Variety (Apr 1939)

Wedniesdayt April S, 1939 ▼AUDE-MIGHT CLUBS VARIETY 4S Night Club Reviews SHOW BOAT (Continued from page 42) he succumbs, too. It's a cute Idea and they develop it nicely. Joan Grey, show's headliner, is from radio and an eye-fllling blonde with lots of salesmanship that <!Overfr an average set of pipes. Santos and Elvira are two girls who go in for some Mexican-style hooBng that's fair. Adagio trio of Brent, DeWald and Madeline has a couple of tricks that look good, but most of their stuff is pretty routine and they make It look too hard. Chorus of eight sals-is a nice precision line that sticks to the regulation prancing and paves the production way for miost of the top specialties. M.c. is Billy Keaton, who works too strenuously for his own good. Tells a few gags, sings a couple of parodies' that are lengthy without being too funny, and embarrasses customers and perform, ers alike by begging too much for applause. Music Is by Al Fremont's band, one of the likeliest looking local outfits to come up in some time. He's developed a style labeled Dot-and- Dash Rhythm, which is exactly what the name Implies, and 10-piece crew has a definite feeling for both the subtleties of sweet and the slap-bang of swing. They're all youngsters picked up around here by Fremont, an accomplished musician, ' and should go places. Featured vocalist la Leola Frazler, formerly on KDKA, a looker with pipes to match. Cohen. CHEZ PAREE (CHICAGO) Chicago, April 1. Cross & Dunn, Raye & Naldi, Ade- laide Moffett, Weire Bros, Key Tay- lor, Bob Hannon, Fred £vans en- semble, Russ Morgan's orch. Joey JacobsOn continues to give the Chez Paree patrons a solid lineup of talent and show. Russ . Morgan's orch holds over from the previous show and is a great liet nere. He has developed a real tol lowing in this town and indicates that he- will prove a coin attraction for a long time to come. Crew is a fine musical aggregation and goes on from there. They play a fine show and are tops'on dansapation. Back again are Cross and Dunn and Raye and Naldi, and both teams score without difficulty.. They ere '4vell-remembered in this nitery and are guaranteed clicks. Cross and Dunn parade some new num' bers which are okay, but wham home better with some of the old- time favs, especially 'One Hambur- ger for Madame.' Raye and Naldl •re a cUcko dance team. New here are the 'Weire Bros, and Adelaide Moffett The 'Weires are from vaudeville and they repeat their standard variety turn here. -Though hampered, due to lack of a traveler, their act still gets over well on the comedy dancing and the eccentric clowning. Miss Moffett is ■ocial and figures for appeal to the cupper crust She'ha^ a neat pair of pipes and good appearance. She doesn't come through the mike too strongly on personality, but is clean- cut and Indicates ability to satisfy with her vocals. Singles on the bill are Key Tay- lor, a little acrobatic girl dancer with a nifty figure and a good sense of showmanship, and Bob Hannon, m.c. Latter contributes an occasional vocal and manages each job satis- factorily. ; ■ Of prime Importance In the Chez of lale is the Fred Evans' production effects. He has raised the standard of the shows here to a high level. Assistant Mary Gorgas, and the eye- filling costumes conbibuted by Fran- cis Pallester, help. Indicative of the novel and dar- ing numbers infaroduced here by Evans is the current 'Arms Confer- ence' number, which includes mask Impersonations by the chorus of Hit- ler, Mussolini, Daladier, Stalin, Chamberlain and Roosevelt It takes courage to attempt something- like that In a nitery these days and Evans has carried it off fn great stylie. Gold. OMAR'S DOME, L. A. Los Angeles, March 29. Bo Jenkiris, Eunice Wilson, Cliff Ritchie, Patsy Hunter's Creole Cur ties (8), LesHite's orch (8). ■ From the looks of the ads and we baited come-on, one might de- duce here is a Coast copy of New York's Cotton Club. The ringsider *oon finds out differently. Instead of the advertised revue with 20 peo- ple, the floor capers are sloughea off by six girls and three solo spots. That not only doesn't add up to 20, but inveighs against repeaters and favorable lip service. It's an all- sepia layout on the entertainment aiite and only mildly amusing. Best of the lot is Bo Jenkins, a Stepin Fetchit type who can really clog over the wax. He's a whirlwind nifty routines. Cheapens his act however, by searching around for coins tossed by the sitters. He rates a better spot Cllq Ritchie and Eunice Wilson handle the vocals and not so fortily. Ritchie's falsetto part- 1: redeems for his other shortcom- ings. Line of six does the usual -turn, but.fast-and hot For a band that's