Variety (Nov 1939)

54 VARIETY VARIETY HOUSE REVIEWS Wednesday, November 15, 1939 FLATBUSH, B'KLYN (Continued from page 51) numbers on the eccentric side, and it's fairly amusing at first. Material is screwball stuff, as indicated by the titles—The Tragedy of Agnes Mouth- wash,' 'The Mystery of the Revolving Treetrunk,' and something about be- ing a goon and wanting to eat spin- ach. Lad bangs a nasty piano, but he should tone down his vocal delivery and facial contortions, which are ■without a trace of subtlety, lack vari- ation and expressiveness, and readily become monotonous. With proper handling and experience, Copp might develop into a name attraction such as Dwight Fiske. But lie has lots to learn. Balance of the show includes Ber- nice Stone, a standard acrobatic terp turn; Lynn Burroughs, vocalist with the band, and Dicky 'Stinky' Rogers, pianist and comedy vocalist with the orch. Mis.s Stone, who has a brief and effective offering, opens the vaude portion of the bill. Remark- ably enough, considering her profi- ciency otherwise, she can't kick with the left foot. Miss Burroughs, blonde, passable looking and becomingly gowned in black, just about gets by. Has an attractive manner, but her enunciation isn't particularly clear and she apparently lacks a combust- ible rhythm sense. Rogers, after grabbing the audi- ence with that barroom anthem, •Irish Eyes,' clowns through a com- position of his own, which he calls Vulius Caesar,' for no apparent rea- son. It's a pointless song, but it can be turned into a rousing rhythm number, and Rogers embellishes it ■with plenty of microphone antics. Best offering he does is 'Dinah' in various dialects and styles of de- livery, after which he does the oldie of the differently aged schoolboys asking a girl to dance. Kobe. quently deliver. Shoulder jumps, two and three high, without the use of tceterboards, and other gravity- defying bits are duck soup to them. Heading the bill is Jean Parker, from Alms, who christened the the- atre boxoffice opening day with a bottle of bubble water. She didn't do much besides look pretty and talk a little, both of which enable her to go over. Pat. KEITH'S, BOSTON ORPHEUM, MPLS. GOLDEN GATE, FRISCO Son FTonciico, Nov. 9. Flo & Bob Robiiwon, Oldfield & Ware, Lillian Roth, Ritz Bros., Jay Brower House Orch, The Golden Cote Beauties (12); Three Sons' Heading what would still be a good show even without them, the wacky Ritz Bros., for a reported $7,500, make the Golden Gate stage offering this week one of the towns better draws. The 55-minute vaude opens with the Beauties, line, assisted by Jay Brower's band, in a song and dance routine of 'Clap Hands with m.c. Brower doing a chorus. Next, Flo and Bob Robinson, redheaded sister- brother tap, jig and reel session, solb and together. Bright costumes and youthful exuberance help so-so dancing to draw good hand. Next are the girls In 'Jump Ses- sion,' aided by the band. It's a unique and ably executed routine with a double costume effect; one fore an(} another aft. This is fol- lowed by former stage musical and screen singer, tiillian Roth, who's in a comeback after several years of retirement. Has a powerful, dramatic voice and does four songs, the best of which is 'I Married an Angel.' Emmett Oldfield and Eddie Ware, with burlesque acrobatics and a very funny routine in which the"y keep tieing themselves in knots, had the opening show's full house rock- ing with laughter. Their facial ex- pressions alone, without their amaz- ing torso-twisting, are good lor plenty of laughs. Then the Ritzes. Songs, dances, funny sayings and plenty of mug- ging, at which they are especially adept, plus skads of enthusiasm and hard work, earn prolonged applause and laughter. A burlesque on a • scene from 'Snow' Whitie' is particu- larly funny slapstick. Pot. Downtown, Oakland Oakland, Nov. 10. Jean Parker, Joe Frisco, Tyler, Post & Thorn, Six Danilos, Derby & Rudded, Dean Maddux, Medley & Dupree, Freddie Lamkin's Orch. Reopened after a $50,000 refur- bishing job, the Downtown brings vaudeville back to Oakland. Ac- cording to manager Rene LaMarr, the I'evival is 'for keeps.' With Dean Maddux, oiie of'the bay area's best known and best liked radio personalities as m.c, somewhat handicapped by a new public address system