Variety (Jan 1940)

Wednesday, January 3, 1940 Thirly-fourth VARIETY A nni vorsnrv House Reviews 143 MUSIC HALL, N. Y. n,.l Rios <S>. Tip, Tup & Toe. R>ox. M. H. Glee Club. Earl Jlosilii Rolng over nicely wilh 'Slop, It's Wonderful.' YouiiKman starU slowly J}ijt_soon hns I he audience with him and han.tiint' on each gag. Some o( these 1 ORIENTAL, CHI r 11)1)1/ IVi/liniH C'n.vMe, M. U. Boltft, ] have been around but he has enousli j'Muf/g.vy' Sunnier Radio Acp^ ni I bcTwQiMV unV.Vv' .,„,i RocMt>:>'. Unit) Ravce Orch, RiWi-1 ni-w nn,v« (n .woi pomn ;,n« I n„..':.-^.." o:''.'''! "SV Ui.ipcittuii Mane .uicl nrd J.<'il>''' ' '„ H. .Siyiiipli Or<7i niidc tioii 0) Kriio JJnpec; •Huiichbac/c o/, just^ bctoie Dfiwiicy's^appearance to ''C/uirlic MV-rn~liii/'''D7terUre''"('c'')' jVoIre Oiiii'c" "-* '•"- '"- tcaliii o and simw. m en lh!> trailer I fiettini; the brushofr. Nd overture! ~'~ • eilht-r, Max Adkins' i-rcw in pit C(fti-: T„j r • ^(^'"Cfiffo Dec. 30. ;iinii\>; ilsoU merely to sonic: ad lib- n„,,, r,,,,,-. „„^ n-„ . ROXY, N. Y. ^„ , >. RiWi- -"--w ones to overcome any tendency De l u/sU^r h f'hnrleT 'Smou ' ' jamnu . .-e -.v Ih 1 1 bv ^'"^'^ * C"'" '••<'■'"«'• Oi'lN. P"..: ^"n. .H,,-n inid Alcxai>derR^ Initial inniuR leads 1 l,,,;/- Wl.ililJr T .'e /"acf4r/ ?V ^ paS^ molher in^-^'^^^^ O'' ''-' -S'''''-'''^ Hirer' ■ ■ '•''"r dircc-'into hi.s m.cJna but he .comes back lfl..(,!, Jo,„< Swi h, Mar / Ho fi .•- :it b o ' '"'^ ' Co ,c fiOO.). rct-icu c-d i.i V.muktv Oec. -7. iflKO), rcmciocd iii really wow hi.s auditors wilh a 20. j hurley version of a ruKKcd baritone. I This keeps the folks clamoring for The Music Hall has compressed a '■ more. Does a bit o( riddling but it's n«it snccUide into 40 minutes cur-' "'".stly a loil for his tomfoolery, lie " • . 1-,,.,,1 ' have to depend on mugKii>« ,ently. -Sets. liKhlmfj and costumes . j,,,. j,,, i,i„j,p, rept;,.tec as do som^ grc c.vc-lillers in this program, tilled | (•uricnt comedy wits, and wisely, he 'Manliiill»i» Melody." Ti:d Lewis returns with a fasl- moviiiK. ban^-up show that measures up at tlie boxoflice and dishes out K<;od entcrlainmcnl. Still a sock al- iraclion, J^cwis keeps the .show moviii!; at lively pace. He stays away Ironi his old stult as much a.i STATE, N. Y. I'f l:i'r'^!:H?";.^::'r^Pz^^ "^-^mins'l^^rds th^'l^i^^. Coe. ,0 lVr,s;.i,i,;,o,.' iCof). ; An abbreviated staw slv)w, pro- ■ duccd by I-'anclion ^ Marco, accoin- ' panic; 'Swaiico River' ciOth) which lis o.xpectcd to provide dr.iu-.',ht ovi>r f.-iipl. J'jim W. Tiel)or'.s- Sfiils. Jem, I ^^"^ .Y*"'^'"'^- '^"'^'-"'"'^ CoiroU A B,>(klu Howe. Coss & : ^^^S^- , ■ ^ Oiuix. Soul Cruumu.i Rariw (G>, I 1"^" "1^ 4'splay is made un of Ri.l)., Zirerlni^y,: lloux^ 0>rU: 'MrA ^^S^!'^?'^}'' ,°J "A' "i^n - I includin:; the Paul Remos niidxcl such If it is fair to pick minor faults in I li';e'y his swift parade of chat- of the ila.v.' but his oFd standbyToc-' -v, « •• k ich exu..va:wnce. ilmi«ht_bemen-jle.^^_.^ the Adrian Rollini three--S?"'"."*"-^ burins the show. ^^'^ tinned that the corniness occasion- , . w • r •.■ . uoi":" .. _, beyoud the ■ title. I swum i.ombo js familiar both noWblv'^o'nxe opcnTn't' scene. And |!° J.'"'!'." uileries, pai tic the ll'i'ilc complclely_ misses that i larly in N. Y. Their even balance i turn which has played the liou.-;e ba- oes to town f .r two ' ^'"''^ ^""^ only three weeks av.o w,is _ u j • ■ J - u„ A ■ f " '""^ I at the nearby St'jte. The other acts On hand to aid him ar.e Charles "ow.