been around as long as Les Hite's one would expect better than the sophomoric ditties they grind out .All arrangements are strictly standard and very ordinary. There's no incentive to get out and stretch the nethers and the torrid rhythms of their race are altogether lacking. For the most part they feel their way through slow, dull, tempos. HIte swings the stick from the port side and tries to act cute trucking on the stand, but it's no go. He's too portly for that and his friends should also tell him nix on the vocals. Spot is off-the-street and mid- downtown, and is one of the few that still slaps on a. convert Long bar gets a heavy midday play, but after dark biz is pretty brutal. It's nicely laid out but it takes more than that to get the spenders down- town. And that phoney come-on won't get them in more than once. . Helm. EMPIRE ROOM (WALDOKF-ASTOBIA, N. T.) Hoi Kemp orch, Judy Starr, Boh Allen, Saxie Dowell, Jack LeMaire. The Waldorf s Empire Room is less jitterbug but still swingin' now that Hal Kemp's band follows in the cy- cle established by Benny Goodman's jivers. Less murderous, Kemp still has 'em bouncing at $1 and $1.50 per cbuvert after 10:30 p. m. and at a relatively pop-priced dinner scale. For the Waldorf this is a par- ticularly smart booking because of the recent nuptials of Martha Ste- phenson, 1038 deb, and the maestro. Result is that Mrs. Kemp is unoSial- ly doing some unusual socialite trail- blazing, and both the Kempites and this informal room are. getting more than ordinary attention in Uie so- ciety columns. Kemp's showmanship Is also lii- terpreted in the form of a new 'Chestnut Tree' dance, which is a road company of the liambeth Walk. This newest importation from Lon- don was brilliantly touched off by King George VI who was shown do- ing the schoolboy 'under the spread- ing chestnut tree' routine at his Boys Camp, Southwold, England, from which Jimmy Kennedy, Tomihle Connor and Hamilton Kennedy con- trived this song for 'Peter Maurice publication (Shapiro-Bernstein has it in America). Kemp and his bride go out on the dance floor to demonstrate the rou- tine while Saxie Dowell leads the combo. Other specialists, are Judy Starr, latter a swing-singing little bundle of dynamite, who stops terp traffic whenever she vocally lives 'Hold Tight' and kindred pops. Bob Allen's vocals and Jack LeMaire's specialties also stand out The Empire Room, now that the formal Sert Room, per custom, is shuttered until after Easter Sunday, has a stranglehold on the Waldorf trade. This is the room, incidentally, which, features a Milk. Bar for the youngsters, attracted by the name *dance bands. - Abel.. SEEK JITTERBURG CURB AFTER RESIDENTS BEEF Bring Your Own Oxygen Cocktail, party tossed for el- evated workers tearing down the Sixth Ave. "L* by the McAlpin hotel (N.'y.) proved more costly than originally figured. Hotel wasted to call attention to the absence of the elevated in front of the hostelry. The 10 Invited guests came direct from work, carrying a few assorted oxygen tanks used on the job. It seems a whiff of that oxygen counteracts much of the alco- holic effect Result was that the boys consumed nearly two cases of liquor in less than an hour, - Instead of the estimated 10 quarts. SHAW AILING; MAY CANCEL Artie Shaw may cancel his week at the Palace, Cleveland, starting Friday (7). The bandman has been ill during the past week and his doc- tor has urged that he take a vaca- tion. Decision on the Cleveland date is scheduled today (Wednesday). Shaw had 'previously cancelled tl-ree one-nighters for the current week. Band plays one without him at U. of Maryland, College Park, Md., tonight (Wednesday). Pa. Nitery Operators Receive Aid From Pitt Daily in Liquor B'd Fight 15YEARSAGO« (Froni Varietv^ Britain's 'Variety Artists Federa- tion agreed' to open British vaude- ville theatres to German performers if Germany okayed British acts. His congregation protested when a Frisco minister Introduced prize fights and fancy dance' acts at Sun- day night services. Benny Leonard asked $100,000 to make a series of twp-reelers. The lightweight champ was doing a box- ing act in vaudeville. New, modem theatre construction was on the upbeat in the midwest "Vogues,' the Shubert mtistcal, didn't show b.o. possibility in its Broadway opening. Despite a good cast Including Odetfie I^tUI, J. Harold Murray, Fred Allen, Jimmy Savo, May Boley and Betty Comp- ton. Frank Smitltson and Alexander Leftwich staged. It Ain't Culture Mexico City, April 4. Taxation as chastisement is not be- ing exercised against theatres, the municipal government asserts in de- nying assertions by some revue house managers that their establish- menta