Variety (March 1950)

Wednesday, March 22, 1950 Palace, .vNI Y» * __ • #W „ : ^ ■ /AS HOUSE REVIEWS Bowers, 4 D’ Lovelies, Ross Wyse, jr & Peggy Womadk, Gus Van, Brief c Bros. & Gloria; “Davy Crock * 5t« Indian Scout” (U A), reviewed in Variety Jan; 11, >50. The Palace presentation this weeK has a good overall character despite a couple of lapses, f liere?s a great deal of strength in the latter portion of the show, where it r?ally counts, and generally im with 16 minutes of song interspersed with gags. Benito’ “Pat" Moreno completes the bill and his midway stint holds attention. He works easily, using an operatic tenor to get onstage with “There’s No Tomorrow," in Italian, slides neatly , into vocal imitations of pop singers and gets off strongly with straight delivery pf “Granada." Brog. pressioft is good. ■ _■ . The return date by Gus Van, who’s in the next-to-closing slot, gives a considerable lift to the show. Van is one of the better showmen who ingratiates himself With his delivery. His oldies find favor with the assemblage, arid he. takes sortie solid bows, -.J The bill really starts perking ; with Ross Wyse, Jr. and Peggy } Womack. Mixed duo, in fifth posi ! tion, warm the house up all over > again with comedy arid aero work. : « It’s a smooth, laugh-laden turn that goes over with top effect Show’s openers are Wiriton arid Diane in a pleasant assortment of taps. Clem Billings, in the trey, j has a good dog turn, but his own approaches at humor are rather I heavy. Cookie Bowers' caricatures 1 . of various types also bring a good i return. ; -i New Acts arc: , Tu-TOnes, Four . D'Lovelies arid the Brick Bros. (2) and Gloria. 1 Don Albert’s orch does its usual ■ proficient job of backing the show. I Jose. ■ | fasino^Tor^mfo ! ' Toronto, March 17. j Mel TorrnC, Joe de Rita & Wan1 nita Bates, Larry Foster, King \ Bros. (2), Jimmie Cameron, Irene ! Cooke, Charles Gregory Girls ■ (18 ) , Arch Stone house orch; j “Arson. Inc** (Astral). . ■ Mel TOrrtie is the headliner of current layout and rates the squeals of the downfront teenagers but it's Larry Foster and the King ! Bios, who share the general applause honors, Foster is held over ■ for his fine song impressions of r screen and . radio toppers; the King ; Bros, sock over on their gracefullytimed acrobatics that are perfection in slow-motion balancing. Tonne, with that sophofnoric. routine that sends the youngsters, j gets over nicely with his varied styles on “Somebody Loves Me,” “Blue Moon," “You’re Driving Me Crazy" and “Old Black Magic;’’ j but he could dispense with much * of the in-betweei chatter; Joe de Rita and Waunita Bates score with their knockabout may ; hem; and the line, girls point up St. Patrick celebrations with an : Irish policemen’s ball motif; plus. ! jigs, and a nice song chore by | Jimmie Cameron and Irene Cooke. , Production finale by the line is one of those Nile numbers. McStay. j Orpheiliii, I.. A. Los Angeles, March 15. The Cycleonians ( 3), Mott Hcrold, Burn’s Birds, Knight & bay; Benito “Pat” Moreno, Rochelle & .Beebe, West & Lorenzo, The Novellas (2), Rene Williams . House Orch T9); “The Blonde Bandit’’ {Rep). This week’s offering is standard vaude all the way with nothing • s.ocko but all acts delivering com1 Patently to please the fans, Two =■ muscle acts, a bird turn, a dance team, instrumentalist, and song and patter make-up the bill. : At show caught, the Novellos, ! combo trapeze and ladder-balanC! jng turn, are out first. Femme does the muscle work on bar; while teeters around stage on the ladder. Act climaxes with trained pooch joining . master bn top . of ladder. Two-spot is held by Mort weroid, young . accordionist who pleases with four' numbers on the squeeze box. His personality lacks punch but the tunes come over cleverly and that’s what he sells. * ^urh.s Birds is the best feathered -kicking. around the vaude stage these days! He uses 12 bara1 stage these days! He uses 12 para1 xeets and a fast line of patter to i earn good returns. Birds dash | through fire, ride trains, perform ! acrobatics and other stunts that ■ Java, been well organized. Knight, ■ Hay are two femmes who freshtheir pantomimes to records . J itii yarmtions on routines, arting jair iesuits# The Cycleonians (3) I uash on stage with unicycles and two younger members of trio do 1110 ^le wheel-turning. Third member clowns on, trick cycles, }eain, °f the bill is Rochelle & Beebe witlj their takeoffs on bailv roomolpgy, arid West & Lorenzo , ? standard song and patter tr d hid school, Femme of me K&B act is a natural clown who catches audience fancy and the burlesquing of ballroom terpw! \con??s;°ver strongly. The tall ! west and the short Lorenzo amuse , Paramount, L.A. Los Angeles, March 1 6. Gil Lamb, Herb Jeffries, Bedell & Mattson, Rosalie & Alvo, Ronnie Gibson, Fanchonettes .(20), Rube Wolf Sc Orch (14); “Singing Guns” (Rep). ' The downtown sector took /what it hopes will be a new lease on life with the Fanchon & Marco decision to return; flesh to the Paramount stage. It gives downtown two regular stage presentations, tlie other being the ! Orphepm’s vaude policy, plus the intermittent stand of name talent at the Million Dollar. By the best show biz standards, the offering is not a good one, but considering the hurry-up decision to bring it in! today (16), a decision reached only Sunday (12)* the offering stands up surprisingly well as entertainment. , Another surprise element is the trirnming, : rather than upping, of admissions. There’s the bargain rath of 40c until 1 p.m., then 50c to 6 p.m. arid a straight 80c thereafter. Kids under 12 get in free if accompanied by parents.; Formula for the flesh layout sees just about the same stage setup used by F&M in the past for its presentation shows. Attractive costumes on comely girls who feature precision production riuriibers, a singer and a comic with familiar names, a couple of fill-in turns, and, of course, Rube Wolf batoning a 14-piece orch, tossing in asides arid generally running off the show; The Fanchonette line of 20 seems likely to become a mainstay attraction of future presentations. Lineup was a bit ragged at first show with the initial number, “Park Avenue Fantasy," but the finale offering of “Scottish Precision’’ brought down a good curtain and time will smooth out the kinks and make therri a real precision line. Gil Lamb scores best with his ; impression of a bebop fan at the ; movies. Otherwise he fosses in j some eccentric dancing, a takeoff on radio commercials and a nursery tune during a long 21 minutes on stage. Herb Jeffries gives his vocal style to five tunes at the j first show but reception was not: strong. Numbers, are all slow tempo [ and lie needs to mix in a/ change of pace to pep up, his stint. Includ1 ed are “Basin Street Blues’’ and : “Flariiirigo," latter a tune lie did I with Duke Ellington on tlie Paramount stage not long before it went dark in 1941. Bedell & Mattson are record panlominists who have nothing that is unusual. They clown to Carmen Miranda, Crosby-Martin arid Spike Jones . tunes for okay results. Rosalie & Alvo are a dance duo with good rhythmic sense that edmes across in two numbers, Ronnie Gibson is the orch chirp and rates the spotlight on two numbers that get over nicely, “It’s a Great Day’’ and “That Mari of Mine.” Carlos Romero, assisted by Patty Kinney, produced the show. As a quickie, the sight values are okay. Costuming is fresh, stage hangings good* and lighting indicated that as soon as cues are established there will be an all-round neat physical flash to the presentation. Brog. W l mi ni ill , London London, March 14, , 1 : Arthur English, Harry Locke . Johnny McGregor, Jackie Joy, Goldwyn Duo, Bruce Sc Forsyth, Keith Lester, Penny Culvert, Rom hie Hudson, Renee Baxter Sc Wind-, mill Girls. There is a set formula for the vaude shows at this intimate West End house which pays off handsomely. Producer Vivian Van Da.mm stages a slick 90-mi mite stanza which has a predominant male appeal. A resident company of dancers, vocalists and comedians are supported by guest artists. Central feature of current show is the Windmill Girls, With their, scanty costumes