-, and six ininulo-!. so vaude- are the Three Samuels and, Harriet •bnowbair Whittirr,, the Radio Aces,' ville's excursion is preliv brief this. Hayes, dancers, and Chick and Lee. r-n1n . ^i7h,'°}!^''^ The lavoiit is down to four They are .lust fair. Latter pair, in idlins with Lewis on lho.se battered | . .= ..: ..... r.-. _ .. ' nonsensicalitie<!. are snolled further well wish for such a layout. Second | i^^-.'^.'^'. being done with ea.se and sta;,'e in a passable dance act The I ^i'£LJV=b°r s Si.ai^ ,,p^^ surrou centci'. Leon I..eonidofT . production gets under way with the Glee Club in Santa Claus outliLs. picketing a de- partment .store oh Dec. 2B in an en- deavor to obtain employment the other 51 weeks o( the year. They sine soecial iiines adapted by the M. H.'s sljil' lyricist, Albert Still- man, from numerous old pops. It's all entertaining, but reminds of the tail crass. Karl LIppy does some fair solo vocaliziiisi. This is followed by Tip, Tap & Toe, Nc;;ro tap trio. Their entrance, usually "slowed by the necessity of bringing their oval dancing platform in with thorn, is neatly and imagi- natively camoullaged. One of the trio is on sta^e all the lime as door-' man of the department store picket- ed bv the Santa Clauses. The other Dennis Si.-iters follow her with swin-; I °P9!\=;'' f^'' 'h?. shov/ N g,,^^^ acceptably staged and warbling that clicks. Next com'c the: ^ ''^"•'y,h^" P^^h- pjay^ ta^,_ idea this week being Hackers, comedy ballroom team,: ™V'^'-'' f"'' a novelty of this type, ho get as much turnover as possible, who KO over. 1^'m°'.u- 5''^^,"'' >'Oi'>s Business Kridav at the last show with this turn and it's one of the' good Chnr. Playhouse, Winnipeg jtly dillereiil chi - to w.irrant a iJng string of .songs : n'ndio Aces come on with a cbvor j .'f'- ''° ^" ^he rest of including 'Irish Eyes are Smiling.'; ,.|,ythm number that takes them ! ^' '=y--'^'"^'^'"-^P'""'>'- WiiMiipPi;. Di»c. 19. Vuleiiliiic Vox. 'Bullous' niid Riidi SENATOR, PITT PiUsburgh. Dec. 28. . S^e'ilfit'si^'er.fa'^n"dre,^?s'Tn'aMS ' ^^'^ of which, is ver : American number that ends up in : Lewis throwing oeanuts to the audi.< \ ence froni Whiltier's peanut cart. Great stuff. Lewis calms things HoiDdy Baiiiii orch i9). Barrv '. "^."^'"^ " sentimental patter ver- Wood. Red Dovahue * Uno. | • s.on of a pop. which turns into a re- Mn.ve»os. Ross 4 LoPierre. Dreiu.' °' Past. with a little clan FiirrWl * RhvlhvieUe, .3); Blondie thrown .n. reminiscent of Burns and Allen years ago. Girl is cspecinlly clever with comedy, also in her imitation of Louis Armstrong's horn-tooting and Anale dancing with her partner. Howe, however, might perk up a bit when playing straight. Cross and Dunn are ea.<:y clicks . ,,. ,, , ... in the next-to-closing fi-ame. Char- Brintjs Up Baby' iCoO. ' 1^.™^''° HoUis. blonde acrobatic , actcr-sinring toarn is now doing a I dancer, show.s ag lil.y and pertortjis, bit rec^ vaudc's former d^ys, a big Christinas package in the I,. . '<^'' "" some Holiday biz was terrific ooening jnonl acts of that era. It gets by :.- •.kv.»j lime now there s room in town for a ■ -■- ' mai iiy. n .scu» ujr two pushjn the platform painted as I na,.,.;, o^,^f^^ f^^^ store'tieup. Whole idea is tabbed. 