Are being socked 'with extra imposts because- they permit acts that kid politics and politicians. Theatres that present works of a truly cultural nature enjoy tax re- bates, the city states. But others do not Camden, N. X, April 4. Hepcats and jitterbugs have done their last bit of rug-cutting in Gloucester county, principal scene of such activityTln Soilth Jersey, if four drastic measures introduced in a surprise move by the commission- ers Thursday (30) are enacted. Ac- tion is being urged for speedy pas- sage following complaints by sleep-' less' residents against after-dark terping to s'wfing crews. Measures also aim to clamp down on the jitterbugs by banning kids out after 9 p. m., prohibiting 'loud and offensive' talking, prohibiting loiter- ing of persons 'who might indulge in offensive actions' and banning roller skating after 9 p. m. - Tap would be $50 for disolieying.- onoe he takes oS and uncorks some In August Paul Draper Sa3s After a layoff of several weeks, due to an operation to remove sev- eral growths on .his feet Paul Draper sailed from New York Sat- urday (1) for London, where he'll open an eight-week engagement April 12, at the Cafe de Paris. Tentatively set to do a series of con- cert dates through Eui'ope after that and to return to the U. S. late In June or early In July. Opens at the Chez Paree, Chicago Pecks of Georgia (Continued from page 2) State Insurance Taxes, paid by the plaintiff during the years 1935-1937. Phllly Oearance Snit Philadelphia, AprU 4. Suit Is being prepared here, by State Senator Harry Shapiro to ob- tain better clearance and product for the Landis theatre,' Vineland, N. J. House competes tvith two Warner theatres in the South Jersey town, foll owin g them on nms. It complains the 'WB demands unreasonable clear- ance from exchanges, and that It bot- tles up more product than can be used. Similar suits started by Shapiro for Herb Elliott of the Fern Rock theatre, Philly, last fall, was settled out of court under an a.greement fa- vorable to Elliott Vineland house is practically a cooperative venture owned by every merchant in the town. It is owned by the Cumber land Holding Co., in which 70 mer- chants have stock. ■ Former Congressman Ben Golder, recently named by Warners to hear indie complaints against them, on product and clearance and act as a 'buffer, has already amicably settled a number of grievances in Philly. He was somewhat 'Surprised, -however, he told Variety yesterday, at the small number of squawks there actu- ally are. Elinor Glyn's Tliree Weeks' at the Capitol and 'Beau Brummel' at the Strand were fighting it out for film b.o. supremacy on Broadway. Con- rad Nagel and Aileen Pringle were in the former and John Barrymore starred in the latter. Lewis Sc Gordon presented an Im- posing legit cast In a Palace head- lining act 'Apartments To Let' in- cluded Janet Beecher, Violet Kem- ble-Cooper, Olive Wyndham and Harry C. Brown. Howard Lindsay and Elliott Nugent wrote it The Broadway legit hits Included Abie's Irish Rose,' 'Artists and Models,' 'Beggar on Horseback,' 'Chariot's Revue,'- "Cyrano de .B'er- gerac,' 'Kid Boots,' 'Outward Bound,' 'Rain,' 'Seventh Heaven,' 'Stepping Stones,' The Nervous Wreck,' The Show-off*, and 'White Cargo.' Equity sought help from actors abroad to support the union in its proposed strllce against the Broad- way managers. Move to Dismiss Momand Oklahoma City, April 4. Defendants in the $4,500,000 A. B, Momand suit against major produc- ers, distributors and circuits in fed- er^ court here have filed two mo- tions to dismiss the suits following filing of Momand's bill of particulars. Four reasons are listed in support of the request that the court dismiss the suits;l..(a.)_.jailure..tp .state a clajm upon which relief can be granted; (b) because assignments by compsr nies to Momand are 'champertous' ^nd against public policy; (c) "be- caiise the plaintiff is not the real party in interest and entitled to maintain this action,' and (d) be- cause damages named are not recov^ erable damages,, and specific damages claimed are not stated as 'required by rule 9 (g) of the new Federal rules of civil procedure.' Suit has .been pending In Judge A. P. Murrah's U. S. district court for the Western -District of Oklahoma for several months, with hearings de- voted to motions and connter- motlons. 2 Thugs Stick Up PhiUf Cafe, Scram with Receipts Philadelphia, AprU 4. Two holdup men escaped with be- tween $300 and $500 receipts from the 1523 Club here Saturday (1) morning after tying up the. watch- man. Thugs gainted admittance by posing as delivery men. They - apparently knew that the watchman, James Ryan, 67, father- in-law of Ike Beifel; operator of the club, was in the habit of carrying the previous night's receipts on him. Coast Troc Reopens Los Angeles, AprU 4, The Trocaderco nee the No. 1 spot of the county strip and .nocturnal hangout of .the<plcture mob, unshut- ters May . 