Variety (April 1953)

Wednesday, April 22, 1953 CspKol, Wash. Washington, April 18. Buddy Baer, Joey Bishop, 4 n ioveUes, 3 TVilA; "Desert Le- gion" (U)' • ' , . This is a pleasant lineup, sans high spots, but smoothly paced, S variety and novelty. Head- Jfipt. Buddy Baer depends more on ’.‘"freight singing routine than he ' did first time here. Appeal still lies largely in his boxing past and Sis “Quo Vadis” role, but ex-pug il 1 emerging as a poised and pol- ished show biz personality Stub- holders like the hig blond (or is it silver’) brother of Max, and give him rousing welcome. Teeoff, two special songs, both 4 n tune of “Buttons and Bows” and loth based on his past (first fisti- cuff, then Hollywood), garner him host mitt action of act. Therein Jf es tipoff as to wherein lies the Uaer draw. Also tackles a few pop tunes best of which is medley from “Porgy & Bess." The Baer SSS won’t make the Met. but they're clear and easy on the ears. Joey Bishop, self-styled “unhap- dv humorist," manages to keep the crowd happy with a routine of pat- ter and takeoffs. Gets off to a slow start but builds as galleries catch on to his droll type of comedy. Hits his stride with a rib-tickling routine needling TV, and reaches peak with a series of zany impres- sions. There are some authentic imitations—of Bette Davis, Fred Allen, Charles Laughton—but rest are of the nonsense variety, and do fine with the customers. Walks off to hefty mitt action. The Four D’Lovelies are an un- usual singing combo, offering med- leys of folk tunes and semi-classics with colorful and hep harmonizing to add interest. Gals look good in their identical evening gowns. There’s something for everybody, and each medley of tunes sets an- other portion of house afire. Tee off with a folk tune, then go on to a southern medley, featuring “Car- ry Me Back to Ole Virginny." An Erin Irish group is built around “Irish Eyes Are Smiling," for fine response. Wind up with a mixture based on the “Carmen Jones" ver- sion of the Bizet opera. Get bounc- ing sendoff. Three Wiles make better than average openers with a outline of harp and music, all stressing nov- elty. Two men and a girl combine magico with' hoofing in initial number, then takeoffs on Durante, Groucho Marx and Carmen Mi- randa with another dance. Best bet is a well executed “Dance of the Wooden Soldiers” numbei* high- lighted by a deft change of cos- tume on stage. Pewholders like. Flor. P^miETY HOUSE REVIEWS 51 and a femme who get over an okay song presentation. Their “Wore a Ribbon" has too slim a comedy basis to justify their heavy depend- ency 'on that tune. Other songs, however, give them a good send- off. Comedy dancing is by Anthony, Allyn & Hodges, who hit it off nicely with their standard routines. Their passages of straight terping at the forepart of their act seems to get longer. The routine isn’t interesting enough to stand on its own, but they make up for it once they get into comedy. The Asia Boys warm up the house with expert hand-to-handing. Trio’s trick? are good and they have sufficient showmanship to get hearty mittings. The Nick Francis band has done a consistently good job here. . Jose. Empire, Glasgow Glasgow, April 14. Bernard Delfont presentation of "Rockin’ in Rhythm ," with Wini- fred Atwell, Jimmy Wheeler, Tommy Fields, George Meaton, Harry Worth, Italo, Conway & Day, Bobby Dowds Orch, Winifred Atwell, dusky pianist from Trinidad, wins warm and merited mitting at top of solid vaude show. Gal has assured show- manship plus happy, expansive smile and, with added radio name in U. K., wows the customers with* her accomplished pianistics, wheth- er of pops or classics. Star opens with her w.k. “Cross Hands Boogie," which rouses loud hand-to-hand music. Follows with “Tambu," then into story of her rise to recent show biz fame in U. K., illustrating with numbers - _ connected with turning points in l>asmo, lor onto career. Artist demonstrates versa- Toronto, April 17. tility with Chopin's “Polonaise." Dorothy Lamour, South Sea Is- This pleases customers despite ma- landers (3), Hammond's Birds, jority at this vaudery being at- Wallace Sc Gale, Chet Clark, Den- tuned to pop stuff only. Novelty ny Desmond, Archie Stone House angle is brought out when pianist Orch; “Bride Comes to yellow has curtain lowered, then raised Sky " (RKO). to show her old piano with front — boards removed. Seated at this, she Over to terrific returns, with a “Black and White Rag," then, hefty Bix-a-day stint to take care of if 01 ) 1 . stint at recent Royal those lengthy lineups, Dorothy Variety Performance, “Britannia Lamour (New Acts) is currently Ra E- , Fr ?