'Special Delivery.' and the lads havd resplendent new-looking uniforms. Their topology is up to their strong standard. low-scale combination policy house. ; and it has picked the Senator for a | testing ground. Only other vaude! around is at WB's deluxe Stanley,! day 129). Loop. STANLEY, PITT Aldine. reopened year ago in No- "Jiidpe HnVdv ond Son' (MG). veinber under Harris banner, origi- nal intention was to make it a vaud- | jf, jj„t a run-through and Rainbow Room scene gets off with where the top is 60c. This .spot is several minutes of just dancing by the mixed members of the house standby groups, in the guise of guesU. and the entrance of other 'guests' to the bowing and welcom- ing ofa corps of head waiter.s. Scene is unu.iiially. long for this type of thing. Line of 36 Rocketles comes out for its initial precision routine in tfie gui.-ie of waitresses, achieving neat elTerls wilh trays. Del Rios follow, inlroed by Wil- liam Castle as R.R.'s m.c. They are a unique trio, consisting of two males and a femmc. who do lifts and balances. Gal is the center 'strong man' with Ihe third member of the act doing h;indstands on various parts of her body as .she balances on 'on its mcrit.s. much le.-s the mem- ories it may arou-;?. Another sirong number is their patriotic spe- cial done in character. i Closer-is Saul Graiiman's Revue Pitlsbwrflh, Dec. 29. w'th the "Musical Stairtone.'. Lat- pcddling it for two bits and 40c. at Bob Crosby orch (15), Shea & 'er is an intricate eleclricol, full- night and there should be a chance Raymond SW'rlei/Lone, Lois Hnrper, s"ed stairca.se prop, with the steps for the experiment. ; ^, Gordon s Racketeers. Bobbw Hon- [ ' '^Seti up to a bell-xylophone musi- When Senator, formerly Loew's gnrt. Ray Bauduc, Jess Stncey; | Grauman and four : femmes play this by dancin'! uo and i down the stairs. It's a swell closing a quick ' ""sh. Prior to'this, three of the five id here the lurn do a unison rhythm -— - • buck 'n' wing, followed by a fourth girl's rubber-bone routine. Her con- tortion work is very good, nicely cli- maxed by her work on a high _ _ pedestal. and even an occasional stage show. : rn.^ori'and" hVsiVr'a chance"'to'show • Wi'h 'Mr. Smith' oh the scrcen-- Managemenl this lime, however, is much ^""^ ""e usual excellent Xin-.s Week determined to give live entertain-j Under the circumstance.'!. Cro.sby | —f>^''""p"*'' opening night was monl a real ride, wilh bookings nl-■ can be forgiven for falling bade on slightly colos.sal. Scho. ready set for several weeks. : the hardy perennials inasmuch as On strength of inaugural bill, they've always shown the outfit oft lllm house, but a bad getaway sent' ,.omp for the Bob Cro'sby band .site back on its heels immediately, this week. What with the WB de Since then, spot s policies have I hixer eyeing a record for the holi- shifted like the wind. It s played; dav season and cramming in six singles, duals, twin-bill reissues, j shows daily, ork's on and off before holdovers of hit pix at sister Alvin^a customer can say Edward C. Rob- HIPP, BALTO. Bnlririiore, Dec. 29. Leu.' Pdrl-cr S, Co. i5), fii-e Max- the bottom male. prospects for a click are at least. be.«t and have come' to be recog Finish is a conga by the combined ! promising. It's strictly vaude. but I nized as trademarks anyway. Do- Rockclti's and ballet corps. It is ■ okay, and dressed up to resemble a ' ing the same specialties he's put on pointed up through a warbling inlro | p,-osentatioii, with Howdy • Baum's: display here last two annual visits. In the south of the border manner | orch. a local dance oulllt. stretched i but no complaints from the pews, at by Rosila Rios while, flanked byiacross ' musicians on native instruments. ] of a Gals, in costumes by Marco Monte-1 i,ad dorp, stretch out across the huge; pjnade baritone, coming on as'm.c!'Bauduc and Bobby Haggarl; a bit of .! i.'