Variety (Nov 1940)

56 REVIEWS Wednesday, November 13, 1940 House Reviews .Continued from page 55. Unit Reviews STATE, HARTFORD GLAMOR GIRL REVUE WFBM. who sings .'Shadrack.' He, (BROADWAY, CHARLOTTE, N. C.) either, hadplenty of friends in. .the. j audience, or they liked; it, for the mittslaps were heavy Charlotte, N. C, Nov. 6, Ray Martell, Mack and Lynne, One rf of the novelties on bill is Hank Sermon, The Three Cards, Best Sellers Best Buys .Continued from page 3. the : baiid, .' and Eberle; -ducting; Double-edged meanings .-of; the van- \ Jonn ~ a dUi'cV-sketch artist who:■ Jean , Moore, Ellen : Drew, Connie ous choruses as echoed by 1 n ?, u b ^5 draws picture of girl and man in Cella, Ray Samuels' Girls (8), Hugh hnvs hits a Palatable SPOt with the ". J: „„^. rp,T„.v ltfni-trim Rmm.em»m'*'* hand (7); 'Slightly boysvhits a palatable spot ^ihi «je audience; Turn alsa.;gives : Morgan stubholders, who eat. f a^P-^ff c hance for fooling around with audi- next duets with Miss. O Conn elisor, ence done , in good taste. Jimmy an effectiye f xomedy;nu^be^- Do .it and Mildred , Mulcay.: go symphonic Again,': with, maestro coming in ? or . on; the: harmonicas, ripping through Emmerson's band Tempted' (U).. some horseplay Featuring Ellen Drew ( not the pic ough 1 player of the same name) in a bed- , 1 „ v .. w ,„ 4r ._ v . ts a i, 0 humWr of tune's,, cold'and hot, room strip, *How/'to Undress Before: Ebony male duo, Moke and..I'OKe, an(J finishing off . witn 'Rhapsody Your Husband/: 'Glamor; Girl Revue' speed the pace with ; some terrinc Blue , a .. toug ' me * which won heavy presents a. well-balanced and pleas- . jitterbugging' and comedyhooting. plau(iits >. -| ing show, though 1 lacking in a: sock Boys open with a vocal, then, goanw ^ Bob Hall . w ho has been making act. The unit depends ; ori the nov- their dancing, routine.ben tnem- thg ^ own for many years, and im- elty:-peel-to draw the customers and selves to the hilt; _ _.-• .„v,+ promising rhymes all the" while, is ".on several neat acts ,td leave a-.pleas'-. At lata 5how_caught Friday ^igm ^ good entertainment. Still has. ihg taste:ph; their! respecuve palates. » nouse s his finish when as * tionsvfrom audience into lyrics of- showing the right , and . wrong way song which he composes as he sings,'.to disrobe before hubby; With emcee Three Freshmen perform comedy Ray Martell narrating play-by- acrbhatics for finisher. ■■ 1 play description from the sidelines, Little effort is made at production '.a',, tired chorine comes iri : and; gives a Boston Nov T. though lighting and set have riot, rbugh but revealing demonstration rirn pimac Band (il)V 'with been neglected. The pace of the of how not to undress. When she is (8), large portion of the 4,000 seats- were filled. KEITH'S BOSTON Charley Boy, Alzira Camargo, E.s- irellita and Chinita; Three Stooges, Three Trojans; 'That Gang of Mine, (M6no). . show is casual • and accounts for . safely tucked in bed. Miss Drew trips part of its appeal. Biz good at third 1 in and demurely shows how the- art- show Friday (8), opening day, with ful' wife takes 'em off. keeping her standees on first floor. Ah odd, but very entertaining combination is the South American, music, singing and dancing of the Rimac troupe plus the crumby - toned, comedy of the Three Stooges Kiley. MICHIGAN, DETROIT lines at an interesting angle at all ] times, and consummating the pro-' cedure with a finesse capable of afflicting hubby with a fine case of. insomnia—if he's still awake. Mar- t-ell's sideline quips enhance the act. The Three Cards. Gay. Maxine and : Detroit, Nov. 8. „„ W1 _^ j _ _ Xavier Cugat, Orch with Raul and Tliis^shdwVbri a'tour-a-day. policy/ is '] Eva Reyes, Lina Romay, Adel Mara, Mai, drew top plaudits with pre drawing good business. . ; ...\Garmm Castillo, Miguelitb . Valdez; cisiori acrobatics, in which regard- The Rimac unit has . not been. Catherine Westfield, Abbott and Cos- less, from what point they take off, viewed here for some years, but. fetlo, Phil Brestoff ...House Orch; they always land, in a barrel after there is- still an exciting lift, to its . 