Variety (Aug 1940)

Vednesdayj August 14, 1940 HOUSE REVnSWS 30 ROXY^RX Johnny V^6ods, Alice Dudley and Kenneth Bostock, Sylvia Foursome, Ben Yost's New Yorkers, Gae Foster House Line^ Paul Ash House Band; 'Return of Frank James' i20th), re- viewed in this issue. Sylvia Foursome tops an other wist uninspited, mid-summer quickie ' show at the Roxy this \ve6lt. Quar- tet, consisting of three guys and ah; extremely .petite iemme, is a toss- about turn with the gal. as the tbs- see. ■ Formerly working as the Gra- cella Pancers, the: turn, is a real, breathtaker. Femme is'thrown high '^iri ■the air; from one. of the - men. to . ihe.pthCT.-;.. .■; \:: JphinAy Woods, mimic, nolds run- nef-ujp position in the shovv. Air though Tihitatioh : stuff is beginning to wear thin, lad runs through a . wide riepertory, ihcluding ill the tisuals,. in rapid-flre fashion. ; Roxy , gives him some Questionable produc- ticJn buildup fdr the getaway by hayi; " Ihg ■ a , . slightly taiched-ln-the-haiid radio sinnoUncer and four gals go Ihrbugli a brief routing of phoney commercials and chimes. . Frorh the .recentlyrexitedvBroad- wiay musical, -'Walk with MUsic,' conie Alice Dudley ^ahd: Kenneth Bostock (New Acts). Terming them- selves 'dance-satirists,' it is difficult to determine what they are except a couple kids unsuccessfully trying to be funny. v - : Ben Yost's NCw Yorkers, who are becoming virtually a fixture at the ■ Roxyi are bacjt once again. . Surhmer seems to hiave taken its toll, hpw^ ever, for there are only four couples in. the warbling company instead of the six which have been seen here-, tofdre. They do 'Six Lessons from Mme, LaZonga' as a folldw-up to a Latin-American routine by .the line, . Tune is ably arranged and sung. Opener by the Gae Foster gals is a pip, but iS; badly offset by the punko routine' which comes later. in the show. The. teeofl is a Spanish huhiber. in which - the gals. have a tom-tom (<ir the south of the border ? equivalent)Vfastiehed to each hip. As \; they dance they, bang, sometimes oft ;' their own drums, sometimes on. a neighbor's, Pit of hip-tossjrig now- and then* too, of course, is nicely exaggerated by the swirigirig iristru-. niehtsj Set for the number is. also imaginatively done. Final aiipearance by the gals is ■ plenty corny.: it's one of those old Indian routines, with Ihie femmes in long feathers and beating theiir taps like tom-toms; It's effective on the e^r, but hardly a pleasant sight. '■■■':■:}■ ■Jierh.y., lyric; iNPPLi Line finishes with military number. iScrlm is lowered and waving flag is projected to injure, a hand for nhal curtain, Biz thin at third show Fri- day '(9) with ho profit :in sight for the..week,. 20TH CENTURY, BUFF iBiitfaio,Aug,ff, George White's ; 'Scandals' with Ella .Logan,' Ben Bluet Billy Raijes, Craig • Mdthues, ] Kim . Loo ■ Sisters^ Knight: Sisters, Christine Forsythe, Fran Eniglish;: 'Beyond TomorroK;' (RKO)... ■:. ORIENTAL, CHI . IndianapoUisf,'Aticr.. 9. 'Sunny Side Up,' Carl Freed's Harr tnonicc Troupcj Nan Ha^e and Maude Davis, Burns and Whitei The Rydns (3),' ffclene Dknizon, House Line (12); 'Scatierhrain' (Rep) * For the.-same reasons that a bowl of heialthy oranges^ bananas; and; pineapples doesh't make a good fruit naiad, Nick Boila's colliection of acts presented this week under the revue title 'Sunny Side Up-.doesn't make a : good .show. Good production could, lhake! an entertaining 60: minutes of stage fare out of what; is now . just an hour of effort with little enter- tainment effect. .. '■■ The pit orchestra is moved to the stage and augmerited by four extra pieces. However, thie short acquaihtr ahce at. show caught kept the boys from gettiriig. together on the score; The show needs pacing; Carl Freed, who could have handled the. entire m.c. job, is held in the wings until the bill is half over. He then comes oh to take over the reins for the re'-' mainer of'the time.. .. . Acts are poorly spottedi too. .After the opening line number. Three Ryans engage in kribckabout antics, with quite a bit of daiicing. They are followed by an unbilled terp act in Hawaiian outfits. This act looks like it was using the stage as a. short cut through the theatre. They come on : doing an elementary tap,, and the twp men aftd w;oman continue the sam.e step until they make an exit on the opposite'site bi stage, Helehe Deni- ^oh follows With another dance; She is graceful and-won :a nice hand witte , her toe work on a ballet; of. 