...i.~~,-'i-si"'><' K« Tac<! cioKcv I Strong layout this lineup of stand- . - . - - I c.rds and forced to hold strictly to specialty. That was rather clumsy.! the all-America foursome, f-'!!-i meat'becaiise of mulliole shows oc- switch sent male half of team of: nientcd later by four more inslru-1J'^^^''^^"' ^^^^^^^ For the bow-out curtain comes r„,s ^nd LaPierre into the an- mentalist.-;. and that completes the j ca=>'oned by stiength of film por- down on half the gals, while the, „(m,)ce,.'s berth and wisely kept ork contributions. Cro.sby, of course, I lion, sock from curtain to curtain ss the stage to create the illusion ! least judging from the reaction. | f^o^- T'fo Giii?«r Cn.v.s DixiXey, Phil band unit. Fir.H performance! Couple of hot band numbers: the , Ly^P„",o"" Barry Wood (New Act<:), Hit £Ock drums-bass duct between Ray Hunchback o/ Wofrg Dn7iie (RKO). . jde baritone, coming on as m.c.; Bauduc and Bobby Haggarl; a bit of | stage and onto Ihe front wings for ; and then having another performer I keyboardology by Jess Stacey. St highly colorful efl'ects allained by later introduce him for his own! crew's new pianist; a brief jam by ards turning forward and backward in the I wo-tone costumes, other half fades away as the forward elevalor section of the stage lowers. A momentary speed-up of the slow congai rhythrn prior lo the final cur- tain mighl give the needed nunch »t the end. Herb. Wood, headlining the layout," out of vocalizes bi icfly. limiting hiin.sclt to I \vith house orch on stage and Lew FLATBUSH, B'KLYN sight until his singing spot Opening acl is bill's .sole weak- ness. Drew. Farrell and Rhylhm- cltos. two boys and three gals, are just fair tappers and their style is loo- daled for the modern tempo. Break their lengthy lurn into two snatches of 'South of Border' and , „ a^\,.«, n.>»e ; •Can I Help It' and also introduces a P'"^'^*^ acting as enricee, doings gets; recent femme addition in Shirley under way with Five Maxellos, now Lane. Gal's on early for 'I Didn't | consisting of three men and two Know What Time It Was' and i femme.s, in topnotch rislcy high- •Dixieland Band' but not very im- I lighted by some okay tumbling, pressive. Pipes nothing out ot ordi-i Start mailers breezily and set good This is Al Plunkel'l's first .display as director of entertainment for this house, and if it's any indication of what's to come, localities are in fur a healthy brand of yaudc this winter. Plunkctt has built production num- bers around band for opening and midway spot that rale bows. Open- ing has Constance Parker, local gal, sm.^ing 'Silent- Night' beneath baby .spot, with band in blackout, latter following with medley ot Christmas tune.s. Band behind scrim, with lights gradually reappearing, makes efiiective presentation. Mid.spot. Miss Parker, teams with Roy Carr. also local, foi* 'Bells of St. Mary's." wilh singers and band taking bends. Valentine 'Vox and "Buttons.' wilh Ruth Denning, vontro 'act add up nicely. 