™ he I re ?ent waxings, kicking off a song and chatter rou- she selects “Lady of Spain,” and tine that has plenty of personality e . xits to solld mitting. Unaggres- projection. Following her Toronto- sive manner of presentation, allied Montreal break-in, Miss Lamour to. hep musicianship, combine to takes a lengthy circuit swing win stubholders’ sympathy and ap- through eastern. U.S. preciation. Whole surrounding bill gets ex- Jimmy Wheeler, British come- ceptional audience response, with dian with virile style, tells stories Denny Desmond as emcee expertly in topical line of patter, with much knitting the proceedings. Wallace emphasis on gags taking off the & Gale open with gracefully non- British government and such serv- chalant acros and balancing. Chet ices as the much-criticized National Clark is *on with nifty harmonica Health scheme. Star’s breezy man- good effect. H« features im- preshes of Vallee, Rose Murphy, Eckstine and Bill Kenny doing w.k. commercials. Show’s big weakness is house band, which seemed disorganized. Joe Sinatra, Martino’s pianist, plays closing accompaniments for Adler. Gorm. Olympia, Miami Miami, April 18.. Grade Barrie, Al Schenk, Acorn St Shirley, Max Sc Millie, The Ju- velys, Les Rhode House Orch ; “Blue Gardenia" (WB). work, notably a dramatic “Rhap- sody in Blue" interpretation and a swift finale of 12th Street Rag" in which he switches! to six differ- ner wins customers despite degree of indifferent material. George Meaton bills himself as The Big Noise" and utilizes rov- ently-sized mouth-organs. Bob Ham- ing handmike to put over adequate mond scores with his pirouetting impressions of sounds like a Lon- parakeets and birds’ work on the bars and swings. Desmond is also click on his musical travesties at the baby grand, plus some inter- polated eccentric hoofing. Archie Stone’s house orch gives neat back- ing to all acts. McStay. Academy of Music, IV. Y. Jan • Murray, Virginia O'Brien, Mello-Larks (4), Anthony, Allyn St Hodges, Asia Boys (3), Nick Francis Orch; “Thunderbirds" (Rep) and “Tonight We Sing" (20th), This Skoura^ operation is aban- doning vaude in this house since results were not strong enough. There had been an increased at- tendance during the stageshows, but apparently not enough to make continuation worthwhile,, especially now that the baseball season has opened and lots of potential cus- tomers have their recreation mapped out for them. The swan song provides a highly creditable show. It's a bit briefer than the house has been accus tomed to, but gives better overall results. There’s generally a surfeit of entertainment here. This bill, with extra-long double feature and a stager, offers more than a four- hour session, Jan Murray is the headliner and he does one of the more attrac- tive jobs in this theatre. It seems that the house has become pro- gressively better in staging shows. They’ve learned not to exhaust the value of the headlrscr by having him emcee throughout the proceed- ings. Thus when Murray works the aft end of the show only, he’s better appreciated. He introduces a Pair of acts only, Murray’s stint is brief at the start and he builds up to the point where the crowd is waiting for him to come on. On his own, he caps his efforts with an ex- tremely funny dissertation on liv- Jhg m the country. He hits a solid salvo. Vhgmia O’Brien has apparently abandoned the deadpan chirping as the centrepiece of her act. She opens with her traditional “Ra- hjona* in that style, but segues into a hillbilly