not yet in top working order, show started opening day with Derby and Ruddell doing some fancy acrobatics and pole bal- ancing. Followed by the vet Joe Frisco, with his perennial softshoe dances and droll stories. He still has what it takes and goes over big. Next are Tyler, Post and Thorn, in a variety of dances, culminating with a knock- out slow-motion routine, as funny as it is ably executed. More funny stuff, with Medley and Dupree doing old-established routines—songs, dances and witti- cisms—in modern manner. The Six Danilos, fresh from Australia, are next, with a buildup by Maddux that promises much and they subsc- Afinn«apolis, Nov. 11. Phil Spitalny Orch .(28), Maxiiie, 3 Little Words, Ro.'ialtiid and Lola, Gypsy Farmer,. June Lorraine; 'Daricing Co-Ed' (JVf-C). This 'Hour of Charm' is everything that the name implies and more. As far as nifty mUsic and other pleas- antries are concerned, band is, of course, among the tops. For sheer showmanship, Spitalny needs take a backseat for no one. Staging lighting and costuming also rate superlatives. Spitalny's choice of numbers is surefire and the ar- rangements, too, are nifties. Maxine scores, as usual, with vocals. Violin numbers by Evelyn and piano contributions from Rosa- lind and Lola win deserved applause. For diversification there's a corking novelty dance specialty by Gypsy Farmer, additional tcrps by an unr programmed young man, the only non-femme, aside from Spitalny, in the troupe, and clever impersona- tions of screen and radio personali- ties by June Lorraine. The 3 Little Words lend some nice vocaling. A near-capacity house at the open- ing matinee. Rees. CARLTON, JAMAICA Boston, Nov. 9. Four Collegians, Pansu the Horse, Carroll 4 Howe, Jack Duranl, Mau- rice & Maryea with Three Dots and Buddy Allen, Larry Flint House Orch; 'Golden Boy' (Col). Ina Ray Hutton Orch (15), Bill floTton, Marcy Bros. & Beatrice. Yolo Gain, Joe Besscr & Lee Roj/ce, Adrian RolUni Trio; 'House Master' (Alliance). A link in the small chain of Brandt combo .houses, the Carlton, Jamaica, L. I., according to the management, has experienced a steadily improv- ing b.o. since the inception of vaude, l>acked by bands. However, with the exception of Joe Besser and the RoUini trio, this show gives little impetus to the policy. Backed by Ina Ray Hutton's band, the layout uncoils in an hqur backed (by an eye-filling setting. Latter is the strongest item as far as Miss Hutton's group is concerned. She switched a while ago from an all- femmc band to a male outfit. Group she took over was satisfying. She's since made changes, but not for the better. Now the band is more incidental to Miss Hutton's s.a. batoning than the femme bunch. At least then she had the novelty of the femme appeal. Current setup can't even be labelled passable. Brass is far oS tune most of the time and the saxes don't seem able to get together on the melody. Also, the rhythm is weak. But Miss Hutton can stiU evoke ohs and ahs with her costume changes. Ttots out four neat form-fitting gowns and also gets off an acceptable tune now 'n' then. Bill Barton is band's vocal- ist, doing an okay job when caught opening night (Thursday) on 'Day in Day Out.' First act Is also poor. Marcy Bros, and Beatrice boot each other all over the stage and don't succeed in doing much of anything. Even the' knockabout isn't very expert. Gal draws few giggles with struts and poses that twist her body into amus- ing shapes. Fade is the strongest, with two boys raising and lowering the girl between 'em.. On the up- swing she's bent double and cotning down she brushes the floor. Midway they reprise the old 'Your motor's running' gag, Yola Galli's billed as straight from N. Y.'s Casa Manana, which, in- cidentally, has been closed many months. She unlimbers a -fine voice but makes a mistake in teeing off with a swing version of 'Ciri Biri Bin.' 