'Vox stands out with his voice- throwing. Miss Denning supplying a decorative touch and singing 'Sunrise Serenade' well. Vox has to reach for some of bis humor, but he drinks'and .smokes while working and the cus- tomers appear to like lhal. ° Billy Blake has 'cm cheering his solo trumpeting. Does imitations, from Henry Busse to Louis Arm- strong, blowing solid horn through- out backed up by . Wright's house musikers. Erhardt Bros, of local WLS. have been liere before and still garner big returns for tap and-comedv routiiies. They do everything from hillbilly ^-tuff . lo imitation of Louis-Galcnto fight, in slow motion. Another brother combo, the Cirillos. open wilh. rube type.ot comedy and then I undrape to reveal . white ties and tails. Basis of their act is hoke. wilh exception of .some .solid soft-shoe work. Magic and 'Wizard of Oz' are butts of their comijdy to please the crowd. Acrobatics are provided by Les Fleurs, two bo.vs and a girl, with latter doing all the hard work. Plunkelt contributes his usuallv suave m.c.'ing and three .songs. 'Wild Wild Women,' 'South of Border* and his brother's new tune, "We're On Our Way.' • JVor,/i. sections earlv Snd late in show, best "'"'5' might have been sliglit soot for Tito Giiizar in the deuce. of tlie numbers being an acrobatic I touch Ot nervousnes.s. Mex singer, in character and whack- rl-ish founle of the femmes do Ro-is i Band unit carries three additional , ing a guitar legitimately, does ar^ .iMd L^Picrre are a two-- a<-'^ and all. of 'em socUo, which' ransemeiit of Mex _.song. 'South of acl. with male half the backbone, Henny Voiiii.iTnian. Morion Doit;- "ev, Adrian Roflini Trio, Jac'o jcii- tiei,:. Grcli (15) luith Vf^^s a "lnck;vocal^ with .some crack imitations of tiurtl-, .„ . ■ „„^, - iviir» . 1.,..,., -oiafce niid Frotik Bond, Six Hoiiey.s. it tough for flesh portion to. the Border' and 'Rancho Grande' /ithin its time limit. Cro.sby and begs off mentioning length o£ Management here, is leaning en- tirely on its stage fare lo attract Pationage this week, wilh only shorts and newsreel clips for pic-!la.ss, . , 1 -. . „j II,. i-i,» -n^^^'mbving right in with next number pets, steel guit-irs and the like. Does . chucking the bows. Topping it with a flourish and gets ture faie. Combo ot, Hcnny Young •nsn, Morton Downey, Adrian Rol- lini trio and Jack Jcnney's band is accounting for the lusty draw, with OK-Ct the rule before second stage snow went on night (.Thursday) CflUgtit .„^"VKman lies iii the loose ends expertly, as m.c, dividing his clown- made stay w feature "for lack of encores Comedy bit by Parker and Hildc- , _ „ garde Halliday."who gives out with. , , , .,, ■ „,, suppnitin;; bill is act of. Shea 4: Ray-! a «sli-oniroijslv realistic version of a, , - —. ^, ^,,^0 share of laughs with some ^?eJl--^„„j ^^^g a,.„und so' dame with a bad head cold, precedes | hand an extra, but unnecessary snottcd gags between impressions, pfj^,, „,p^, j.,,, practically call the. entrance of Ca.ss Dailey. . Loose- help. Femmc. a buxom, allraclive !• rencn | imme. Still a show-stonnina i ioinled .>.-inL<er of hectic swinnaroo and ORPHEUM, OMAHA Ojuahn, Der. 29 Lniwreiice Welfc OriU (12) Lnr- nune & Rogiian. Bob Balmont. John Boles. Jane Wallon. Bob.Pace. Pee- Wee l^ewis;.'Cul and Canury'.(Pan. Current show shows neat booking, with a name, good supporting acts.' and swell .band wilh home town angle, all adding up lo .satisfying en- tertainment. Welk got his start in this neighborhood, which gives emmc. a buxom allraclive !• rencn | sianlev home. Still a show-stoiiping j jointed .'•ingcr of hectic swingai .ss. dues a couple of .songs in dia- Hj„.„ i,c,cabouts despite fact thai tears Jrct^clf apart in dMivcring a lect and spills a slream of Qallic, bovs have altered their comic leg-! pun(rlie.