metier which proves {Jlfpy effective* Selection of com- SS*. ls , 8 l ves her a peg for comedy which she utilizes to the utmost. Also in the singing line are the ivieuo-Larks, with several changes ot personnel. It’s still an effective loursome comprising three boys Radiocentro, Havana Havana, April 18. Radiocentro Ballet Corps,’ Ray ^ Tico, 4 Marvels, Facundo Rivero awkwardly in middle of stage, Quartet, Adolfo Guzman Orch; stammering and stuttering at mic- Humoresque" and “Stop, You’re rophone, and aping supreme shy don underground train, motorcycle races, gangster and horrific pix, and a platform announcer at rail- way junctioh. He’s assisted'by a gal, Marianne, in his gangster film travesty. * Italo, colorfully-garbed juggler, has fast pace plus skill in balanc- ing clubs, balls and,cones. Harry* Worth employs a “nerv- ous style" gimmick for vent act. He makes timid entrance, standing Killing Me" (WB). ness, thus winning stubholders from start. Main doll is a hoity- toity English aristocrat called Fotheringay, and he also brings on a child dummy, Clarence. Faulting includes use of doubtful material plus familiarity of act. English singer-comedian Tommy Fields, brother of Gracie Fields, Tourists at the Hotel Nacional need walk only four blocks to get the largest entertainment package available in Havana—and for a dol- lar only. Radiocentro is continu- ing its policy of presenting two full-length features, plus an hour- long stage show, plus the usual can also be faulted for using in- newsreel. For those who get bored, digo shade in comedy gabbing. there is a TV set in the lounge. After four hours, the customer emerges stiff-backed and bleary- eyed. After the opening melody by the Guzman orch, the Ballet Corps comes on in the first spot. Usually the mixed group do a humorous .. dancing skit on some phase of Cu-1 quate showbacking, ban life (tenement houses, the bus system), but the current number consists merely of hoofing to a na- tive rhythm. This type of num- Suave and goodloqking, he sings numbers like “Rock of Gibraltar" and, in comedy vein, “I Went to Your Wedding." Conway & Day, mixed duo, are well-above-average dancers, open- ing both segments of bill. Bobby Dowds’ house orch supplies ade- Gord. Glebe, Ottawa Ottawa, April 17. Larry Adler, Al Martino, Danny Comedy provides major portion of the bill on tap this week with overall results healthy. “Local" gal Gracie Barrie—she’s been a native of the Beach for some years now—makes her annual return to this vauder and per usual wins them all way via tongue-in- cheek projection of her special ma- terial blended with straight tunes for the change of pace to sustain palm-build. Some of her stuff is cafe-angled, albeit setting \dfcl with vaude customers. Best of her as- sortment is version of “Takes Two To Tango" and her laugh-raising When TV Came To Tennessee." Easy delivery and engaging per- sonality add to overall impact. Acorn & Shirley mark up biggest supporting act reception. Excentric hoofing of long-limbed Acorn raises enthusiasm with attractive femme partner adding to the zingy tone of the stint, to mark them heavy mitts. Al Schenk emcees in amiable manner and in own spot sets a leisurely pace with sundry wag- gery. The Juvelys’ balancing se- quence is a crowd-pleaser. Top matters with gasp-bringing head- stand atop three rubber balls sans hands for a wrapup. Musical eccentricities of Max & Millie set well. Involved screwy costuming, triple instrument play- ing plus bicycle pump provide a solid turn for type of patron this house attracts. Les Rhode house orch handle backgroundings in top manner. Lary. Cole Bros. Circus (CHICAGO STADIUM, CHI) Chicago, April 18. Arthur M. Wirtz production , staged by Bill Burke ; general man- ager, Bill Horstman; circus direc- tor, Milt Herriot;* musical director , Izzy Cervone; arena director, Leo Hamilton; at Chicago Stadium , April 17-May 3; $3.60 top. ber can be seen almostan^here Crystal, Marilyn Epsen, Paul in Havana, and it does not do jus- ^chnobb House Orch (5); “Love tice to the well-trained corps. Js