Variety (October 1921)

__. __ .■.'•< jti. I F'Friday, dctebe? 21, IMl NEW SHOWS THIS WEEK IT i t LAUDER'S SHOW ^^'^ir Harry Lauder** l»2l t©ur Mned Monday to the blggent and Sn«st audlenc© of Mm career at th« Lexington opera tK>u»e. The wt jSydrome wiis packed- The enthu- JlSasm was high. The creat Scot shone with an Aora undlmmed by yeara. He re- Mt^ ai only genius can, growing J^llower with the years, growing lUier and truer with time. ^ ^ ^^ ^ It may again be recorded that I^Mider is the most illustrious, phe- nomenal and electric entertainer on tiie globe. For more than an hour ^ held the thousands entranced in the gentle grip of his talented "hands lyid his unmatchable smile. Com- 0dy and pathos alike—and his com- edy is always on the border of his pathos as his pathos is contiguous to hfta comedy~--he never lost one of the throng for one wink during his presence on the stage. Whole-some, homely. shrewdly witty, expkksively humorous, he ^yed with his audience at will, loaklng them laugh and weep and gisg and applaud at the command of a word, a gesture, an expression or a srlance. There were many Scotch-Ameri- cans in the houss, but each year it seems that I^auder attracts to hi - asif more and more of a following that pays and clamors to pay trib- ute to him as a world figure and an international artist rather than as typifying the transplanted national ffpirlt of Scotland on this side. Lou- der is no more Scotch than Pobby Btfrn.s; no more Jcotch than Shake- speare was English or Sarah Bern- hardt is French. He transcendH the little heather bloomin^j section of the we! island whence he cornea. liTuUers belong to no nation, not even the nation that bore them. ■ * 'Monday evening he sang "1 Know a I-assle Out In O-hi-o." "O'er the Hill Ta Ardentiny." and "I Think ril Oet Wed in the Summertime." new, and of his estnblli<hcd classics, •There 15 Somebody Waltin* for Me." "When I Was Twenty-one." ~Saf(est o* the Family' - 1 ' v/ee Hoone." He sprung a surprise to exuberant enthusiasm wnen he clo.^ed with "Star Spangled Banner,** where he formerly used "Auld Lang Sync" The noblu comic's entrance was the cue for a reception such as might have embarrassed a monarch or a home run .swatter. Women wept and vackle«l. everybody clapped, men and women shouted to him and welcomed him. His work was fluent and high-lighted as al- ways, and as it will always be as long as he can stand on his two funny legs, for the heart of the little chap 13 boyish and his sentiment is sound. He cannot hit a false note, because he reaches after none that could bo falsely expressed, since they are all sound and riRht. Clean, amu.sing, touching, the worlcs o( Liauder and the work of lAuder may not be classed in the regular category of the theatre, hon- orable and right as the theatre is. For Lauder is more than an enter- tainer—he is an orator, an evange- list, a publicist, a poet. The ufual Lauder show surrounds him. William Morris knows Just how to present Lauder, and Just what to put with him. The Lauder audiences are not regn^lar theatre- going folks, and they enthuse over simple, clever turns such as would perhaps be pctssed by with a sniff in the temples of the blase vaudeville coterie. W. E. Ultchle and company, Eng- lish comedy cyclists, did not show, Ritchie being taken with rheuma- tism contracted on his ocean voy- age. Margaret r.cKee, a pretty wlUstler. substituted and did nicely. Harry Moore, an uncanny paper- • tearer, opened. It takss Morris cour- age to play a paper-tearer to an evening dressed capacity house in New York. Moore was a riot. The Clintons, novelty Jumpers, flying tumblers and broom-riders, cleaned up. Cleo Gascoigne repeated strongly, filling the tremendous the- atre with her tiny personality and. iroluminous voice. Kharum, remark- ^le pianist, closed the first half and went for big applause. He wears Orirnf ,1 clothes. Morris flashed a drop showing Ihe main street of Baranac Lake behind lAuder in one song, and a program P'' . apli boosted thp town and the district. Morris is an enthusiast. When he l>oosts he boosts—all the time, everywhere. He lias two things to boost. Lauder and Sara- nac. He has m ' them both and i» still making them. JAiit. up. Ths turn was with ths i * BaUey-Ringlkig show ths past circus season, it's a com* blnatlon of acrobatics, dancing and cltfWBiBA ths lattsr brlnglns into play la members of ths troups urn graduated stilts, ruxmin^ troM a dwarf to a 20-footer, with each wearing carnival falsa facea Thers is a sonff by a girl at the opsainc which means abont as mndbi as any of tba other songs in acrobalto acta A travsstisd Russian dance, some individual contortion and acrobflUic stunts by 6ne of the men and some excellent team formations eatab- iiahed the turn as an unusual act of its type. Rolls and Roycc were second with various styles of dancing. If there is anything in the line of applause Jockeying tricks the team have overlooked, it Just hasn't been done. They're good dancers, and the crowd recognized that, also falling readily for the applause prods. The team speeched it, the returns nicely manipuli&ted permitting the oratory. The show was now going along like a breese, the Rolls-Royce dancing ^ving Inserted a dash of spee<l that Eddie Buzzell and Co. caught On the wing and maintained without a let-up during their ses- sion. "A Man of Affa'irs," written by Dan Ku.«e1l. exemplifies the new type of vaudeville comedy act at its best. There are frequent scenic changes to relieve the eye and u steady stream of laughs arising from comedy situations and dialog built to order for vaudeville. To be sure, there is a dash of reminiscent stuff here and there in the table scene and other J»uHiness. but it's interpolated mo deftly as to go un- noticed ip the ^general ensemble. Buziiell ha.«i outgrown his song and da:icv day». and is now a full- fledged light come<ltan. The act gcaled 'em, Buzzell being forced to matter of opinion. To some it ap- psarsd the orchestra was out of tsmpo with the singsr. To others it sounded as if GlasoA had nuide a falsa start. Both wers probably equally to blame, but Glason took it upon himself to publicly "call down" the orchestra, a decidedly tactless move, regardless of whose fault the bad start ahould bo charged to. Foilowlns tho Incident, Owen Jones, the Palace Leader, left the pit, reappearing a few min- utes later. Acoordinir to Jones he Journeyed back stage and requested that Glason publicly apologise. This Glason did at ihe conclusion of his act. The whole aftair was un- necessary and out of line. Glason went over very well, but would have gone better had he exhibited a bet- ter sense of showmanship. Irene Bordonl, assisted by Leon VarviCra (New Acts), closed the first half, and Karyl Norman (Creole Fashion Plate) opened the second. Mr. Norman was one of the out- standing Applause hits of the show. A gold cyclora with a blue backing made about the most gorgeous set- ting seen around this or any other season. Norman's style, voice and delivery have all Improved remark- ably since last here. Ho did six numbers and could have done more. Another speech by Norman swelled the oratorical record for the night. The Paul Whiteman band simply ran away with the house, playing out their regular rep. and a bunch of encore numliers besides. The Whiteman outfit runs to subdued harmonies with a variety of Instru- ments used and arrangements that are In a class by themselves. The same may be said of the playing of the band. It whanged home a hit that made the Palace tremble. Following all, Bert Fitzgibbon.s sailed right into 'em with his familiar nut cotno6y and stopped the show. He isn't breatcing straw a speech Billy OlaHon. fourth, started off ' hats any more <iiiU his bulb sma^h- with a ru.Mli. made 'em giggle, laugh ^ lug has been reduced to one. Fitz- and yell alternately and generally ! gibbons was the real old-time whooped thing.) up until he struck a snag largely of his oa-n making. In starting one of his songs Glason or the orcicstrn :-nr ©If on the wrong i night, with foot. Which pulled the bone is a standees. variety, and it fitted in perfectly after the deluge of silken ilrups. The Palace sold out early Monday the UKual number of Bell. PALACE Although there were i)ut eight acts listed In the vaudeville section of the current Palace bill, it ran three hours and sixteen m Monday night "The Idle Clans' stretched the show out another 21 minutes. The reason for stringing out the vaudeville was because of Jno length of several of the acts. Eddie Buzzell and Co. ran 34 min- utes; Irene Bordonl. 