'Over the Rainbow,? -following with a balloon , niiinber. .However, threie danc.e acts In a row is a bit wearing^: The line follows with ahother dance to make it less exciting. Burns and White • follow with more dancing and com- edy; Routine of the farmer's d«kugh- ter is/familiar here, but okay to break Up the solid run of terpischpreV Naii Raie and Maiude Davis are standouts. Have a new approach; to comedy wh^n Wliss Rae comes out to interview audience. Geti? Miss Davis, who gets off d(eadpan gags regardihg family life.. For a finish, MLss Davis sings a couple, of songs .in doujsle . I talk. Is, first tihie that act .has ap^ peared here, and ishows that vaude could be Vastly improved by . getting ■ a few neW: angles on cbrhedy piStter. .Carl- .Freed and his- harmdnica troupe also scoreVwith a series of jive tun.es on the mouth .organs, Freed has played ihbuse" sevetial times and ■ has something of an air . rep locally ; due to his appearances oyer WLW, .which fs plugged in- the introduction, /This booking takes; on- local sig-. niflcance from thC' fact /that Jack Yellen, whb. did the shbw'is: lyrics, also' bwns,: with his family, the 20th Century (under lease; to Basil Dipi son); Aside from this, just, how inuch prestige the name of White or. the advertised array, bf talent adds to a' picture'; box office is questionable. Here, they ;add up mostly as caviar, to the. shirt-sleeve: and suspender trade, : which is, looking for nudity, aiid little else. Fortunately, the show is Well spotted at this house as the management lor some time .back has been specializing/ in this type of; stage presentation. . (5urreht. tab .version of the Broad • way'show, is better than most pres- entations of its kind seen, hereabouts, although still isbmewhat short bf the top prodUctipnSi It suffers from overemphasis ; on .Broadway . high- hat. Most . of the : wisecracking is over the heads of/the: tiicture mob. The comedy ; is .definitely v for adults bnly, and-jsoihe of the blaickbuts had even : the. biirley habitues, gasping. On the spectacle and costUme side the prbceedings: liipire; than iSll the bill,, even though the picture; ci-pwd is. ■: accustomed to flash presentations and expects plenty for its mohey. without too, much' regard; for qualityi /The. shbw -is ..well loaded with tailent although the.,;fbu.r-^perfbrrh- ance daily igrihd has most of the cast working ;; in a ; trance. Ella Logan leads; the ensemble V/ith her usually sure Vocalizing and Ben Blue c'ariries off cbmpletely the comedy honors; BlUie is a ./natUrial : for the type of material /handed him here, and; -his effoi'ts. were received with, plenty of palm-whacking by the stubholders; ; His nonchalant style helped take the cUrse bff ttie wbrst of the blue comedy. ..: Billy Rayes is. a smbbth m;c. and also eoritributes his; novelty -jugglinig •mbnoipg, . In both,, more conserva;- tism . would help hi&. contributions. Craig MathUes tenors -with much volume, and" cohsidierable . melody, Kim Lbp Sisters are pressed into, al- most every.r kind of ; service;. . The , Knight Sisters; are exciellent ih their adagio turn arid Christine Forsythe's; ie 10 n g ate d;, Broadwayized ; hulia earned ; her - wellrdeserved returns. Fran English: straights for the comedy bits. ;A number of people, .such. as ROss , Wyse, Jr., and JUne Mann; though; billed, failed to apipear at this catch- ing, ';'.