'Christmas in July' (Par) . j doing the prescribed numbers of .flashy,; showmanly work. ,;• Charley Boy and: Chinita open with a short, twists and turns. Mack and. Lyhne y . This town's, prolonged yen! for v .are,so-so in a zahy acro turn.:V :. snappy dance. Estreilita fPllbws with : music in the SPuth American; way j Hank Sermon and Archieover- a solo castanet terp to 'Breeze and I'. makes. it a natural draw to put the come the Edgar Bergen and Charlie that rates hearty applause, i Cugat .troupe, pra-ctlcally old settlers : McCarthy barrier in a dummy act in Three Trojans come on next for a, here, in the Hotel Statler's Terrace which Sermon contributes, some snappy session of clean-cut tumbling, j Room, on the theatre stage with good; dextrous vocal-pocus.. Boys are smart-appearing in collegi- ' results Organization is in the Detroit] Martell emcees nicely and comes ate rigs of ted sweaters and white , mood, widely known: with the long I off well with impersonations of slacks, ripping off their routine with, tenancy in the hotel and the steady F.D.R.7 Walter Winchell, Lionel good timing and a fine finish. Whole |?night airing of his rriusicV and it has Barrymo|-e, and Stepin Fetch it His turn is on the; challenge idea, with entertainers who vitalize the music. I best, however, is a takeoff on Amos each of the trio offering a trick, in 1 As usual, this house bolsters its 'n' Andy, bringing in all principal rotation. Standout stunts, include a;, band with names and has brought L 1 * - series of . backflips without, use ;of up Abbott and Costello for the^com- edy spot and added Catherine West- fleld, whose puppets fall in step hands and flips with a slowrhiotibn touch Stooges have two innings* The deftly with the Cugat music. The first tangle is a resume ol their old Phil Brestoff house orch opens the routine, involving the hokum play reading and. eye-gouging; The sec- ond session is seemingly new, Curley is togged out as a moth-eaten rajah prone to do fancy tricks with-a pop gun and knives,^after sufficient cajol- ing from Moe in a language that is - too far-fete&ed • even to be called foreign. Larry is the. innocent by- stander who has a raisin shot off his noggin, and who stands against a . board while the knives appear to fly through the- air and skim. his. art- atomy. The skit is good and corny, loaded with the kind of horse-play usually associated With this trio. Featured in the Rimac troupe is Alzira Camargo, Brazilian singer, doing a ■'. vaude version of -Carmen Miranda. Miss- Camargo sells three numbers in native tongue with solid backing by the band. Her songs get better response as she goes along. A. socko number, midway in the show, is a Brazilian. samba danced by Rimac and Estrellita; and Chinita is well received for her version of a Cuban voodoo. Rimac and Charley Boy really go to town in their heated hoofing of 'The Frevb;* a challenge number that rates as one of the band show's highlights. Stage is nicely: dressed this week and the lightingis effefctive through- - : out. Fox. ■. show , with an overture on 'The Beer Barrel Polka,' as Liszt, Wagner, Verdi and Beethoven would play it. Cugat outfit gets in enough pop- ular and Latin balance to satisfy a fairish . cross-section of musical tastes. There are Miguelito Valdez, doing' hot work on the Afro-Cuban type of tunes with good results; Car- men Castillo to provide' the sheerer Spanish and Portuguese stuff with 'Perfidio' and 'Mama eu Quero/ and in tux, dancing in the Spanish tra- dition, Adel Mara. These Latin por- tions of the bill, highly fancied, here, are separated., by the appearance of Miss Westfield, whose puppets— Cesar Romero, Anna ('Blue Gown') Neagle and Joe E. Brown—provide rhumba, waltzi, and jitterbug danc- ing, climaxing with a slick number in which a Donald Duck . puppet comes but and does a Sonja Henie on roller skates, wildly ' gesturing while singeing his tail .feathers on the floor. She could have worked more puppets as far as this audience was concerned The Reyeses, who worked with acrobatics. characters. Jean Moore warbles ac ceptably in one appearance. Connie Cella does a- song, and dance with , the line, strictly routine. Line per- forms nicely in usual three appear- ances. Band played from stage; ; S.R.Q. on show caught. Just. GAY NINETIES REVUE (BROADWAY; CHARLOTTE. N; C.) Charlotte, N. C, Oct. 26. Jack LaVier and Ruth Morgan, Bernard and Jenson, Yorke and Tracy, Mel Hall, Sondra Lynn, Flora Dora Girls (5), Can-Can Girls (5), Band (6) ;* 'You Can't . Fool Your Wife? (RKO). 