Variety (Nov 1938)

VcJncsday, November 30, 1938 VARIETY HOUSE REVIEWS VARIETY 45 APOLLO, N. Y. Baby Briscoe's Orch, Desotee Auraiider, Joe Johnson, Slim & Ed iS^Louis !c Van, Willie Bryant, nroion Twins, Jackie Mahley, John £e 'Higgi ns Fam ily' (Rep). ■Mouse spends 100 minutes with its .Vftw this weelc but doesn't get that ffS quality out of the bill. Com- of John La Rue and Jackie Mab- •S? plus suaye M.C. Willie Bryant, rioesmuch to entertain but the others In lineup constitute , little more than ■tflfie waits. Name or semi-name hnnd policy here has been whacked Sroresence of Baby Briscoe's all- %i orchestra, which obviously Sdesn't tax the house ijayroU greatly. Girls come in. about midway and ttere the lag starts. They,don't even Slay well enough to background acts esldes being poor in their own of- ferings. A local fave, Bryant, ca- Mble Negro m.c, holds an audience ^11 He's been here for a month and looks to stay,, ■ Desoree Alexander, diminutive,so wano," opens the bill. Joe Johnson, ffi^i show's producer,/ doubles this week, following Miss Alexander with a song. Pair th^n go into a dance routine with the line. ^Tohnspn's ex- cellent timing with the girls, is ex- Slftiacd by fact that, he created thie difficult number. . • Slim and Eddie,- tall and short jSancers and tumblers,, take deuce mot. Try too hard to be smart, but are only mediocre. The taller lad .does most of comic, stuff. He's dressed in dirty, .misshapen white tails and has a deadpan.. Smaller one is flashily dressed and confines Himself to somersaults'and flips. Brown Twins, girt tap duo, for meirly at the Cotton Club, N; Y., work fjiemselves out of a nautical produc- tiort' number into a dance. They're lookers and offer some excellent chUiertge work. Veer" some from thfe stereotyped style. ^ Lewis and Van, white male team, tap on pyra- mided stairs to top the show. They're Mnurt in tails and because of uni j(o)nnity in size. • Comedy blackouts are still blue in th6 hands of the glib Bryant and La Rue. Miss Mabley works in one blue bit without too much effect She later wows with doubletdlk rou- tine in an all-girl navy bit, in which the line girls are used^ with Bryant «s'captain. ' - Three production numbers, besides Unale, this week help to make up fo.r.the paucity of satisfactory talent usually'found here. Show runs too long^ band accounting for much of the time. Hurl. TOWER, K. C. Kansas City, Nov. 25. fiernie. Cummins Orch, Tommy Mdrtin, Steve Evans, Three Sophis- ticates, Connie Barleau,WalterCum- mins house line; 'Campus Confes- •ioiw* (Per). Stage show continues the policy of name bands, with.Bernie Cum- mins,' who held forth in K. C.'s Muehleb&ch' Grill several years ago. On,less than ah hour, the band's Hcceptable. Cummins batons, m.c.s and war- bles. ' Band is featured at the open- ing and later in a medley. From "Hie orchestra Cummins offers Con- nie Barleau, torch singer, who's Bjoaooth with her current pops and ti$t favorites. Walter Cummins, rother of the leader, steps out of •the band to reveal a ^oice and style - timed' solely at the femmes. Tommy Martin exhibits his «i6ight-of-hand well. Acrobatics are handled lay the Three Sophisticates, •lemmes, who opien with a class wont but quickly divert to slap- stick teroing and, gyn\nastics. • Steve Evans's strong impersona- tions include film favorites, Popeye ana a drunk. House line is on for fl: brace of numbers. ^Biz fair. Quin. Embassy Newsreel, N. Y. ^a^^ Chinese holocaust with scenes Of the burning cities of Canton and flankow depict the hopeless struggle 5?5 ^country laid desolate are un- S>^§ettably etched by the cameras S7« week's reels. Undertones in ^•n: V""^^* follow UD these scenes wun solemn warnijigs from speakers o5 nS? 8rt"-Nazi mass meeting which ^,000 attended last week at Madi- ^^'^i. Square Garden, and a plea by ^"*Dishop of Canterbury for world RSi, f• ",'he annual memorial serv- ices for the 'forgotten soldier* at the Cenotaph fn Whithall, London. "--.Activity on the Spanish fighting wi?: " lightly touched upon, nemg confined to scenes of Insurgent ^mbing from the air on the Ebro 'lv^2^^?5® °^ newsreels are even- «^ divided between oddities in the sports, fashions and two li'^^oy subjects by Movietone's Lew tn^l: sport fans ail-American Ynii'^ll selections and the Harvard- aitt\ SS^umbia-Syracuse and N. Y. S?ljn to?®" Bay Packers games hi^rf'^u" interest topics take one be- "Jflo the scenes at the annual win- On«.