// • ■■ Late arrival of the show resulted in considerable confusion and delay the first dayi but the proceedings ran off- in • sUrprisihgly ' smooth fashion hbtwithstandihg; Attendance excellent at second (supper): show opening day, BurtQn. : : Chicago, Au^. 9* Eddy Howard, Jackie Coogan (3)/ CarroU and Howe, Seror Tunns, Carol Hughes,. House Line (10); ^Gam\>liivg On the Hifih Seas' (WB). For the two-bit week-day matinee, .when :this house gets an almost capacity audience of highschooi jit-: terbugs, this: bill, headlining Jackie Coogan and Eddy Howard, is almost; perfect. For any other audience; it's almost a dud. -; All the littl^ highschobl girls wait patiently for , Howard's spot,/ they squeal delightedly .when they hear his . first sof t tbnes: coming from- off - stage, arid wheti he/walks oh, topped by. his curly, shihing;'; black hair, they go' hutSi . They love the way he gvahs the mike, with both ; hands, pulls it tbward him* and then leans back in,;a, pose for all the world like a .highschbol girl's dream of ApoUo^ aS his 'Silky croon drones iriUshily through' the theatre, But eyen they,; the 16Tyear olds,; arc' a bit weary bf him : by , the time/he's finished, .and the rest bf the/audience : is like a bunch'of bid nfiaidS who've ha4 to sit through a, ,strip dance they didn't want to see in the fiirst ■ place; . Cbogah begins his act Avith a series of gags such;,as;the late; Ted Healy might: have told, bUt,; unfortunately, Cppgan, not Healy,. does>the; telling. After/an, over-long , Sessibii; at such work', ; he ;is interrupted; by two stboges; hauling,: a: piano, which in- strument hasn't anything to do with the act, phstaige. The oiily good thing they / do is' to ;; interrupt Coogah'is ihbnolog. Their part of the act is a bit of rough-house; and the accbmpariylirig of Googaii fbir hi^ finish, : the three pf , 'em dbinig a' fan dance; with newspapers, some-, thing which hasn't been seen in Chi- cago in .about two; weeks." / :Garol Hughes is also 'featured, and as .si; Warner' starlet. She's dressed nicely, talks badly and sings in the stilted: mariner; of .most band singers. ;She needs ■ the experience she's getting, but plenty, and: it should teiach her,. : among other thiri^s, that np;,successful performer, except radio annbUncers ;bn daytiririe radio; seriaLs, ever work; down to in audience;-;. ■ Jean, Carroll - arid Buddy Hb^e, man and ; woman chatter team, are good, arid would be excellerit if Howe paced his lines faster; He seemed tired. Close. With challenge hoofing. Seror Twins, maleSi open show after. hbuse ■■. line , rbutirie. Novelty turn, working with gadgets, magic effects, and clbsing with hoofing, act needs: sonie editing : for , purpose of gaining speed. . ^. ' House line doeis two gobd rbutihes, opening and closing; . Opener showed TE>lenty bf tappirig ability. / UribiHed when caught was Martha Raye, who sat .in. frbrit row; Wearing a beard, and reading a paper In ah attempt to blow-up; Coogan. . ■ ^ ; ,; There was a lobby line by/end of first show opening day.. . ' JOAN EDWAKDS. With Bob Knfffht Ore (6) SODffS '■ -. /' "■ -/: -;/ • . ;e8fe Pierre,. Ni Y./... ;Alumnia of the Paul Whiteman or- ganization and a ybUrig vet of radio, Miss Edwards is an effective sbng-- stress who makes fbr a mild'name ih the better grade cjafeg. Here she's not as zbwie. as . is her due, because Oif ;a tough sequence in book irigjs,;. but reigisters none the.less,: Coimirig iri on theL/fteelis of Carol; Bruce, dbUblirig from 'LoUisiaria Purchase,- who took: the; towri a bit by . storm as some- , thing of. a new. s.a. ; songstress, it makes it pretty tough tc(T Miss Edwards, who is, incidentally, a niece of GUs-Ed wards.;/ - On- the bther hand she delivers; handily; With expert/vocals in' the ultra' modern; manner of rhythmic balladeering. SheV.dresses well arid, Unlike her; past "perforniances, now works saris Steinway but/still :;with a mike. Iri this intime room it's a questipn- if Miss EdxVards needs the amplifier, as she has .; powerful, ■rarige.•.■ ;■.