'Gay Nineties Revue* presents a neatly nostalgic show, built around three sock acts,. and balances past with present to round out a fast> moving 50 minutes. Top' act is Jack La Vier. vaude vet. with his 'Man on the Flyih*» Trapeze.' with Ruth Morgan. Although the act consists solely of getting himself up on a trapeze bar and balancing him- self on a chair. La Vier had the house eating out of his hand with his build- up, gags, and nifty timing the LYRIC, INDPLS Indianapolis, Nov. 6. Russ Morgan Orch, Carol Kay, Johnna, Paul Roberts, Paul Krause, Bob Hall, Three Freshmen, Six Skat 7 ing Marvels, - Jimmy, and Mildred Mulcay; 'Great Profile* (20th). The free and. easy manner of Russ Morgan as m.c. of his own band show gives the spectator the imr pression that he is' attending a then leave it up to the audience to the Cugat band during its long.hotel stand here, are a polished, comely ballroom team with a comedy knack. They could easily have done more. Fbr the rest of the band work, Cugat shows its versatility with tjmpani and violins on 'Breeze and I' and easy congarhumba style. Lina Romay's piping in swing or Spanish v is. done with equal facility. La-tter's father once worked in Mexican con- sulate here and. she began her 'prbr fessional work in Detroit. 'Rhum- boogieV and 'Only * ForeverV. are more numbers that fall her way. :The. setting' is a natural for Ahr bott and Costello, whose turn half- way through is perfect. balance for the 'Spanish parade. .Pair take over with their mustard routine and Pushing the La Vier act is the slapstick comedy of. Bert Yorke and Beatrice Tracy. Yorke imper- sonates W. C. Fields, while Miss Tracy^carries on a la Martha Raye. Strictly hokum, but drew heavy in laff. dept; Nifty impersonations turned in by Bernard and; Jenson. Miss Jenson formerly having been a starid-in for Joan Crawford. In addition to Craw- ford, she impersonates Mae West, and without much success. Bernard con- tributes fast-change, impersonations of , Jimmy Durante; Ned Sparks. Grpucho Marks. Charlie Chaplin and other film pctors. ■ Mel Hall turns in a runib'f-the*mill unicycle turni while Sondra Lynn niftily. sopranos nostslnic '90s num? Just. xehearsal instead of a regular ^shawf pick but What part of their extensive S'ciS^aS e fi^«F^nHnS^ ,this week at the Lyric. It's a new routine is - wanted, , Audience, San C £ pieSSv^ih S^^n^ approach to band shows, and a pleas-[ naturally, in baseball town like this. "^r a S c S^* frri^ n!? ing change of pace from the intense. took the: baseball gag and went i House only nartlv full oh'show efforts of other ma«stros who have heavily for it. Pair hadn't had a : raught paruy iuu on show been holding forth -tin the boardsv chance because ,.bf,late arrival to during previous wiBeks.. Morgan's work with band, but clicked smooth- wit adds sparkle to . the band num- ly as they fitted into a conga chain. bers, Which are. well done by the and. Costello tucked his -trip tease' four-rhythm,* three-trumpet, two- 1 routine on for a sorely needed end- trombone, . three-fiddle and four. 1 ing. saxophone sections. ;| Biz. fair when caught Friday (8). Smooth arranging is evident on 1 .. Pool. the theme song, 'Does Your Heart ■ Beat for Me,' done in its ; entirety to opep, and followed throughout the 62 nVinutes running time by 'John- son Rag,' to introduce different sec- tions; 'Sentimental Mood/ with Mor- Fla. Nut Club Opens ". -,,■:'•:'Miami, Nov. 12. ouuhuihiw. muuu W1UI mu> Kernel* Lew Mercur's Nut Club gan^onThe 1 slTp"hom U and - also' doing •! ^}} s U P Friday (15), a month and a. a yocal oh 'Only Forever,' and mov- half prior to last season's ^opening. ing over to the piano on 'Stumbling/ with very hot , treatmeht . given 'Linger Awhile/ Band vocalists are Paul Roberts, baritone, who sings 'Whispering Grass' and 'Stardust'; and Carol Kay, who gives lackadaisical treatment to •Maybe' and 'Nobody's Baby/ A heavy scorer in the vocal depart- ment was Paul Krause, winner of in aniateur contest on station New revue is packaged under 'Funz apoppin' label, James 'Paddy' Buch r anan, fbrmerly. at Mercur's Pitts^ burgh spot, heads lineup/ which in- cludes Reggie Dvorak, Bishop Broth- ers (2), Charles < Adams and Ray Walker. Room has been refurbished and en- larged to accomodate 30 ' additional seats at bar. -. JOAN and BOBBY REXER Dancing 8 Mins. ■ - '•- Majestic, B'klyn The youthful: Rexers. probably brother and sister, are corners: Mak- ing a nice appearance, they also are all there on their feet and right now qualify for the better