and a wide variety of routines., One of the newcomers on the bill is Harry Locke, whose impressions win nice round of applause. ' Arthur Enlish, resident comic/ is a high powered cockney with an easy flair for getting laughs. Apart from the song and dance scenes there is a neat acrobatic act by the Goldwyn Duo, a pair of attractive femmes who perform atop ped-‘ estal. Myro. Apollo, N. V. Illinois Jacquet Band (10, Ella Fitzgerald, Tirnmie Rogers, Berry Bros. (3), The Juvelys (2); “1 Cheated the Law” (20th). . Current Apollo show is geared at a fast pace, registering top audience reaction all the way. House should rack up good returns, since most of thri acts on the bill are faves, here. Comprised of six brasses, five reeds and three rhythm, Illinois Jacquet band opens session with a snappy “Mr. Jazz,” followed by a vocaling of “Since We Said Good; bye." The Juvelys., ofay aero team, \vin salvos with some neat head-tohead balancing. : Three Berry Bros., a sock act, bring down the house with their slick hoof ery and .fancy cane twirling. Tirnmie Rogers, in the comedy spot, starts off slowly, but soon had the payees in his corner in response to a number of ybck-compelling bits. Ella Fitzgerald's, song styling goes over big* with nifty versions of “East of the Moori," “Don’t Cry Joe” combined with “Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe,” “How High the Moon.” “Fellow Tone” and “Basin Street Blues" hitting applause jackpot. The Jacquet orch is melted down to a nirie-man combo aggregation in the closing stint. Composed of three horns, three sax and three rhythm, group contribs solid session on “Black Velvet," “Blow Illinois Blow" and “Flyirig Home;”/ Miss Fitzgerald joins: in on latter number for solid getaway; ' ■ • J Continued from page 2 ssjsT the evening there is supper dancing to the tunes of a Danish fave on the continent, Sven Admussen; and his orch;, Maty Raye & Naldi, American dance team, are an added attraction. Not just any old tourist is welcome;’ however, and that’s what, has some Americans here burned when they realize the club was built with dollars provided by the world’s greatest democracy. Toget in, v the tourist must be recommended by one of the club’s members (they iriclude the Infanta of Spain and a good many of the old native favorites of the Mussolini-era) or by a top official of one of the embassies here. If one belongs to “a good club" at home, showing of' proper credentials will also get him in. Fee for visitors is 2,000 lire ($3.20) for a 10-day card. To be a Charter member costs 50,000 lire ( 85), while a year’s membership is 10.000 lire ($15). Since anyone has 10,000 lire, explains Madame Vaiensano, who with her husband runs the estab1 i sh men t , th e money factor means nothing. Therefore, she says, admittance is limited to those who are leaders in their field or who get the open sesame from their embassies or from the ECA. “It is not necessary: to have blue blood to join this club," Madame j Vaiensano states. “Naturally, we I have many names in the Roman nobility and we hope to keep our club with a good name by having only the better classes from American. France and Spain! etc., here.” One floor of the building is occupied by the Fiametta film theatre. This 220-seater features “foreign films" in the original version and is handsomely decorated. The Valensanos expect also to book concerts when not playing films. They have been trying recently, to wet Yehudi Menuhin. \ Continued from page 52 Miim* Terrace* 1 Mpls. , Flame, plushiest nitery in town; Slate Bros., with some first-rate ' a S°0°d, tu“,„in hoofing tossed in for good meas i iianspoiting the De Salvo .aggieure, make this show pleasing cn Mteon-' -Ute Greek’s Duluth, tertainment and an appetizing^ '.'Mi??