2'*; Karvl .Nor- man, 25; Paul Whiteman. 2X; Bert ^ilzgibbonH, 23; Billy Glason. 21; Kolls and Uoyce, 12, and the I'ender Tronpfi. 13, •'- was a field night for ahow- «toi»norH^nd .speech-makers. Kven Hte oixniriK turn. tlu> P.ob Pender TrouiK.. receiv(»d a couple of legiti- [":«te mrlalns with more than suf- ••••ient to hft.ve called- for a minute "1" »\vo of jockeying which ih":' THE DEMI-VIRGIN (Continued from page 16) man in character roles were the piiUvipal support to the leads, al- thougti Kenneth Douglas as the Engll-sh nobleman rendered yeoman service in his scenes. They were but four or five In number in the entire play. Constance Farber in a character role, that of the lead of the serials, scored a comedy success, and In the second act Introduced a topical song during the house party which dis- played she still possesses the Inim- itable manner of putting over a number which so long made her a vaudeville favorite. Of the lens llzettes Peggy Coiidray a'ood out. She had a line in the "strip Cupid" game that will carry her in the show. It was in reference to sleepwalking at house parties. She ren>embered one at which there had been a fire, "and you should have seen the right pfK)ple coming out of the wrong rooms." That "strip Cupid" ganrke is going to be enough to pull all of the Johns for the show just as long as it runs and the cops let it stay in. Helen Cunningham as the sweet young ingenue gave a very credit- able performance, but she wasn't at all like some of the S. Y. I.'s in real life on the Coast That, however, is neither here nor there, for a general meeting in front of the theatre after the first act at which Hugh Ford, Herbert Brenon. Allan Dwan and a few others of screen directorial prominenc;^ were present declared the "studio stuff" was a good take-off. The "take-off" didn't happen, however, until the "strip Cupid" came along. That was the prize take-oflf since Charmion straddled a trapese at Koster & Bial's years ago. Fred. A BACHELOR'S NIGHT Claetio Amy Ongley Freilerlca Dill ''**''* f?'* VlTian Bamoe Vera Plnl*y L.iHy ('arne» I>orothy SmoUer Trlxie MoultOD LUyan Tashman Dicky Jarvla William Ko»»*ne Oildy Barnes..k Herbert Yost Amelia Anne«ltj ;*'".f'1**, ^'^'^'' Mrs. Jarvla I»abel inrloc John Cort inaugurated his tenancy of the Park theatre Monday cvenintr with a production of his own—"A Bachelor's Night,' by Wilson Colii- son. author of a number of similar "beds and bevies" farces. Mr. c\^1}\- son seeks to disarm the crlticlam that must inevitably follow such a bit of playwriting with a note in the program claiming nothing orisinal for his work, and even goes fo far as to admit franl<ly llie atory <ould have been ende<l in the flr.st at Just as well as bt Ing played throunh tlie entire three, in which event it would have been a \;iu<l<vill(» hUcuIi and not a play. All of which is «|iiil<> trii* . Ai\\ it is aI.-() Irui- that liad In* mailr of it a vaii(h'vill«' Kl<<ti'i) iii.stf.nl »»f a play it would not vr^■i^i\*^ l^ookink'H on the ch«?ap«st <'iifMif in the country owinK to the .sulri«Mt-nialt»>r. which is nn.ie tliin vulKir. Vou can KCt away with things in a legitimatr tlieatre that woul«I not b»- toIerate«l in fecond or tliinl-nte burlo.v'iue. There Is one scene wliMcIn a mar- ried man is on liis kn<«'K befor." a boa.stins rotirtes.in who in luring Mm on. The man tells fter she Is beautiful, grabs her by the ankle and runs his hand up to her knee when his wife enters and screams. Others rush In. The host usks what happened and the character comedy replies: "Nothing; he didn't make it." Still, it is no worse than those produced by others from the pen of the same author, but not so well stag' I Mj Harry Andrews, who has not caught the proper farce tempo BO requisite to the proper playing of that style of comedy. Then, again, the Park is too large a house for farces. It lacks the. essential intimacy for such pieces. The dialog, however, is