'Donkey Serenade' and other operatic-type numbers she does are more in her line. She has the ad- vantage of being, as much on the s.a. side as Miss Hutton. Next is Joe Besscr and Lee Royce, who get over solidly. Bright gags are helped to a solid impression by Besser's playing of a naive young- ster, well straighted by Lee Royce. Besser flutters all over the stage and draws strong laughs with various comical mannerisms. Act Is called back for several encores, which inr elude a neat job on 'Ol Man River' by Royce. Besser gets it aw^y by leading the band during which he 'sprains' his wrist. Rollini trio send the customers home warmly disposed toward the entire layout. Trio has just re- turned jfrom California and may go back into the Piccadilly Hotel, N. Y. Here they tap and plunk out lively rhythms on vibraphone, guitar and string bass and had to encore to satisfy a comfortably filled house at this catching. Leader uses a set of chimes occasionally, a far more difficult instrument from which to tap an entire tune than the vibes. For encores plenty of punch is im- parted to 'Chinatown' and 'Pavanne.' Miss Hutton draws the traveller."; With her usual swingo vocal arrange- ment of 'Rain, Rain, Go Away.' One of the least exciting shows here this season, it opens okay, sags in the middle and closes wi.lh a bang. Jack burant in the finale lakes extra bows for his strenuous comedy turn. Offers good impersonations of Clark Gable and Herbert Marshall, some vocaling and intermiltcnt aero dancing. One^gig, about the bow- legged drug clerk, is in poor tpsle, but otherwi.se the comedy goes over in a big way. Four Collegians, three boys and a girl, start the bill with flashy tum- bling. Boys are dressed in white flannels and red shirts, making a neat appearance.. Pansy the Horse^ deuces, but belongs in the trey, changing places with Carroll and Howe. Having first-show trouble, the act did not click as well as usual here, but it's, still a showmanly rou- tine. Carroll and Howe mi.ss. out with their comedy. Poor timing and hackneyed material is the chief i-ea- so.i. Miss Carroll handles the gags, with Howe feeding. A challenge aero dance idea at the end is the biggest click in the act. Maurice and Maryea, next-to-close, present a very pleasing ballroom turn. Nice lifts and whirls give the act distinction. Complementing their turn are the Three Dots, femme vocalists, and Buddy Allen squeezing out 'Bcguine' on the accordion. . Larry Flint house band turns out an interesting overture on 'Memories of France,' with a lot of war effects, tying in with Armistice Day. Po.r. PARAMOUNT, OMAHA particularly reaching the jitterbugs. Dorothy Crooker, control terper, goes over on her work and looks. Show's comedy is well taken care of by Conville and Dale, man and woman funsters. Clowning and pat- ter register and the customers t>eg for more, They're recently back from a tour. of the Tivoli circuit, Australia. The Wyun girls come on again for the clo.se with a novelty number that has them waving neon- illuminnted prop banjocs'a la Pea- body. They look nifty, too, in their minstrel costumes, which are suf- ficiently revealing. Big lower floor well filled at the opening night performance (Friday). Rees. COLONIAL, DAYTON Daiylon, O.. Nov. 11. Andreu's Sisters (3\ JWal Hnllcff band (12), Jerry Perkins and Made- leine Grey, Ted and Mary Taft, Col- lins and Peterson; 'Day the Bookies Wept" (RKO). Oinaha, Nov. 11. A. B. Marcus' 'La Vii Paree,' with Roberta Jonay, Flag & Arnold, Rio Bros., Leon Miller, Ha Cha San, Harold Boyd and Jigsaws, Janada and McAtee; '$1,000 a Touchdown' (Par). A. B. Marcus show proves that not all the razzle-dazzle is on the foot- ball field. Ninety minuter bases its appeal on nicely-timed production numbers and shapely girls in span- gled costumes. Art Randall's orch opens and re- mains in pit for duration of show. Line of 16, sock in its getaway,, let customers know they can expect plenty of scantiness throughout. Flag and Arnold, well-built lads, show smooth, muscular control. Line back again to 'You're Simply Won- derful,' changing to a production number with Roberta Jonay, Eleanor Roosevelt 'protegee,' in a hit peacock dance. Rio Bros., tapsters, mix gags and dances for nice hand. Gags through- out show are plenty blue and need cutting. Ben McAtee, m.c. part of the time, has dandy manner but songs that are too far off color. Leon Miller, tapster, exhibits the various dances since way back, fol- lowed by eight jitterbugs who get lots of applause with overdone, typi- cal jittcrbugging. Harold Boyd and Jigsaws, slap- happy sailors, pulled laughs from a cold house. Ha Clia San. gold paint nudie. and Janada, South African gal who sits on