■-■-:■;■-■ ./ .;•■ Felix Ferry's Cafe! Pierre in the Hotel Pierre has 'bebome the, towri !s riewest- • class spot, /getting : a; $2.50 minimum in what .might be inter-; preted as 'the; wrongest possible room getting the right people;' ..A re^ formed- pbwdei; room, /it's ;a long interior, with Ibts^ of wall • space but no ringside to speak of. :Norietheless, Ferry's following hais .made it click iand, r.accordingly,- it's a . tbpflight showcase fbt whatever act cbmes; iri. Only one. turn* doing a. midnight, .ses- sion, .with Bob Knight's otherwise expert dansapatbrs holding forth in maraithbh dansapatioh. Knight Js.. a. good; musician, specializing on an odd; electric guitar .cbntraption, sur- rounded by three reeds, piano, bass aind:drums; no brass. It's a sprightly; rhythmic yet .tuneful coriibo that well-fits "into any qlass - cafe. Abet.' tpWER* K; C, KENNETH BOSTOCK and ALICE :>-DUI)LEYv-.;/: .//:;;• baiicev'Satlrlstfli' 6 Mins. • Roxy, N. T. Alice. Dudley arid Kenneth Bostock come to the Roxy, this week from an engagement in 'Walk with Music,' tune show which recently shuttered an. abbreviated Broadway visit. Duo are billed as 'dance satirists,'; but in cbraparison with even much less skillful pairs in that line thiarl the Hartmans, they scarcely, fit into the category-. They resemble, more than anything else, a couple of kids trying to be funny. And not succeeding, if the stoniness ■ of this Roxy audience was any criterion. Pair follow a rhumba routine by / Kansas City, Aug. 10. Rich and Gibson, Bernhardt and Keirow, ferry. HoWard and Co., Charlene Williams, Lester Harding, House Line, Herb Six House Orch; 'Sailor's Lady' (20th). . Something more than the usUal drawing strength is bffered in the film this week, ; leaving a lighter chore for the 40-rminute vaude. Un- der title of 'Broadway on Parade,' stage bill * "the standard combina- tion of three imported acts with the house regulars and weekly amateur, discovery, and rates with the usual bill of this type. Opening; is turned ov^r to the line, which stages a fashion parade and sets scene fbr Rich arid Gibsori to take over iri a terp routine, Coupile roll put a xylo arid take turns in solos and then combine in a duet; Finale combines terping with ham-- merihg: fbr .acceptable results. ./ M, C;, Lester Harding maltes his entry to bring ori Charlene Williams, five-year old amateur in a song and dance to 'My My,' Youngster, i^ on :purely for audience curiosity. Re- turn to the standard acts brinjgs on Bernhardt and Ketrow.' : Ketrow. does an inebriated aero turn of merit, .working in some sleight-of- hand and. making handstands the basis of act; Partner is mostly for looks, but she helps out toward end With some stunts done in duo. Singing piece by Harding is 'Sierra Sue' in good baritone, and he goes into 'Please Take a Letter, Miss Brown' with , liftegirls taking notes and finishing with a rhythm.softshoe. Stage fs then given over to Terry Howard, with . Jack Talley stooging he little-girl-whb-has-to-go low comedy, a standard routine, ■ Bit of production is^ offered; as finale with Nita Bernhardt,. of the kerb act, doing a specialty jungle terp solo to 'Chant of the Jungle.' Girls follow theme with a zulu roHtine to 'Savage Serenade* ^ and wind up the shbw. Qmn. : EMBASSY, N Y. / ■ (NEWSREELS) : After some excitement last week, hewsreels; settle down to pretty much the usual again this session. Only thing in the Way of a rapid heart beat is an aii: raid oh a convoy ,in the English, chahneh. "Clips, sup- plied by Paramount, are nabre thrill- ing than somewhat similar ones, last week because of more planes and more ships involved, biit lose out on clarity. Distance and a channel fog apparently hurt. They show, never- theless, German dive bombers at- tacking a string of ships,' bombs fall- ing and anti-aircraft puffing up the sky.' RAF pursuit:planes, shoo the raidersj but not before ' the camera dramatically :c.atches a direct hit ori the stern of one ship. War news otherwise includes, stock shots of the current African theatre (Metro and Fox); the ; British cruiser, Alcantra, damaged by Nazi torpedoes, coming into Rio (Pathe), arid some feature stuff on. English soldiers arid Sailors from Pathe. In America there - are shots of army preparation in widespread sections of the icountry, all from Paramount. .Most interestihg are; those of -neo- phyte; parachute jumpers- learning how; at ttightstowri, ;N.