bright and clever to the vemre of brilliancy, palpably designed to shock you into laughter. When the players are more easy in their bits of business, the tempo qulcl<ened and the cues properly timed the piece may have a cjunce to get over, though it is doubtful. A bachelor is away on a fishing trip and his maid rents his room to an innocent little country girl. An auto collision outside brinM:^ in a woman with a torn evening dress as a result of the accident. She sends the maid out to have the gown repaired and Is left in camisole and bloomers. The bachelor retMrn^ un- expectedly; there is a wild scramaie, which is the Inspiration for the usual door-slamming that is the basis for farces, and has always so been since the first on© wan written by a FrPTK-hman with a dirty mind. The Innocent little girl is the same one who met the bachelor at the Grand Central 'Tp^fv>r tripped &nd fell into his arms, and the lady of the torn gown Is the wife of the bachelor's best friend, who, on find- ing his wife there with no dress on, believes the bachelor is having an affair with her. To make it more Interesting the bachelor lias invited a couple of worldly-wise gold riicrfirprn to visit him, a widow seeking > ensnare him Into matrimony drops In and his mother comes ail the way from Philadelphia to surprise him on his One of the gold diggers is played by Lllyan Tashman—the best part of the piece—and she carries it off to a nicety Willi a succession of "wise cracks" that are amusingly shocking and shockingly amusing. Including a catch phrase lifted from "Siilly." Amy Ongley has the role of the maid who is the cau.se of all the misunderstandings, and over- played an unnatural character must of the lime. Isiabel Irvinp played a minor role legitimately, and Herbert Yo.st regi.stercd an emphatic liit a.s the m«M'k little husband wlio Ih'- llevcs hi.'* wife has been unfaithful with hi.M frl»'n«l. William Hos».ll#- wn.M stilted and "theatric* as ilie WINTER GARDEN Clever dressing of the lo>*ei' fiuor couldn't fill up the empty spaces along the sides and rear Monday night, with the loge boxes and stage boxes empty. The ten-act bill had been consid- erably switched after the matinee, with the Boganny Troui>e (New Acts), who Just arrived in this coun- t^y Monday, on the bill at night. The acrobats missed the matinee owing to a delayed landing. The Lew Fields "Snapshots of 1921." in which Lulu McConnell and (Jrant Simpson also appear In ad- dition to their sketch specialty, closed the first half. The stage crew had a perfect average as far as fouling the drops and hangings was concerned. Fields was visibly an- noyed, and in the barber shop scene remarked off stage: "Now let this go wrong." as he turned the "air" on the customer In the chair. The comedy scenes In which Fields and Mi«3 .McConnell predominate most- ly. pase«<i quietly with the appear- arlces of the bare-legged chorus arousing moHt interest. Miss Con- nell was suffering from a heavy cold, with Kuth Thomas subbing for her in lending the numbers allotted. The second luUf contained most of the meat and* entertainment. The Boganny Troupe started the pro- cession with fast acrobatics and slapstick, followed by Lillian Fitz- gerald, late of 'Town Gossip," the Ill-fated Weyburn venture in which Miss Fitzgerald is'sald to have made an investment. She is offering about the same turn used on her last vaudeville appearance, but has replaced Clarence Senna, her for- mer pianist, with Billy Griffiths. The tvrn ran to flowers and a speech, and Hhe took one of the hits of the evening. McConnell and Simpson followed in their corking sketch, and regis- tered, through Miss McConnell's likable funning and clowning, ably assisted by Grant Simpson's intel- ligent opposite. Fre«l Allen had the toughest spot, next. In nert to shut^ and commented upon it on several occa.sions. Allen aft'tH't.s a "nance" "boobish" make- up, and is the world's champ ad lib- ber. To a "wise" gathering cr an audience hep to show biisiiieHs he is convulsingly funny with his cracks about technical phases of the busi- nesH. but upon slight encouragement from the professionals present. Allen is inclined to overdo the "wise" lingo and get over his audience's head. The public, or that part of it that came down to the Winter Garden in the Subway, was not <iuit«' siir«» that Allen wasn't kid- ding them, and as a result he had to work twice as hard. He hooked them, however, and closed a re- sounding hit. Allen has developed into a unique "single." and should arrive as one of vaudeville's "stand- ard" metropolitan turns. In the days of Hammcrstcin he would have found a home on the corner. The hit of the first half went to A. Robins, the musictil clown. Itob- ins got a laugh with his capaciou.