her head, also pre- sent smooth acts. Biz good on.opening day, Afoiite. MINNESOTA, MPLS. They've got the junipin' jives on the Colonial stage this week. Not only that, but Mai Uallett goes a step farther and invites the customers to join in the jam session. It puts the patrons in a receptive mood for the rest of the bill and nil in all it figures up to good showmanship and b.o. The program goes a little over- board on singing, but it's all exceed- ingly good. The Andrews Sisters (3), with the blond Patty in constant animation, deliver good and plenty opening with the 'Jim Jam Jump' and including, before they are through, the 'Beer Barrel Polka' and 'Well, All Right,' plus their newest, 'Chico's Love Song.'. . Another singins act is provided by Jerry Perkins and Madeleine Grey, two nice youngsters with pleasing personalities and well-mated voices. Jerry first sings alone, 'I'll Remem- ber' and 'South of the Border,' and' then the two combine with 'Memo- ries Tonight' and Two Other People.' Hallctt's 12 boys swing into the 'Bugle Call Rag' as an opener and offer 'All Those in Favor' as their new one, with 'One 6'Clock Jump' as . the windup, with everyone on stage swinging. (joUins and Peterson do their standard insults toward each other, only this time they divide if up, of- fering it piece-meal between acts, since they act as a duo of ma.sters of ceremonies in Olsen and Johnson style. Ted and Mary Taft give a neat straight dance act, opening with high-kicking number and concluding with acrobatic jitterbug stuff. Kanv. Minneapolis, Nov. 11. Jark Malerich House Orch. (18), Patricia W7/nn Dnncer.s (12). Doro- I thy Crooker, Mirth & Mack, Mi't ■ Herth Trio. Conville & Dalc; Eddie Peqbody; 'Covered Trail' (Rep). Snappy music features this show, which socks across with bang-up amusement. The house standards. Jack Malerich's band and the 12-girl line, turn in their usually good-per- formances. • Eddie Peabody, the headliner. m.c's and banjos to click results. Jack I Malerich's musicians hit the bull's- eye again by playing numbers re- quested by the audience. Malerich, per usual, takes a, whirl at .the Wurlitzer and, for novelty, there's a bit of .vocalizing by the gal, unbilled, who officiates at the theatre's candy countier. It's all put together smoothly. The fast-stepping Wynn girls, in, becoming sequins with long sleeves. ' do a peppy tap for a starter and it jells nicely. There's more dancing, j of the eccentric variety, by Mirth and Mack,, who wind up with im- I prb.ssions of hoofer notables. . All well done. I Milt Ilcrlh Trio, maestro at the clcc- I trie ornan ,Tnd the other boys at the < piano and drums, swing it plenty hot, EMBASSY, N. Y. (NEWSREELS) Still celebrating its 10th anniver- sary, the Embassy this week pre- sents what it regards as the five most historically important news- reels ever made. They're worthy b.o. lures. The reels are assassination of King Alexander, done by Fox-Movietone with commentary by I/Jwell Thomas; the Morro Castle fire, exclusively filmed by Pathe at the time; the Hauptmann trial, with the convicted kidnaper shown on the stand (Uni- versal); explosion of the Hinden- burg, a Paramount shot, and the bombing of Shanghai, photoed by News of Day. A notable clip from each of the five newsrccl companies has been chosen. Plenty of good room could have been provided by eliminating such stuff as the two fa.shion clips, sled dogs in New Hampshire, the Kansas corn-husking meet, Navajos at a rodeo, the ceremony involving Col. Battista in Cuba or some of the .sports material, of which there is a lot. A flock o£ football cames are in- cluded this week, filmed by Par and News of the Day. Nothing particularly exciting on the war has turned up. but Pair's contribution on 'somewhere in France' and the comments by Enaland's Secretary of War, Hore- Bclisha (Pox), are interesting. The arms embargo repeal, somewhat old PS news now so far as passage itself was concerned, and election scenes, eight days old, are also on the show. Char. Musicals ' Comics .Continued from paee 1_ Durante and Sid Silvers are also mentioned. Silvers recently returned from Hollywood and intends to remain east permanently. He is writing material for 'Grass' and may appear in that revue, though two or. three burlesque comics have