*'^'^'"S the Metropolitan GTa»* C9mpany in New York, where .C'?.v»nni Martinelli, Lawrence Tib- mat;?^^ ^^^'^Bi Caniglia are shown Gn<^J^'"P ^o'' their roles in 'Otello.' ^ood angle shots from the overhead wings, -opening scene and curtain congratulations complete a light hearted, interlude, . Society gets a break with a ibeagle hunt on Long Island, blue-bloods climbing fences and following the hounds on foot in chase of the elu- sivfe hare, and feminine interest will be held by fashion hints at the Mel- bourne Cup Races in Australia and Movietone hints for summer beach and sport fashions." Of general interest is a Chicago dog show, a colorful parade in Mex- ico City commemorating the 28th an- niversary of the Madero revolution; tryout of new 'baby' motor car in France, which costs $185 and scuttles about under big trucks and other traffic protuberances; Christmas tree cutting and shipping in Oregon and Washington; distribution of clothing to the needy by a Kansas City mer chant, which is an annual good-Sa' maritan affair; and holing through /of a 13-mile mountain tunnel in Colo- rado to supply water for the Pacific coast. Pirofi Lehr's humorous expositions this week are confined to the tryout of a rocket-bicycle and an ice-skat ing bear, the pnly one of its kind. PALACE, CLEVE. Cleveland, Nov. 26. Yacopi Troupe; Marjortc Gains worth, Red Dust & Robert Williams; Jack Holland &' Jime' Hart; Ben Blue; 'Just Around the Corner' (20 th). House has been trying to avoid the vaude label by ballyhooing its third - flesh show ' of the season . as a 'personal appearance presentation.' But it's- still good, old-fashioned vaude.. . Beii. Blue, not seen, here since spring, has a couple of new bits that refreshen his routine. One is a take-off on an old-time- minuet in French costumes and aided by two dancers, after the fashion of his 'Col- lege Holidiay' scene. It's lively hoke carrying some Hearty laughs, but the finale needs strengthening. Pan .tomimic steps, travesty- on Russian dancer, and skit with a dime-a-dance gal are better timed and funnier. Topper for Thanksgiving crowds was Robert Williams' trained canine. Red Dust, who runs through a series of remarkable tricks that hkve more humorous showmanshp thah when last seen. In the' deuce spot, this act is the bill's real warmer-upper, though the Yacopi troupe gives, a snappy opening with its flashy triple- somersault work from springboards^ Smartest items are Marjorie Gains- worth and the-team of Jack Holland and June Hart. Latter, who have used the same setting for three sea- sons, galvanize it with some of the slickest, swirling ballroom terping the Palace has had this semester, Mid-air spins are so airy and expert that they would have been punchier than Ben Blue in the close. Marjorie Gainsworth's pipes are golden-toned, but wasted in swing numbers that this house is tired of. Her Manhattan medley sustains in- terest,' however, and 'Traviata' aria is more like what they want. Show is okay biit Nat Holt missed a good bet in not moving the pit orchestra on stage to provide a more vivid background. Pullen. SENATOR, PITT. Pittsburgh, Nov. 25. John Boles, Brian MacDonald, Jerry JWayhall house orch (8); 'Service de Luxe' W). Gay Nineties coat for 'Waiting at the Gate for Katie.' Winds up with 'Fol lowing the Sun. Around.' Boles has a splendid voice and glib stage personality and could have easily done more, but the limit's 10 minutes and that's all he does. Sen- ator no doubt figured ohiefly on his name value as a lure for the get- away of a new. venture and, as such. Boles fills the bill. House next week goes double-feature, sans stage show. Cohen. Nite Club Reviews; Plantation Club, N. Y. (Continued from page 42) their knockabout-acro stepping. Con way and Parks, another male team, do well with one song and then .prove they are better . dancers than bal- ladeers. Lillian Fitz(;erald cornbines neat vocalizing with some hotcha terp efforts. Joyce Be.asley's looks surmount her tapping number. Ross Collins, thei Misses Beasley and Fitz Rerald and Joe Adels lead the sing- ing and dancing of ..the. ensembles, Okay' with the oipes. Finale intrbs a new dance. 'Slap Happy.' 