-. boite (the pamej as^a mag; laugh dish for this plush room's : h®£ £or the Phoenix trade. They’ve patrons. It’s a return engagement , been pack'ne em in since opening at this spot for WheelerT a loeal' daX;S5d,?haF 9,p,as a.folld dl;aw. favorite. ' With the De Salvo sidemen dou Wheeler still has his top hat, blihf in brass, woodwinds, and cane and sandwich, but otherwise i rhythm instruments, .the .combo his comedy business and patter are Siyes out m.ore Rk®, ri .frill band new here for the most part, In his ; a fiyC-pmce outfit. Instrumeninformal, intimate manner, he con tal breakdown includes Hammond fidentially gives the customers the °n?ari( , celesta, piano, accordion, lowdown on the Slate Bros.,, a fa sax, clarinet, . drums, violin, and miliar ; laugh device; relates : his ; fl,rite. Combo is potent right down own ups and downs amusingly;, un\ U* Rne rrins through Latunfes corks some good gags and yarns, 1 American standards, with equal and then combines fun forces^ ^with Xadlity and ^ririve; placing heavy the Slates. They laiid yaks with a emphasis m the rhumba and samba bit : of comedy business that has divisions, one of the Slates whispering into Distaff Vocalist Mickey Hunter, Wheeler’s ears the lyrics of a song, a Central America alumna, deli vi “I Took Her Home in a Taxicab," ers with authenticity, and impact, which, in some of its stages, Jprob : arid is especially potent in numably goes beyond the bounds of lurs of the “El Tumbaito" and propriety for this room, but which : “Brazil" genre. De Salvo holds stirs up plenty laughs. Junoesque down the male vocril end arid turns Miss Bishop, towering over Wheel: in a commendable job, giving out er like a lighthouse, contributes to in full measure on “Little Augie". the; merriment with vocalizing and other race tunes, clowning in which all join. For a 1 When caught, band ran the gaR lia^^ Wheeler does some hoofing nuit, from the sock score of “Oklawitli the Slates. homa!" to “Twelfth Street Rag," The Slates in their own act en “Red River Valley," ‘-Brazil," “My gage in irianities that hit a peak Happiness" and “You. Are My Sun-; of zaniness. Their “satirical im . shine.” Solid all the way: Jona. preSsioris” of chorus, boys, John L. ; ' r — — — ’’ Lewis, a Russian spy, soap operas ! . iliiio lindKiii. O and a man phoning his wife he’s j (HOTEI ROOSEVEr tv bringing a friend home to dinner I ' i k arc all in the broadest vein. They | Orleans , Mm: ch 14. utilize various freakish apparel : Orch ( 15 ) ,^ u>tth arid makeup devices, too, in their assaults on the risibilities. Their : Fddie Garry C. Ray Smith; $2.50 soft shoe and; precision tap rou; tines stamp them as excellent ' ei • , ;. . , dancers. • ! Skinnay Ennis and his orch and ■ Attractive vocalist Mildred Stan a Quartet of toprdrawer, acts make ley and Cecil Golly and his orches th® smart^rPackaged. bill now tra arid glee club Open the show^ ^ being presented in, .this swank With ; a snappy Conga song. As ro°m. . pdf one with appeal .for usual, the boys play the show arid f 'fafieW of tastes and hits, tor for customer dancing with usual hefty returns.: efliciericy! Business off for sup1 Ennis, playing initiaL erigageper show Saturday night with ex ment here as maestro, has a large, treme cold an adverse factor. versatile band that puts plenty of Rees. zest in. its nurhbers. Ennis’ show• — — manly touches, singing and bits of I ’1 iek piiiHv business add lustre. Crew starts Philadelphia, March 17, tvlUch’^potiight^'^pianiS^^red Louis' Prirna Orch., ^ith. Keely .Otis, and '’warbling of Biir JaMibS. | Smith, Jimmy Vincent , Diab Ijto s Latter also contributes a. laiigh! Rhumba Band, Danny Marshall & provoking version of “Ballerina." Fronkie, J oan Terry; no cover, no Toppin g the acts is lovely Patti minimum. ; Page, a vivacious personality and . . ' deep-throated songstress who reg This town never seems to get isters neatly. She captivates them ' enough of Louis Prima, who was with tunes such as “That Old ; in at the Earle for a week’s vaude reelin’,” “When I’m with My run. early in January, and now is ! “With My Eyes Wide i back at the Click for two-week Open” and others. Called back P ■ Continued from, page 1 • •• * changes wilt be made to •.