\J.,; from a tower similar to ; that . at the .'N.Y, Fair, Army practicing with wooden guns /no less at its encampments brings dismay. Universal busts into the war preparatioris ; with Some mildly interesting stuff on troops Usin^; new: Penhsylvania superhigh way and of a new electric machine gun. Latter shots, are quite good. Fifth Column also .comes in for treatment, combined with ' a com posite of recent, bomb- scares, ' It's all kind Of ^belaboredviand •;overworked to make a point which is vague. Fox shot bn ' J. Edgar Hoover. addressing Washingtbn convention, on Fifth Col-^ umnists is bverlong and dull. Arid Par's reprise of World's Fair bomb ing. is old stuff, despite/efforts" pt commentator; to hiring it up to date, :Clips of .;Lindb.e]'gh, and.- Pershing giving their speedhes of last week are. provided by Par,: also. , ; ^ In thie realm of -politics, the Em- bassyv as ils reels are currently edited, takes a chance on being ac- cused of havihs a side bet on Will- kie,; While F.D:R; is seen very briefly wcleomirie .South American the Gae Foster line and does a kind of : mimicry; thereof. Attempted hurnor is hot bf the slapstick variety, but more subtle. Both. members o| the team ar0 small iand blonde and the gal is rather cute. She's con- siderably more appiealihg than het - pard, principally because she uses deadpan technique while he mugg9 outfagebusly in the .maririer bf. a kwi: ■ trying to be .cute. Mebbe they'd be better just dancing.; Herb. ' PRINCE MENDES Magician . Nixon Cale, .PUtsbarcrh Young slelght-of-hahd -wiz : can- stand Up With the best of the wandi waveirs. He's glib, casUal and nicely-r mannered; has neat bag of tricks and knbws how to play them for maxi- mum results. The stand by card manipuliations and chain .. cigaret stunt are, of course, part of Mendes* repertoire, as they are : of almost everybody in the trade, but he has a ;flock bf cuties of his owrt,, too. That one of pulling half .a dozen ringing alarm clocks out of his high-silk hat is a nifty and sets him up solidly with the crowd, / x . . Mendes Is also something of a . Bergen and his .topper is a bit iii which he calls ypon somebody froni the audience. Instructing the willing stooge to move his; mouth up and dbwn whenever, prodded in the;back, Mendes then proceeds with a two* man act that's a howl and a sockp climax to his turri; Gets across; sbm«, embarrassing ones for uninitiated knee-sitter, , but he does it so good- naturedly ribbody takes ariy offense, particularly the victim. / Magician has a fast, engaging lin<f of patter and looks the part in hlB legerdemain cape and tails. Cohen. RAT and TBENI* Acrobats 12 Mins. :;-./■;'^..-v \:r '- Music Hallt N. T. :// - Ray and Trent are obviously vaude vets, hut they aren't in VAMETjf'a New Act files, so this is for the rec^ ord. Pair do a solidly entertaining bit of lift and balance acrobaticar. with touches of tap and comedy, in the Music Hall's current stage bill» getting a deserved response. For this appearance they're in cony vict . garb, making their entrance from the rods of a freight car Up; Stage. Comedy bit is brief and th* dancing is negligible, but their bal* ance stuff is of the best Do about all the standard tricks and a few extra of their own. All tough, all cleanly dbne, with a nice sense ol timing,; showmanship! and comedy^ Surefire for vaude^ niteries or 4poU ting in revues. Hobe. delegates arid Henry Wallace is. toss- ing a boomeranj^ (a real one). Will-: kie is; shown twice'making the same speech : and getting' some -: sly little digs