'Skeets' Tolbert's band, playing for dancing and show,., is ideally suit- ed this room, not blasting as' do many similar..swing crews. - Lee Simmons, former pianist and singer at the 'Ubangi, is manipulating the ivories between shows and the danc- ing'to strong returns. Wear. COLONY CLUB (CHICAGO) .Chicogo, JVow. 26. Nan Blakstone, Hugo De Paul Orch, Jose Manzanares Orch. This place, built last year by Dollie Weisberg as a standard nitery, folded quickly. It has now. been re- opened by Sonny Goldstone -and Nick Dean, - formerly associated in the Yacht Club here. These two have given Chicago a class soot that has plenty of atmosphere. Tariff is designed to keep out the college boys and the budget entertainment cus- tomers. The $2 weekday minimum doesn't come close to paying for the avera.ee check,' Other than the two orchestras, one a straight American aggregatioh and the other. a rhuniba and tango grouD, the only entertainment ■ cur- rently is Nan Blakstone, who hab dignity,' charm, showmanship and good material, , While Miss Blakstone . retains plenty of material that has sex snap, she has nevertheless, polished her routines smartly. The former corny blue stuff has been eliminated anii reniaced by new shining lyrics that, while sexy, are not offensive. She rates as surefire for the smart spots in the key cities. Assisting her is a young pianist with whom Miss Blakstone occasionally tosses off some crossfire. Among Miss Blakstone's top num- bers are a pianolog impression of 'Rain.' the' musical protesn .sketch, 'Ferdinand, the Bull' and 'A Modern Lullaby.' Hueo dePaul's orchestra plays for straight hoofing. and as the floor show accompaniment. Josp Manzan- ares is the rhumba gtoun. The Cuban aferegation has plenty for the tango- ists. Newest house on the Harris circuit is Loew's Old Aldine. With arrival of de luxe Penn and Stanley, spot fell on lean days, drifting into slough pictures for Loew's and finally clos- ing'in 1934 for keeps. It's been dark since only because Loew long-term, lease didri't expire until last August, Now remodeled at a cost of around $130,000 and marking the 20th link in the reorganized Harris chain, it looks better than the old Aldine ever did, but can't hope to recap- ture , that spot's biz because times have changed. Theatrical center has shifted to the other end of town, and furthermore the Harrises have no thought of keeping it on a perma- nent flesh policy. Main idea is to first-run product which the Harris outfit has contracted for, but can't use at its No. 1 downtown, house, the Alvin. also to play latter's pic- tures, which warrant holdover. House seats 1,850. Inaugural stage bill isn't really a firesentation, but more of a concert, t coiisists only of John Boles, but class he lends to the opening is worth the single spotting. However, just possible that flock of customers expecting to see flesh as they know it around here will be disappointed. He might have been surrounded with at least a couple of additional turns, just for the push-off anyway. Boles i.s introduced by Brian Mc- Donald, former musical comedy leading man and now a local radio m, c. He's an accompanied by Jerry Mayhall's eight-piece house crew in pit. Boles comes on nattily garbed in tails, and goes immediately into his song cycle without any prelimi- nary gabbing. Starts with 'One Alone,' then into the title tune from 'Rio Rita,' followed by a quick change on stage into bowler hat and VILLAGE BARN, N. Y. Johnny Howard, Don Loper & Maxine Barrat, Vera Fern, Vira Niva, Schnickelfritz Band, Jack Sherr Orch. Schnickelfritz band, which heads new show here, is made to order for this type of nitery. Its corny music, novel twists and all-round stuff goes over big.' The Schnickelfritzers flt better in this environment than at the uptown Paradise, where they played some time ago. Surrounding show is handled by Johnny Howard, personable m.c. He has a nice voice and uses crisp quips to break monotony of introducing different turns. Standing out in sur- rounding talent is the dance combo of Don Loper and Maxine Barrat, programmed as the De la Penhas, but who are introduced under their names. Two pertly-garbed dancers work easily. After opening ballroom number, a waltz with variations and a peppy Parisian conceit are em- ployed as encores to vigorous re- turns. Vira Niva, billed as a Continental singing star, features Russian tunes but does equally well with a couple of American songs, including 'Make Believe.' She's attractively gowned and a looker. Vera Fern, petite brunet, does nicely with semi-acro- batic twists and high kicks. Jack Sherr, leader of V.B.'s or- chestra, is spotlighted for his one- man band repertoire, climaxing with clarinet and