<< pockets and mechanical "|)roi>s,'*. also his imitations of the playing of musical instruments. Itobins was fourth." Seven Blue Devils opened with pyramids and ground tumbling, fol- lowed by Mossman and Vance, singers aj^d dancers, wIm) hoofed to a couple of bows in the deuce spot. Yvette, assisted by Eddie Cook with Kino Clark at the piano, didn't start much in the third spot until the encore In "one," "A Backyard Romance." Miss Yvette reaches her best moments with straight vio- lin playing. Her vocalizing and ef- forts at comedy are forced and un- natural. Cooke's aid is invaluable, he having developc^d Into half of the act. Joe Fanton and Co., a tiptop acro- batic ring act, closed with aerial Kyninasts and hand-to-liand stuff that held them well. The switches were TTStte from eighth to third. Robins, seventh to fourth: McConnell and Simpson, from third to eighth. . Com. burst forth into applause, witix Hilly Casey coming forth and expliiinlji.-: that Miss Bucliridgc had gone to h?r dressing room, crying, as she hud never been treated In such a man- ner before. The special officers were working through the gallery after this. Following the disturbance. Home and Gaut stepped In No. 4 and took the applause honors of the evening, completely stopping the show. Laugh after laugh greeted the antics of these two boys, with the audience apparently desirous of keeping them there for the rest of the evening. Victor Moore-Emma Llttlefleld and Co. in "Change Your Act" closed the first half. Slim Gaut from the preceding turn worked with Moore for some good comedy returns in the early portion of the offering. Moore had a number of friends in the front, row. with the rest of the house e<|ually as enthu- siastic over his efforts. Three acts comprised the- second half, each of whic^ employed the grand piano. Mae and Rose Wilton opened after intermission. There might have been more trouble with the gallery at this point had it not been for the exceptional showman- ship of these two girls. The dis- turbers became a bit restless when one of the girls did some high-note singing, but she continued at it and gained the applause of the whole house. As this turn wt . in progress the house officer was forced to seek the aid of the regular patrolnmn on post, who made his appearance in the upper por Ion and marched out a number of the gallery clique. The Wilton girls were occupying the stage during this and never let the attention of the remainder of the house get away from them. William Seabury and Co. (New Acts), second after intermission, with Harry Fox closing the show, rounded out the bUl. Fox. with tlie aid of Beatrice Curtis, held the house to a man a-ith a vehicle strong with humor and with a decided kick. The Chaplin comedy. "Idle Class'* followed the vaudeville, not getting under way until around 11. givim; the Colonial an exceptionajlv Initg |>rt»grjim. .-.v,- -n,- -.I-., -r:--- 7 Bsri. 44TH ST. COLONIAL With three men sharing in the lights this week, the Monday night business at. the Colonial was good in all i>ortions of the bouse except the l>oxes. A marked lightness %n comparison with other locations was notici-able there. Included in the urood business was a full quota in the gallery, which included several obJectionaV)le characters, finally ejected after having mado them- selves conspitu.a... throughout the early'portion of the bill. Niobe opened the show with her aquatic novelty. Tin- h«>UHe remained exceptionally Mu>«'t during the en- tire roiiliiM' of thi.s yoijng woman, the ffat.s KainiriK more recognition than is ^?