been slated for it. Booking of name comics ap- pears to be somewhat scrambled, for Durante was also propositioned for 'Crass,' while Haley is a possibility for another Aarons mijsical known as 'Lone Ranger'. Durante, who has been on a num- ber of radio broadcasts, goes to Hart- ford, Conn., Thursday (l(i) for a per- sonal appearance. He then goes to the Coast until such time he is set for Broadway. Night Club Reviews (Continued from page 48) QUEENS TERRACE roomers. Then back to Glcason for his impersonations of Mussolini, Du- rante, Edward C. Robinson, etc., and a couple of ditties. Vincent Burns' 11-plecc band fur- nishes strong backing for the acts and should have its own notch in the show. Crew segued in here from 28 weeks of Skouras vaude. Cilb. LYNCH'S, PHILLY "(WALTON HOTEL) Phtladeljphia, Nov. 10. Harry Rtch7nan, Jaclc Golden, Bob Russell, Corol'King,, DeAngelo aiid Porter. Paul LePaul, Glamour Girls (12), Neil Fontaine's Orch (12), Vin- cent Rizzo Trio, Helene Heath, Herb Dubrow, Mono Rccd, .Sally LaMarr. Opening a week late and still weak on his pins because of a recent at- tack of pneumonia, Harry Richman still has enough punch left to keep him one of the top ciafc performers in the biz, Richman clicks high in his 20-minute song stint. Spotted in the closing niche, he gives out with fave tunes and isn't stingy on encores, a failing observed among other headliners here. Ac- companied by his pianist and ar- ranger. Jack Golden. Richman opens with 'Lady's in Love,' follows with "Comes Love,' in which he adds .some blucish lyrics, though it's not ofTeh- sivc. His third is Old Man Riyer.* Four encores wrap up Richman's .stint, 'Can't Give Anything But Love,' 'Putlin' On Ritz,' 'Are 'You Havin' Any Fun?' and the perennial 'Love a Parade.' He had trouble begging off at show caught. Show opener is an eye-fllling rou- tine by the Glamour Girls (line), dressed as the signs of the Zodiac, with Neil 'Sonny' Fontaine capably handling fhe vocals on 'Stars Shin- ing So Brightly.' Bob Russell then takes over the m.c. job, doubling from his baritone stint, doing t>oth exceptionally well. A' newcomer to these parts. Carol King proves a fine ballet-style dancer. A looker with a sweet, demure manner, she was forced to take two encores at the midnight show Friday (10). Paul Le Paul, smooth-working magi, mystifies with his deft handling of cards, canaries and ribbons. He's billed as the stand-in to David Niven in the latter's recent film, 'Eternally Yours' (UA). . DeAngclo and Porter are a class dance duo who work equally as well in a graceful ball- room waltz, a fast cakewalk and a hot rhumba. The Glamour Girls then return for a line spectacl'e, dressed in nifty cos- tumes depicting the famous women of history. In this bit each of the gals steps to the mike and rcciles a little indigo limerick about the his- torical moll. Rizzo's trio plays the lull music. Helene Heath and Mona Reed warble in the cocktail lounge, while Herb Dubrow and Sally LaMarr continue to piano in the same spot. The ropes were up at the show caught. Sfial. Frozen Coin .Continued from page 3^ ified quota law it given a fair ad- justment on the frozen coin lineup. Feeling with officials in N. Y. is that there possibly should be a smaller minimum price requirement per pic- ture and that the quality clause should be eliminated. American producers admittedly are dubious re- garding their ability to maintain quality product under warli.ne con- ditions. Some picture executives are agree- able to letting the minimum price clause remain in the quota law of Great Britain if allowance is made for quality discrepancy. Production heads fail to see how they can turn out high-quality, expensive pictures under uncertain war conditions. B.B. Too Costly .Continued from page 1. will allow a worthwhile margin of profit for the t>roduct. It is believed that stations in gen- eral will be asked to reduce the price of their time packages for the General Mills baseball broadcasU and that because of this economical trend a number of major markets may be dropped. General Mills over- all bill on baseball has been mount- ing by leaps • with each successive season with the result that the ex- pense threatens to outbalance the potential profit from a market lhat has been pretty well milked.