.as Joe Laurie^ Jr.) NEW ACTS FRANCES ASMS Came4y. Chaiactcr SoiiKs 2* Mini.; One .Patauoe. Chioteo ' . (Character delineator, who has. ai- mo.<;t become an. institution around here. is. back, this time at the Palace instead of the Orient^ with a new sock act Mi.ss Arms is one of the few singles today who does character songs, and pays money for new mate- rial.. Her author. Jack YeJlen. has covered Miss Arms and hiinself with credit Song. nuirJ)crs riin- gamut ofJrish, Italian and Yiddish. She's a combi- nation bf Lillian Shaw, Nellie Nich- oi.s and Fauiie Brice. Comedienne can , sing and talk equally well. Her ti Ing, sense of pomedy and handling of audiences prove .her an able showman. At show caught. Miss Arms did 20 mil tcs. split up between three num- bers and talk. She is superbly gowned in a black net di-e.ss which offsets her blonde looks witli dii;nity and aplomb. llaL (12) 'PEAUN' THE PEACH' Hotel Astor RmI, N. Y, ■ Add this to 19M's dance phenomc- ,.„„ ... ,„. na. along with bii; npplc. little peach, j |,cv sini;ini; is making^ PATBICIA ELUS With Al Slcgel Sln-tac 14 HlBS. Casa Maaana, N.- Y. .Patricia Ellis.' blonde beaut from Warner Bros, films where she's been a featured player for past few years, is the latest to come under Al Sieecl's rhythmic direction. He has given her his usual sock .arran.Qements, but Miss Ellis' voice is a little too thin for such robust twists of the pops. However, for a ■ film pci.sonality without mtich previous staRC-sin;;ing, experience she's plenty. pas:>ablc as a marquee name. Where , her voice mis.ses. out,' her looks and chassis make uo. Plenty lovely and alluring at this catching in a glqve-flt'evenins gown of gold satin. Later she switches into black, but without icing the s,a. iJelivcr.s four numbers, but only passaljly.. She is a sharp contrast to others whum Sicgel's arrangements and coaching shot to the top, namely Ethel Merman', Lillian Shade and the memorable Bee Palmer. In oiie tuiie, 'You Appeal to Me,'-Miss Ellis adds plenty to. the temp, via a thifih- iTiudinij delivery;' Sugigestive, but okay a.s y hypo for .the impression Show opens with Ben Yost Sing- ers, in mmstrel getup. An liidiilted girl does an acrobatic dance novelty to Hindu music. Bobby .Bernard goes over with a song, 'At Your Beck and Call.' Ab- bott and Costello grab off a few laughs with a magic skit. Yost Singers, as guardsmen, are thein in a medley of operetta numbers. For a real laugh getter, although it has been tried before plenty, is the haunted house skit by Kaplan, Mbhr and Abbott. The Ghezzis. two acrobats, are above" average. Their big apple upside down is best Blue then comes on and gets over some fast patter before going into some of his hit comedy dances. These include the Russian number, a dancehall skit and a minuet he did in Par's 'College Holiday.' He is helped' in the latter by an un- billed couple, taking the Burns atid Allen parts. It gets over big. The finale has' the Three Choco- lateers,' dancers, later assisted by the entiire cast, in a peckinV routine. It's an all-around good bill, al- though a bit too long in spots. PALACE, AKRON Akron, O:, Atiff. 2«. Bunny Berigiin Orch. The Three Stooges, Ruth & Bidv Ambrose, Dick Wharton, Rulh Caylor; 'Sky Giant' iRKO): About as pretentious, a bill as has been ottered at Akfon's only flesh house. Biz good, A welcome relief from the bverdont double-feature films, which: the house ha.s. been offering most of the summer. Every bit as entertaining on the stage as when appearing on the screen. The Three Stooges, who gained prominence with' the late Ted Healy, run through a.s.sault and bat- tery madness to keep the audience roaring. There's.a .straight man. but the corhlcs make very little u.se .of hi . Some of their v isccracks ai^e a.Iittle-shady, though. Bunny Berigan's .swinr; combo Is not so hot as a novelty band for the stage; A bit corny' at times, ihc band the .shag, swin.i;olO({y, the jeep dance Lambeth Walk, etc. Now it's 'Pealin the Peach;' cradled in Pawley's Is-' land, S. C, from wheiice came the big apple.. Managing director Robert K. Chi is- tcnberry of the Hotel . Astor, oh a Dixie sojourn a couple of weeks ago, ran into this;dance', done in bare feet, and ..figured it Would be a stunt, to bring the terpers north: They're holding forth at the-AstorVRoof, and, starting this week, double into the International Casino, of which Christenberry is also a directing head. Call it what you will, it's another version of the big apiile, and, as sui±, a good sight dance. Unlike the sharpie getiips on the bigrapplers, - the kids are in calicoes and overalls: Some nights the customers get hot peel off their shoeis and stockings, come out on the floor, and accept the C^blina ypuhesters'. invitation to join 'em inpealm'the peach; Maybe that has another audience, value. Basically it's good tor' a snappy 5-7 minute interlude. . It's a cheapie, and that's something else, too. ' Abel, V ic;;el is slri;;tl.v for the pi accomp. Attempts no solos,- but; again, he. rarely does. ROBERT WILDHACK Novelty 8 MIns. Casa Manama, N. Y. ."Known chiefly for. a few shorts he made oh .the Coast and a Metro film, the -first 'Broadway. Melody,' Robert Wil(;lhack comes in here after a lengthy illness. Apparently, he for- got, his spiel during