< SW. a dc<M*tfd impression, thaiik-yous for the flni.sh lo Pi'ove , ,„a„|a only very slightly since they i Well siipportea-by^the house orch the Parisian background. ' first started coming this way. Next- which swings out right in. the groove Red Donahue and the mule he.; iq. dosing spot was inevitable ina.s-. under the exhilaraling baton of Phil calls Uno have been around for a ; niuch as nothing could follow Ihcni liampK'in. grotesque femme vocalist, long time and still doing plenty all; p,;,.cp| Crosby's exit theme. j does 'Spicading Rhylhm' and a very right with the old slandbys. Donahue - /\| Gordon's Racketeers is a first-! funny parody on a medley ot pops, has an unbilled partner working, l ate dog turn but CJordon wastes Stubholders 'yelled for more but wilh him and between the two of, hki^. loo niuch lime getting under bog-off speech continued matters , tlicm and the stubborn, kicking I wav. Idea of Irving to get canine.? with Parker and his aggregation ot "Jg chores well for greatest returns, i jackass, .sclup's a pushover for prac-! into aciion while they sit by lazily ; stooges out front and on slage, tak- ;~h, loo, more prominence is given i iicallv any audience. W.QOd Alls the , unheeding his commands is all right i ing possession. Jenney's crew than, when it np-1 nexUto-closing spot wilh his ex-1 for first couple of minutes but he: Parker's act hasn't changed much pe»rcd early last month at New'perl songology and for a finish. 51 pioloims it too much and it Sets; since his rather recent visit here, 'ork's Loew's Slate. I Maxello.s'. now two gals and three: tireso'nie. Once pii|)s get going.. yet his sUitT on show caught went Jenny announces more naturally ^ men instead of exclusively male | however, act's surefire: one Of best -over in bell-ringing fashion. Swift wan of late and has an infectious turn as in theDasl. bring the cur- in biz as matter ot ifacl. i and fresh gagging and a practiced Orch opens layout and remains on slage throughout. 'Beer Barrel Polka' shows up strongly, especially with Welk on the pushbox. Bob ' Pace, baritone v/ilh orch, shows well with 'Melancholy Baby' and a med- ley of ranch songs. Bob Belmont, lir.st act, has danc- ing marionets that pleas.:. Last is a Sonja Henie doll lhat ice skate.s realistically. Orch then swings ' lo 'Blue Danube' in concert style for heavy relurn.s. Jane Walton, orch's singer, who got start' at local radio station, got several encores afler rhiiinbH num- ber at this show. Pco-wce Lewis" baby act wilh help of band Ills in well. Lorraine and Uognan, mixed his organi;:aiioii'tha'rbc'forc!'''Hc"ha^ ! rollaboraiion i'lUho'in'lercits of adliii 1 tiier. ■"'As' ii Vs now." lha'l "phase" ts | play is "funny busine.s.-> and hi.-j dead-1 the audieticc ate it u|). S/umbprs arc f C'cw ot slick musidans VrcV f'l^^^^ and never executed, pan stooge is an excellent foil. Also '•'.ollowing the Sun Around.' 'Rio "•"-bones re<,lly.scUing ofT^\is m i^cel^by -e show in addition : Okliy on the footwork and has the delivers a parody in. punchy style 1 Rita.' 'One Alone; nod .'Waiting at B^aiik Bond and McrcditI BU ke ■ to ."v n^^^ for a personality lo go along with it. and paces, layout in .showinanly lh(> Gale, for Kalic,' with Hudience mie as his .singers peti e bT^^^n^^^ Colin,, i Nolhing. else oh the bill e.<:cepl! fa.shlon. Biz terrirtc. Bi,m,. ' chiming rn on la.st on.;. Monte. Irombi lit, F conti