time in thea- tres as well as in night clubs... ' . Team "-: does tap, buck-and-wing dancing, bringing .out an oldtime vaude flavor, but. with plenty, of punch for the moderns. Opening tap" buck by the duo establishes them quickly. Bobby Rexer then steps out for a single buck, his. partner join- ing hint for a fast challenge finish. The closing sends them across very strongly. Char. yarn, regardless of its origin, is ex- changeable fbr studio coin. In facti Hollywood will indefinitely go on paying anywhere from $50,000 to $125,000 for Broadway, hits, just as it,, will also continue to fork over from $1,000 up for a synopsis that has been neither' staged, produced nor put between; covers. The bigs of the celluibid business, though, would be mighty grateful if the novelists, especially those whose works strike the public fancy, could be. hypoed to. greater fecundity. ■ Studios' current rush for anything exuding the aroma of ,a potential best seller: the. result of long and careful analysis of the enviable, grosses piled up by David O. Selz- nick's two most : recent : winners, 'Gone With the Wind' and 'Rebecca.' During this study was discovered the importance of an institution known as the rental library. Go After the 'Renters' . : So, moving on the theory that the general public has a natural' curios- ity for talker versions of plays it has seen or novels it.has read, Hollyi wood's 'production. overlords . are doping it this way: the audience for a; best seller, due. to the 3c-a-day rental establishments, is. many times that of even those legit attractions that follow long stays oh Manhattan's main stem wHh road tours. That being the case,. they ask themselves, why not pay as much for books, as. they would for pieces first given the spotlight via .the footlights,? : - That they are translating words in- to action, is demonstrated by. Para- mount's move in planting $100,000 on the line- for Ernest Hemingway's 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' with a promise to pay : him ah additional; iOc for every copy of the book sold up to a total of 500,000, making it pos- sible- for Hemingway to increase his. picture income, from 'Bells', by- .an- other $50,000. : ]"-. . >-y :.' Par's deal with Hemingway is a far cry from the one Margaret Mit- chell had with Selznick on 'Gone.' The Atlanta authoress received $55,- 000 for the cinema rights to her vol- ume, which is explained by the fact that . Selznick took a gamble and closed for her. story while still in galley form. Picture skeds for 1940-41 and 1941- 42 .will carry an imposing list of titles gleaned from the field of con- temporary books, most of. which were purchased before they reached the stalls; Leading the .parade will be- Rich- ard Llewellyn's 'How Green Was My Valley/ for which 20th-Fox paid $50,000 before' publication, and which Darryl Zartuck will personally pro- duce with William . Wyler, borrowed from '■ Samuel Goidwyn, directing.. Although the cast has not yet been set, the offering will be mounted on ari expensive scale. It is' slated to roll around Dec. 1. From the same lot during the next 18 months will come screen versions of F.. Van Wyck Mason's 'The Bucharest Ballerina Murders/ for which Zanuck handed over. $16,000 before publication in book form; Vereen Bell's 'Swamp Water/, a Sat- evepost serial soon to be published as a tome, and Steven Lorigstreet's 'Replenish the Earth/ which also is still in the printery. Warners has Henry Bellamann'g 'King's Row/ for which it paid a healthy price, before publication, but which, is how giving the Burbank outfit considerable worry. |rom the scripting angle, and Hartzell Spencc's 'One Foot In Heaven/ which will : reach the . stores and rental libraries late this month. In addition to Hemingway's 'Beli/ ; Par has another novel,"' Katharine Brush's 'You Go Your Way/ the pre- publication rights to which brought the authoress $16,000. : •• \ \, ' ■ ., Catching It In Stride ..Metro has Jan Struthers' 'Mrs. j Miniver/ for which it paid $25,000 before it had hit its full stride as a book, and in which it plans to star. Greer Garson. Columbia-will make a talker around Nathaniel West's 'A Cool; Million/ which it obtained be- fore publication in 'a rather unusual manner.: Copy of the manuscript had bjeeh submitted to Col exec^ for inspection.