in at the Administration. Once would be perfectly okay,, but when the Embassy goes / repetitious to make sure no one's gbiiig to miss the Republican candidate (he's theire in an 'Information Please' short, too), it appears biased. It's also bad showmanship. Political clips are all Paramount'a. - '.;';• Among the general stuff,' lirefight- ing parachutists being dropped into the midst of forest corifiagrations is^ best. (Par )i Refugee kids at Yale (Pathe) also have a load of human interest, -.:; although . there's little imagination used in the shots, which merely show them playing ball, Skeet-shooting contest (Pathe) tops the sports stuff, v/iih, skiing in bath- ing suits, a U entry, is : runner up.; a; Lew Lehrism has a 60-year-old womaii high diving, finishing with the ever-funny stunt of projecting the pictures in reverse to make her fly back, to her perch. Herb. Tony Martin Xpritihued from paE^ 3;; at the Modernistic ballrpom, 'but it was nearly 9:30 before singer showed up, although the program was supposed to be broadcast over WTMJ from 9 to 9:30, / ■/ / ; Although it , wai^; Suhday -night, only. 2,100 persons had been .attract- ed- tp. the ballroom,:: but they were aware of brewing; trpuble as/sobn as Martin put in his appearance and exchanged dirty looks with the mu- sicians,; He bropned as if he were dbirig -the. audience: a /great favjor to evbri appear before it, although his appearance was so late that already a number of. patroris had demanded their money : back. ~ When Martin sang about mission bells there was a great clatter of cbwbells frbnri. the drummer's corner, and; when'Martiri played, a clarinet the saxophone sec- tipn;;smirked behind his .back.;. Martin.;had been' paid;: $525 in ad- ;vance, and sibout ;il;30 he visited the office of Manager C. Si. Rose to col- lect the other 50% of his contract price, Rq.se in the meantiraie had cbniferred with Vollmer Dahlstrand, president of the Milwaukee Musi- cians Association (AFL Local No. 8) and was told he/was quite within his rights In docking Martin for an hour's pay. When Rose, told this to Martin he flew Into a rage and rushed back to the bandstand, and ordered the Zurke bandsmen to: 'Gi^t it, boys, we're getting out of thif dump.' ' ;/■.;'■ Band Scrams - The band stopped in the. middle ot the number and left. ; Steve Swedish and his orchestra, which. alternatea with guest bandit, finished out the night's program. 'We cater to the public, hot to band leaders like Tony Martin,' sai4 Manager; Rose. , 'Zurke did a good job arid I regret his hoys have I9 be hurt, but we had to have a show* down with Martin.' Dahlstrand, the imiori chief, sup^ ported Rose and said: 'Martin will not be paid for tim^ when he wasn't there, and he'll bo penalized some more for pUllirig his band but early. Some of these nam^ bands that, come to town are high hat and we have tp cool 'em off.' ' 'Rose was really rude to me,' said Martin. 'He let me go all night with* put telling me what he intended to do. Yes, I Mvas late. After all, |; sing,, you know.; My job is to sing and sign a lot- pf autographs. Ml$ waukee's a; nice, town and I'm not angry, but i suppose I'll have to get a lawyer about this.' . F. D. R. iCohtlnded from vacc 3f. in order to spare her embarrassment^ Any hopes that the dispute, npvf in its ninth month, might be settle^ sborii suffered; a setback by the start of a hew policy—^simultaneous open* ing :of the same film in two, down* town Warner - houses, Stanley^ and Earle. 'Gone With the Wind' ran in two hbus.es at the same time, but •with different policies; one; had re*. served seats, the ether; first-come* first-served, 'I Love You Again* '.Opens in both houses at:- popular prices. Talk is that that's the solu- tion agreed on to .keep bii .at-tK^- iEarle, -which has been suffering Xtom second-rate product.: Out-bf-towri ..'hoppers who .go to the Earle wouldn't walk the eight extra .blocksr to the Stanley, and now. they'll get the town's best.