sax at same time. Or- chestra is properly geared for the room. Pappy is still present calling the square dances and running the games for those who seem to go for that sort of thing. Barn has become a 'must' stop for out-of-towners tour- ing the Village. Wear. NEW ACTS NORA SHERIDAN With Alien Jones Songrs 7 Mins. Le Reuban Bleu, New York Allen Jones to Nora Sheridan is more than a piano player. He's her author, and that means he's more than 50% of Miss Sheridan's act, al- though she's a competent 'enough in- terpreter of the saucy lyrics he's fashioned for her. But it's the ma- terial primarily. Miss Sheridan is an alumna of the chorus, from accounts, who decided that' there was gold in them thar double-entendres, and she's proving it. First off, she is a fetching per- sonality with a wide-eyed expression that almost whoUy disarms tne lyri- cal ^pice. Furthermore, the word- age isn't just dirty—it's clever. Her opener, wherein she explains why she 'can't sing a- dirty song,' is a gem. Thereafter, accompanist Jones has taken 'Remember Me' and 'Week-end of Private Secretary* and parodyized them into rhapso- dies. Formei' is 'a pert paraphrase, and' the Thumba-rhyithmed -discourse is done a la 10th avenoo, a credit to the writing and the interpretation: Nora Sheridan is new, but she'll he heard from pronto, especially in the -smarter boite? which,' being iso" called 'smart,' accept-the' spice where, in other environment; it might- be deemed raw. That's just one of. the vagaries of cafe society. Abel. DIZZT DEAN and'BOB ELSON Gab 12 Mins.; One Palace, Chicago Dean is a great diamond attraction, and.Elson has plenty of following as a baseball and sports spieler over WGN and Mutual. But this baseball and ether strength is not translated 4o the stage. This is a typical 'personal appearr ance' in the. dreariest sense of the phrase, since neither Elson nor Dean offer entertainment but merely a chance to get a -load of Dean in per- son. He is interviewed in the same setup, that Elson uses for his be- fore-the-game gabfests at the ball- park, but nothing happens. Dean teUs a couple of anecdotes which have no particular punch for the general public,, but he does say he's glad to be with the. Chicago Cubs. Theii he names an all-star ball club. While he's catching his-breath Elson tips the audience off to the way in which off-the-tape broadcasts ' are made.- At the show caught Dean kept shading his eyes to peer out into the auditorium. £te begins covmting.' He gets up to 10, then he quits and laughs. He shrugs his shoulders, le's got a split figure to shoot at in lis contract. He'll make taore money in the pinochle'game back.<;tage. than he will from that sharing tiause. , ' ' Gold. DICK and LEOTA NASH Variety 13 Mins. Earle, Phllly Nice-looking brother and sister act provide good 'medium-priced comedy fill-in turn: With a variety of talentsr all pretty much good for chuckles, they sustain jAt^rest and are satisfactory divertissenfient with- out exhibbing anything sensational. Get under way with a ;n.s.h. gag of attempting to sing through a dead mike and then turn to-patter be- tween them, good.' Resort to a bit of cnockabout,' kicking 'each' other in the seat of humof, which is funny enough as they do it. Followed by a 3urlesque of ■ Ginger Rogers and : i'red Astaire dancing, very good. Then, while gal skips off, he turns :o rope-spinning and gagging, a la Will Rogers, getting tn some telling .aughs, in a slow, dry way of deliv- ering. Femme returns recostumed to reveal oke gams, there's more chaf- er, knockabout and a flash finale of )oth skipping through a rope, which is good. Herb. HAZEtj FRANKLIN Ice-skatinc 10 Mins. Duquesne Garden, Pitt Little 13-year-old whiz from Eng- land is a miniature edition of Sonja Henie. Nothing quite like the young lady on ice aside from the incom- Ijarable Swede and tiny Miss Frank- in's bound to be right up there with her in a couple of seasons. Kid has everything, looks galore—resembles Shirley Temple—and talent that re- veals plenty of hard work and train- ing. Nothing youngster can't do, on the silver blades, and she makes it [ook graceful and simple. Takes the toughest spins in her stride, upright and in a sitting position; cuts every possible fancy figure; executes everything at amazing speed, and does it all with class and showman- ship that belie her years. Kiddie is smartly gowned, too. Which helps considerably, but in any kind of