-. before- the', yarn was sent to the publishers. But 'Million/ as prepared' for book purposes, wasn't considered suitable for pic- tures; so author West and screen writer Boris Ingster set about to grind out a screen treatment. This met. with Col's approval, and a con-, tract was'signed.,' , In studying the Selznick situation oh 'Gone' and 'Rebecca/ the prp- duction bosses had impressed upon themselves a fact. that' they have too long overlooked. It is that the po- tential ticket buyers want literal translations in the conversion of books -into pictures. This, thev learned, was responsible for much of the takes garnered by both vehicles. Standing out in sharp contrast to Selznick's experience bn the two fea- tures is that of the Frank Lloyd- Jack Skirball producing combo oh its ihitialer, 'The Howards of Vir^ ginia/.jceiurris on which to date have not been up to expectations. When Columbia handed Elizabeth Page $50,000 for the screen rights to her best seller, 'Tree of Liberty/ it planned to produce it under its own banner, with Lloyd, moving over from Parambunt, as its producer- director. ; Came the outbreak of the war and its accompanying pinch oh the, film companies, and Col decided, to shelve the vehicle, tempbrariiy at least, then Lloyd submitted a prop- osition, involving his resignation frorh the Cpl roster and the accep-'' tance of the story, then partially scripted, in settlement for the ad- vance; preparations he had handled. Run Into Title Conflict —. Lloyd then set. up his own pro - ducing firm in- association with Skirball, negotiated, financing from a New York bank, and went, ahead^ with Col sighed as the distribution outlet; The picture had been widely . publicized before the : start of shoot- ing Under . its original tag, but Col sales heads suddenly ebneeived the idea that 'Tree of Liberty' might be confused with Warners patriotic shbrt;' 'Sons of Liberty/ then going into release. Lloyd and Skirbali countered with a ■ suggestion that 'Susquehanna' be substituted* in view of - the fact that most of the filming was to. he done i ri. the; Susquehahha .valley. Col of-, ficials, however, were insistent upon 'The Howards of Virginia.' ' They argued that, the customers might be--, lieve U a story of the earlier Susque- hanna dirigible tragedy if the Lloyd- • Skirball proposal were carried: put. Lack of accbrd between the two factions oyer the title, eventually led to other .differences; with the picture suffering from lack of exploitation after the negative reached the disr tribution brganizatlbn. The bulk of its. bally had been around the novel's tag, which became meaningless when the shift was made. ~. JPtx On Radio .Continued from page "2. recently finished, : wrapped around, their mike feud. : Others with ah ethereal twist are 'You ? r* the One/ 'Christmas In July/ "^here's Magic in Music/ 'Rhythm on the River/ 'Secbnd Chorus' „ahd 'A Night at Earl Carroll's.' . 'Hullabaloo' at Metro, just nro- due'ed by Louis K. Sidney, who used to ■ produce radio shows,: has a mike aura. 'The Great American Broad- cast' at 20th-Fox is self-explanatory and 'Stand Up and Cheer' is in the same category. RKO's Kay Kyser starrer, 'You'll Find Out/ has an aerial setting and his next pcture is aimed in the same direction. Two of Republic's high-budget features, 'Hit Parade of 1940' and 'Melody Ranch/ have a radio trend,- and so- have two of the studio's future films, 'Melody and Moonlight' and 'Milk- man's Matinee.' Throughout the celluloid ^industry the broadcasting background is a growing rival of the canyons and prairies.. " \ - In Army Now .Continued' from page 2; Coiman W. Coalter, Harry W. Miller, Victor C. Horn, Clifford- R. Lohi. ; Florian J. Klbck, Warrjen M. Mace.. ' Jiv Edward Connolly, Fred Hiclcer-• son Smith, Dean : D. Far low, Paul J. DuPre, Burt H. Dryer, James T. Dale, Donald E: Lewis, William A; Rush, Milton T. Parsinger, Harry W. Biirdet, Jr., William R. Jones, Harold A. ' Gibson, Marvine R.- Franklin, Jack H. Young, Robert M: Benham. Robert Hoffman . and'•■■.-■Clifford- : A- Wright. ■ : At the Marine barracks, San Diego, the battalion was disbanded lor three months of training, .after which it will be reassembled as a unit, with the same commissioned Officers- When reorganized after the train- ing period, the outfit -will have.;? band . capable^ of playingahythin.^ from swing to the. classics. Spnii; of Holly wood's best musicians wi -' 1 be wearing Marine uniforms for the next year.