better TKan Ever" (M-G). Ray Tico sings and accomps him- self on electric guitar. After the Glebe’s three-week stage lull first novelty of hearing the mstru- during which it ran only films was ment, the harsh, metallic sound broken with top-drawer costarring becomes all to apparent. The gui- 0 f Larry Adler and Al Martino, tar is suited, Ijowever, to such p i us okay comedy and m.c. of throbbing melodies as “La Malagu- Danny Crystal and terping of ena" and “Night and Day,” and blonde looker Marilyn Epsen. Tico leans heavily on these. Although Adler is spotted be Like most Latin musicos, Tico tween Crystal and Martino, who (who is Costa Rican) can’t resist closes, it’s Adler s audience. Not turning any convenient object ill to that Martino doesn t get plenty a drum when musically inspired, mitts; he does, and earns them. The guitar is no exception. Tico But Adlers sta JJ dal iJ drums and thumps on it with his the harmonica tops the bill. Both right fingers and P hand, while his ^veefs^r left hand plays the instrument. The a * ri ^ p t f i d . of the k^j^ough Crystal’s clicko antics music. have the customers in a rollicking The Four Marvels consist of a mood Adler » s teeoff with Enesco’s girl and three men. Actually, the “R 0uma nian Rhapsody" quiets the girl is the marvel, and the men Q lebe to almost Carnegie Hall act as weights. She holds all tnree reve rence and his masterful play- of them aloft a number of times. j ng j^ps the crowd that way (She’s goodlooking, as well.) The throughout. He follows with socko act hardly varies, and the result ren( jitions of “Ave Maria,” tunes is somewhat like a singer with only from “Carmen,” and encored with one number in his repertoire. “St. Louis Blues" and “Embrace- Tbe Facundo Rivero Quartet able You" to begoff at show tops off the show both In quality caught. and as last on the bill. They do Martino has the responsive audi- excellent singing of. and shaking ence clamoring for more with a to, C mambos *nd rhumbas. Such display of his tonsils, ^including acts are commonplace, but audi" “World on a String, Rachael. S reaction shows that the Soar- “Wait tor Me” and an okay oldie «vml well above average. (The he’s trying out before waxing, S^’tdTocen'trt and 1“ Cus" f Montmartre in a doubling stint.. ^Crystal, ^^emceei^^cap- Apollo, IV. Y. Count Basie Orch, King Pleas- ure & Betty Carter, Los Robertos (2), Pigmeat Sc Co. (3), Step Bros. (4); “Son of All Baba" (U). A lacklustre bill found an audi- ence to match on first night of the new Apollo show, despite the solid bounce of Basie’s hig-brass orch and some artful saxophone work by Eddie (Lockjaw) Davis and Ben Webster in such numbers as “Bread," “Sure Thing," “Paradise Squat" and “Jump." Crowd sat on its hands through most of show. - Bill isn’t helped much by the off- key singing of King Pleasure, who uses his tunes—“All of Me," “Red Top,” and “Moody Mood" — as merely the intros to long recita- tives more gabby than musical. He’s answered in last number with off-stage mike work by Betty Carter. In the teeoff, <Los Robertos, from South America, have,a fast dance and juggling act although it needs more practice, with gaL/in low decolletage and shapely thighs drawing vocal appreciation from the males in the aud. They get one good mitt, and plenty laughs, when together they keep three Indian clubs, two hats and two cigars ro- tating between them. Pigmeat, his straight man and a girl, do an old burlesque blackout, seemingly out of line for family trade, but good for laughs. The Step Bros., at one point, beg for applause and then win it from a reluctant house by working up to a rousing finish in which the stage is clattered with rapid-fire taps and acrobatics by the hard-working foursome. The brothers start slowly but end with a terrific climax of all-out footwork. Horn. Loew’s Roch., N.Y. Drops FUms for ‘Biggest Show’ Rochester, N. Y., April 21. Loew’s Theatre here will shelve films Saturday (25) for the Frankie Laine-Ella ' Fitzgerald-Woody Her- man stager, “The Biggest Show of 53." There’s a healthy advance. Retracing Steps