■win. church approval, since cooperation would be needed for location shooting, among other things. It is understood that efforts are being made by Leon Shimkin, of S&S; to set up a company, the Cardinal Corp., Which would make the pic and in w h i c h Fi el d , de Roc h em o n t and Robinson would be partnered; Alan Coilins of . the Curtis .Brown agency, which was originally handling the property, is not involved in the de Rochemoiit deal, but would get his commission in any case. Shimkih. has been negotiating tlie setup. In the. event it falls through, property will revert to Collins for peddling. “Cardinal” and John Hersey's “The. Wall" are expected to be the biggest books of the year. N egotialions by an indie are said to be in progress on “The Wall." stand —his fifth trip to the Clickr ^^"^ous encores, she^charms incidentally .‘ Prima draw's them additionally with _Money, Marbles in, getting good enough business a,?cl ,C.lia!k’ in whl^h the customduring the week and sock returns 01 s. join in. on the weekend. Bandsman is in', Rita and Allen Farrell came on a percentage deal, which will with httle fanfare, but show' both him and house profit, -...clinched a mcheTor themselves on Prima band is supplemented by end of the opening stanza the a floor show Which leader emcees, voung performers were “in solid.” There’s a couple of outside acts, Effectively garbed, the handsome but mostly show is the trumpeting duo tee off with impact in an and boisterous comedy of the lead imaginative and delightful rou er. Louis paces band through in line; They net plenty of palm numerable number of choruses . pounding from then on with sevw'ith his horn on a blast rendition era] effective show pieces, espeof “Chinatown, My Chinatown,” cially an “Old. Fashioned Medley,” Keely Smith, the band’s attractive. in which dances of the past are warbler, is right in there ^ with that reprised. Prima standard “Charley, My The laugh department is in the Boy.” and doubles with the maestro e r VAnvPAif m ...jiu f,/v*‘nA JEcI(1ig* • Garr, vviio contribLitos . a ™ ■ Enjoy . YourseH , with spme .soj,^ stanza. Losing no time , in special amusing Prima ljncs gc,mng ,,is rib-tiekling attack juUlcd. started, Garr offers a succession . Jimmy Vincent, band s^ flashy 0f gags, imitations of celebrities, drummer, takes off on a solo flight .song or two and a pantomimic-, with Prima spurring him on and drunk bit. Latter has tablecalling off the different beats. It’s, holders howling. He encores with a bit too long, but skin-beater dramatic bit, “The Refugee," works hard arid sustains interest which leaves ringsiders mistyby sheer volume of : sound. The eyed; band is on the brassy side, arid ; C. Ray Smith trots out a flock ignores the soft pedal except w' hen of . fascinating puppets, ■ all of Prima wants the lyrics to be heard, which are deftly manipulated. Diablito, who leads the altcrnat ‘ Both adults and moppets at dinner irig fhumba . unit, goes, on with liked the act. , , . soiric Latin terping and Arnaz-type L«nis does capable jpb _ of em' vocalizing to kick off the revue, oeeing and adds some of his own Ho js followed by Danny Marshall u ? f i w d a n P ° S ’ .■ind Fronkie, mixed comedy duo. ^‘cSpHdtv blz'when’ c^auS d' They. try Ja; win laughs with a <-aPa£,ti’ Blz "nen caught.. scries of impersonations (that are not intended to come off ) .but both the material and the technique are Cleve. Booker Sets Acts shop.-wor.n... Joan Terry, an okay _ . -y • ... . , terpen offers nice routines. , Frank Sennas, Cleveland hook-, Cdfjft, er who was. in New York last week . -■•'.■■■ .. ■ : : ; to ogle talent, has set Ted Lewis W ^ V1| '•••. !•' for the Beverly Hills Country Club; I In* FiiiilM1. .1 lioenix Newport, Ky., May 14^ Others sett ■ Phoenix, .March Iri : for same spot include the Minsky; Salvo. Orch (5), V’//'1 unit from the Colonial Inn, Kalian* Rickey Hunter; no cover, no mm dale, Fla., for some time in April, llhu)n ; arid Lowe, Hite and Stanley,, for, Joe De Salvo has integrated^ hisi ‘ v T year-old combo into orie of the best Frank Libuse and Arthur Lee bands hc-ard. in.; these • parts. Lyle Simpkins are heading the current and Jimmy Oreck, operators of the show at that spot I'Ih* FIsilIU*. lrilOIMlix Phoenix, March .10.