the latter and had to read it at the .Casa Manana's opening show. This didn't help the pfofessoi on snoring (and sneezing). At this, spot, Wildhack is cohflning himself to the profesiohal explana- tions and imitations of Sleep-noises, leaving out the sneezes entirely, the same routine as in "Melody." Inas- much as the snoring didn't go over so well, perhaps i switch to his other forte would be in order.. Wildhack's is a shqrt comedy specialty, but a slower-upper for this show. ■ Scho. THSEE PLAYBOYS (Eddie Mills, Bob Starr; Comedy, Soncs .8 Miiu. Leon As Eddie's, New. York The Three Playboys—Eddie Mills; Bob Starr and Roy Tracy-r^are a new combo. Their energetic style of hoke siitging and ^eneral clowning. even if some of their'mannerisms don't fur- ther suggest it, would bring inevi- table recollections of Clayton, Jack- son ' and Durante. However, they're not a copy act in the strict sense, although the SchnQzzola influence is pe'rccptible. They're a nice-looking trio and work fast and hard for their funtest, with the sum total resulting in ah effective cafe, floor; interlude. What their future portefbds depends chiefly on their ihaividualities, which will have to be developed, and it must be done so.away.frbm the Clayton-Jack- son-Durante idiom. They have a bright coll tion of. comedy numbers, and- their hbkurn byplay is effective. They click here —^and Leon Se- Eddie's is no Kalama- zoo hideaway, which is something. Abel, CAROb PAIGB Soars 6 Minis. Leon & Eddie's, New York Carol.Paige is heralded as a Par- amount starlet She did a torch song bit in a recent Par. picture, 'You and. Me.' . She's a nice-liobking brunet, of fine cafe floor address; but with a slightly overdramatic style, of songaloging. It's okay stuff with tunes such as 'Night and-Day,' but^he does too much in the same: idiom and should be changed.for better pacing. Her finale,, 'Joseph, Joseph,', is an inept selectibn for her. She's best with the tbrchers. Abel. offers its tunes principally in the torrid teinpos with plenty of ;brass. Berigan is out front all the time and- gives the customers, consideirable hot trumpet He shares the. spotlight with an unprogrammed drummer, whose antics keep things, lively. Ruth Gaylor and Dick Wharton, do well with ,tlte vocalizing. Diance team of Ruth. and Billy Ambrose has jitterbug pep and ball- room grace. Their contrast between: the old-time and piresent-day dance steps is outstanding. Wardrobe ex- cellent. Mack. CAPITOL, WASH. Washington, Aug. 28. Van . Cello, Sylvia & Clernence, Steve Evaris,' George HaXl Of oh vnth Doily Damn, Phil Lampkin house orch with Leto Davey; Jimmy Tay- lor, Ralph Fox; 'The Texans.' (Par), Straight vau(Je this week with no attempt to make it anything else; George Hall's orchestra suppliefs bbth'the body and the flash to carry the bill. Opens with .southern med- ley, overture in which 'Phil Liimp- kin's pit band, with vocalist Lew Davey ,trumpeter Jimmy Taylor and drummer Ralph Fox featured; gets biggest applause in. weeks.. Curtains .split on 'Van Cello's smooth foot-junKling with barrels, di,stinctly beyond standard, to big respon.se. Goes into Sylvia and Clemence. in knockabout-Iaicrpbatics,' which are spoiled by -what- Cap audiences consider bad taste. Picks up again with Steve Evans' celebrity impersonations, slightly sickening re- alistic drunk, swell Mussolini bit aiid sock Lon Chaney encore. Hall orchestra opens \vilh 'Alex- ander's Ragtime Band' and scores with niedley of 'popular hits we In- I troduccd,' featurinj! '1 Mai'ripd An ^ Angel' and 'Music,. Maestro, Plea.se.' I Dollv . Da'wri, band Warbler, makes I ;em nice 'I Canit Give You Anything But Love,' *A-Tisket A-Tasket'. and uses boys from band in nut special- ties during 'Butcher Boy.': Band: closes strongly with 'Bugle Call Rag' and Miss^ Dawn is' back for. earned bow with Hall'. Biz fair. Craig. TOWER, K. C. Kansas City. Aug. 30. Ruje Davis, Joe Jackson, Jr., Vir- ginia Barrie, Peuyy Taylor Trio, House Line, Judy Conrad house, orch; 'The Devil's Party (.U). Rufe 'Davis is brought in this week to uphold the level of names used here past few weeks. It's his third showing in Kansas City in two years. He origiii&tcd his present' vaude act in this house two years ago. Bill is formula as to routing over the customary 40 minutes. The ■bouse Line becomes the bouncing Adorables this week with'an inllatcd rubbcrball number opening. Joe Jackson, Jr.; brings- on his' pantomime and his trick bicycle to register solidly in. 10 minutes. Said to be his pappy's former rou- tine. It was well received and gives the bill a somewhat different flavor. Jackson, the original, is cur- rently in Engiarid. In the deuce is Virginia B.^rri', billed as the Hollywood .soni,'stress, who torches the .Tike in three nu-'n- bers and regi.stcrs lixhtly. Peggy Taylor trio bcgin.s in conventional ballroom dancing attire, but gravi- tates to bui'loscjuiiitf the routine with some added acrobatics and slapstick, all in pantomime. Turp neod.s pac- iiiv, and zest. avi.s closes with hi.s strin;{ of ani- mal barnyard imitiitions. To(;k Iv.- curtain.s to satisfy custoincr.s ripen- ing night and he provides thp nio.st .satisfaction on the bill.- Show is slu.'igish compared to those of recent weeks, but bi'/. more than par opening day. Quix.