Chicago, April 21. Four Step” Bros., just returned from a tour of Hawaii, Philippines, Japaa and Hong Kong, are booked for another 12 weeks on the same Circuit starting Dec. 1. Terpers will do at least two weeks each at the Ernie Pyle The- atre, Sujuko Theatre and the Latin Quarter nitery In Tokyo, with other stops now being set. This is the annual stand of the Arthur Wirtz Cole Bros. Circus, which was preceded by a break-in at Cincinnati for many of the acts. The run here has been hypoed by another attraction, the addition of Leo Carrillo and Duncan Renaldo, or Cisco Kid and Pancho of pix and more recently TV. Cole Bros, took a flyer several years ago, when video was not quite as com- mon as it is today, with Hopalong Cassidy. Although it paid off in this location, in other stands it wasn’t as profitable. Bill Boyd as a circus attraction lacked punch, being limited to a mere ride around the arena. With that warning perhaps still fresh in their minds, the producer has staged a robbery with stunt- men evidently brought in from Hollywood. While it might not bear close scrutiny, it looks real to the kids in the mezzanine and galleries, who cheer like mad when their heroes come riding like fire to get the badmen. For many, the rest of the 150- minute show may be anti-climatic, although generally pleasing, with little signs of looseness that mar- red some of the stints last year. There’s no attempt made for elab- orate productions or musical num- bers, or startling lighting effects. It’s kept down mainly to the pre- sentation of turns, one right after another, with slight breaks in be-. tween taken up by the clown corps. Happily, Happy Kellems is back again, a shining light among his confreres of clown alley. With- out his wonderful, droll panto work, the rest of the buffoons look like they’re 50 behind. There’s a wealth of aerial acts for the gasp department. While many are not much more than run-of-mill, several are real attention-holders. Opener is strong with the Loof Rio’s in an upside- down slide-for-life with a break- away rope that has the mob screaming. The other sock feature in the other half of the bill is the Aerial Motor Maniacs. The seat- holders give a hefty hand to the man guiding a motorbike in an en- closed racing board, balancing two girls dangling on the ends of a ladder by their necks, revolving like a la a ferris wheel. Johnny Gibson’s sky ballet is a nice piece of unison swing, aided by some headstands on high swinging bars. Gretona Family tight wire is heightened by the dancing on the thread of a six- year-old girl. However, there isn’t enough buildup for the miss and although she gets a heavy mitt, it could be greater with more im- pressive intro. Lalage does some good work on pullups in an aerial ballet. In the trampoline department, Adriana and Charly come off best with some controlled flips, topped by a forward catch over the heads of five men. Five Antaleks shine in their pole balancing work. The animal acts, while not as many in number perhaps as* in previous years, are strong, especi- ally among the equlnes. Milt Her- riot’s Liberty Horses are socko visual specimens and equally well trained. Still the best part of the workout is the mixup and reas- sembling of the nags. There are some ponies too, but they are not up to their elders. Craig's Chimps are amusing with one little simian walking a wire upside-down, blindfolded, to get a bg mitt. Prof. Keller paces his mixed cats without much rumpus using mainly his hands. He gets felines to work with each other much better than last year, when they seemed more lethargic. Renee, a drum majoret looker, leads her canine quartet around the ring on their back paws for some hearty applause. Show closes with fine flying trapeze by the La-Vals, Romas, and Siegrists. Zabe. 'TV on Ice 1 in Dalla* Dallas, April 21. Dorothy Franey. has introduced a new ice show-here at the Century Room of the Adolphus Hoteh Theme is “TV on Ice." Cast includes Tommy & Susan LaVonne, Nance Lee Parker, Betty Raab, Gloria Dawn, Jane Zeiser, Ken Hoeffert and Carol Williams.