1 under a new name. Felix Young, variously an agent and producer, has taken a 15-year lease on the bistro and will bring in two name bands. Room will be remodeled to accom- modate 600. ' Cafe Prop. Suicides St Louis,'April 4. Augustus Seals, former owner of Skipper's Inn, a waterfront nitery closed by Excise Commissioner Mc- Daniel because of aUeged disorderly conduct in the place, dl<>d in City Hospital here last wee shortly after he had swallowed poison in a South S*. Louis restaurant Seals, 33, is reported to have beei; despondent since his nitery was shuttered. Faith in Biyiera Opener Faith Bacon will be In the open- ing show at Ben Marden's Riviera, Ft. Lee, N. J., beginning May 4. Miss Bacon is currently at Fays, PhUadelphia, with her 'Bare X Ranch' liiiit' ' . Chester Hale wlU routine 25 show- girls for baUet and tableaux presen<- tatlons at the Riviera this year. Joe & Lewis, in.c;'s the opening diow. Pittsburgh. AprU 4. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette went to bat last week for nitery and hotel owners In their fight against the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. The daily, in an editorial, hinted that license directors would be wise to keep an eye only on booze violations and let amusement hours, etc, en- tirely up to local governments. Cafe and hotel operators claim the Board is weU on the way to damr aging their business irreparably. They point out that Saturday is their biggest night in the week, the one chance they have of getting off the nut end insist that if the. Board in- sists that all music stop promptly at midnight itil practically mean ruin. It's a fact, around here especially, that Saturday night crowds seldom start out before 10:30 pjn. Stopping booze sales at midnight Saturckor is okay, owners say, because customers can order before that; but if music and entertainment must also stop then, operators, further point out, their goose is cooked because nobody will show up for diversion of just an hour and a half. That was proved last weekend when roadhouses, forced to close at midnight did Uttle biz and down- town oases, where local law permits music to continue until 2 a.m. -Sun- day, were jammed tight However, it's understood the Board plans to take amusement regulations a'way from communities and place It gen- erally under its own ' supervision, which would mean a general mid- night curfew Saturday. ,■ That's the Board's right under the liquor law, but untU recent Inaugu- ration of GOP Governor James It had never been enforced, and. music and dancing were permitted after the booze curfew,- so long as no liquor was peddled. One night club operator conservatively estimated that If Sunday midnight closing be- came prevalent. It 'would cost spots In AUegheny County c^one more than $l;000,000 a year. 4 INCUMBENTS TO RUN FOR AFA'S COUNCIL Nominations for the AmMcan Federation of Actors council, to be elected at the AFA's annual meeting May 9 at th« Edison hotel, New York, were made thli week. Terms aire for four years. Those selected Include Rudy Val- lee, SaUy Rand, Jed Dooley, Walter J. Diggs (all Incumbents), Joseph Smith (and Dale), Avis Andrews, Lew Taylor and Adye Alyn (repre- senting the chonjs). Nominating committee included Eddie Garr and Frank J. Lynch, from the council, and Jack Kramer, Lester Rose and Robert Stone, selected by the mem- bership. Fire Destroys Niteiy Closed by Authorities New Orleaiis, AprU 4. Authorities are Investigating a firs which early Saturday (1) destroyed the Turf club, nitery In Clarksdale^ near here. The club was padlocked 10 days ago by order of Judge WUliam .A. Acorn In circuit court, Clarksdale^ foUowing a grand jury Investigation of night clubs in Coahoma coun^. Gambling had been reported at the turf. Won't Enjom Monte Carlo Injtmctlon sought by the Monte Carlo Catering Co. of New York to prevent the use of the Monte Carlo name by Felix Ferry's new Gotham nitery of that tag was denied by N. Y. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Hofstadter' Friday (31), Rosenblatt & Jaffe represented Ferry. SCilt is now scheduled for an early trial. BACK ID CAFE BIZ Pittsburgh, AprU 4. John Lazarro, former nitery oper« ator in Pittsburgh, has returned to the field after an absence of almost 10 years, taking over the downtown Tropldal Gardens, Gardens, formerly the Italian Gar- dens, was so)d at sheriff's sale, re- cently, with' Lazarro taking it up along wlth.Itzi Covato, band leader.