outfit, she'd be a sensation. H6r youth makes it doubly easy for Miss Franklin, but she doesn't de- pend on that. Gets by strictly On merits and makes the best of them look none too good. A natural for pix—and anything else Cohen, ERIC BLORE Comedy 7 Mins. Earle, Philly Famed 'gentleman's gentleman' of the screen making his first p.a. in this country this week following re- turn from work on the WB lot in England. Booking was made at the last minute, and Blore evidences he had no opportunity to get anything in the way Of material. With some- thing to do and something to say, English comic would be a natural. As it is, although he works hard, he has nothing to work with, and he's pretty much an interlude. Whatever value he has is strictly from k mar- quee' standpoint, certainly not from entertainment. With his pleasing personality and his humorous English diction, Blore has a good; start right off the bat. Trucking onto the stage to swing music it's ludicrous enough to be funny. . But there -it ^tops, Frankly admitting to the audience that the jokes *nd stories"hfe knows are blah," he sets, out to prove it and ^oes. •After a few duds,; goes- Into a de-' scription of an international chess game as one of the network sports gabbers would, do it. FoUows with .bittlesque of English announcer do- ing the Grand National at Aintree. Its all very slow. Likewise his at- tempts at piattering ditties. - Better no doubt would be to drag In the names of some pix in which he has played ; and perhaps resort to 4:he pld stuff, of doing a iscene from one or more of .them. Working as a gentleman's gentleman, with straight-man as the gent, would also seeni to have better possibilities.for- keeping him in his element and gag- _____ BURT LATTON'S 4 FLIRTS Danclnr 10 Mins. Plasa Cafe, Pittsburgh Pittsburgh dance Instructor. Burt Layton, has picked out foiur attrac- tive young femmes and worked out a flash dance act that,looks like the goods. It's something'on the order of the old two-a-day hoofing turns brought up to date and made to con- form with modern nitery require* 'ments. Would also flt into theatre work but with present setup it's bet- ter suited to cafe floors. .. Layton works along with the quar- tet, all of them able tap-terpers and with enough production novelty to eliminate the curse of conventional- ity. They start , with a dance built around 'In My Merry Qldsmobile.* Dressed in old-time auto' dusters and get the Gay Nineties stuff across nimbly in footwork. Later come out with gals in scantieS and Layton tails and each of them carrying a minia- ture xylophone, on which they tap out minor little tunes between steps. It's cute and over big. Flirts, all good-lookers, can also contribute a specialty, ranging all the way from toe ballet to acrobatics. Versatile quintet is okay for any- body's floor. Cohen. ROT ROGERS and Co. (3) Cowboy Songs 17 Mins. Colonial, Lincoln, Neb. Yokelry will bite on a certain bashful charm possessed by Repub- lic's singing star, Roy Rogers, who bowed in here .for, the beginning of six weeks of personal ajppearnces which will take him east to Boston. Rogers is no greenie on p.a.'s, hav- ing :been the organizer of the hill- billy outfit. Sons of the Pioneers, whijch, sans himself, rides with a screen contract at Columbia. With a trio at his back, accordion, fiddle and mandolinl he sings five tunes from his four films so far, and throws in a little homely talk and homelier gags. All get Over strong with the adolescent trade and satisfactory to the western clientele. Rep is paying the freight on this' tour to establish Rogers further, after his sudden jump into the breach last spring when Gene Autry was pouting for more money. Barn. Nitery Placements Onyx Club, N. Y,, switched shows Friday (25) bringing in Merry Macs, quartet from radio, who make their night club debut; Carl Kress, guitar- ist; Dr. Sausage and Pork Chops, swing sextet; Jack Connor;;, vibra- phone, and Jack Jenney's orchestra. Greta Keller, Le Ruban Bleu. Paul and Grace Hartman return to Persian Room, Hotel Plaza, N. Y., Jan, 17. Ruth Landi, Jane Manner, Vera Fern. Le Mirage. N, Y,, Nov. 26. Dolly Dayis, Bill Woodrow chirp- ing at Hotel Lexington, N. Y. Jerry Kruger, swing songstress, re- cently at Famous Door, N. Y„ torch- ing at Leon & Eddie's, N. Y„ Dec. 6. Andrews Sisters. Belmont Plaza hotel, N. Y., Dec, 13, Carol Bruce, recently at Midnight Sun, N. Y„ switches to-Hi-Hat Club, Chicago, Dec. 2.