«>nerally granted an open- ing turn. Kenny and Hollis. No. *2, triod fnv cumc'dy but missed. These mfn hive pather»'d together all iar)pl.ius" ciratlng devices that have barlu lor; I^«iia Frost wa.s swe»'tly | been cpiplnyed during the past de ; iiiK'-nuLsh as the girl from tiie coun- I tr\ ; Lu<lla <Jt-ar carricjl off neatly I the roI»' of the widow h*'»'kinK to lure lh«- b.ii'hiioi into a prop().»^aI. and Vera r-'inl(> iMiaited the part of tlu- ."♦•(•ond Kolil (liKK(?r without aii.v dis- t ifM-tion. The three a f.v are l.iid in <»ii< s»t and witli fli»» Khort cjst ma^ .«land tUc raff for a while. Tl..- Iioum; scab- i.s 12. The r»ar»< i.s at . t ulumJ.>U'< rirrl" (.jf^th sireet). Joh. cade. I.lit t(» no avail. The contin- ual ;mKln^ fi»r applause apparently flid not appeal to the I'olonialites, The ;,'alleiy got In its first telling 'hlo\% s \\ith Buckrldge and Casey, No. 3. All.Ms Buckrldge does some high note vocniizing tliat was a lit- tle to<» Iijgh brow for the gallery god.-, and they let It be known. The curtain came down nt the finish kc The current bill at the 44th Street is the best vaudeville the Shuberts have yet shown around New York since opening their circuit. It Is hejided by the Jimmy Hussey lt»^vuo (New Acts), closing the show Ixrfor^ 11, after running 45 minutes. That nuide speed, especially in the first part, which ran particularly fast and to good results. This bill has k>een traveling intact. There are a -coui>le of questionable acts for the spots in it. but as a whole it bear^ more resemblance to real vaudeville than anything the 44th Street has held, both in quail.y and running. since its flrs?t week. The business Monday night down- stairs was capacity, excepting tice boxe.'t. with the chances that ton house will equal Its oi>ening we?k in gross, fur this program is bound to draw at |1. The house is well adapted to vaudeville, is comfort- able and roomy, well handled, with a courteous staff. The audience Monday, started right for applause, but seemed to have the habit killed off early through some of the acts begging for it. That awful applause thine: Is awful. Two terrible examples were in the first part, one witii Rome and Cullen (New Acts)^ The two men, Nq. 2, were getting enough appreciation, had had enough, but they had to beg It. In most act^s It looks like a routine that can be no more gotten away from than soire parts of the act Itself. Then Vine and Temple did it again. No. 4. Vine and Temple should l>e tickled to death to get any applause ut all for their lifted stuff. But they do get it, and will get it where audl- ences can't trace back the origin of all tRey do, including the Van Huven bit of showing a silk shirt, in thi.<% instance extending It by going into the orchestra to display the shirt sleeve. Maybe' they had a song that waH their own, if not pul>ll.shed, »'.»«» a little dialogue. But anything ibeir own would not have even started their own act. including MIsm Temple'.s laugh and manner oi' Hiop- plng. it. Still this mixture heliK>d t<j please the hou.^e. and they ca -» 50 along on lie Sfuil>ert time, thoug^ on actual work and execution they are small time of the better grud«\ The billing \" "I>ave Vino nnl Luella Temple in 'Making .Nonsense an Art.' " Closing the first part was Jo" Jackson, who lost applause through the preceding turns. The Ziegle/ Sisters opened after intermis'*ion, the two girls with their leader and a drummer. The act has 1 "t changed. It Just skips throuKli. It wouUl have been l>ctter off in tliis bill No. 3. with Hurt Karl ami I.is girls from that position ."^ent it ui the Zlegler spot. Burt Harl has a rtayh nuisieal a* t. eight girls and lM:n.velf. The girls play best a.s a b.ml. When th^y do banjo>! or saxaithonf^s otily. as th>-\ do, while it make.f a pictui'e ei.-»i time, they can't Ket enough {r(m\ the music. Karl ha.q set Ms v'a«»» with some flash taste, and it is ai - traetive at first slcht, in a tent or awniiff outdoor arrangement thi» looks it. The turn opens so well with its music there may be a fault. in runui't-T ^" numbers that with a with-the princli»aU( rw/using to la , , a bow ^ T^ie houK • immedliflely I (♦hange wttuTd bring'more rew.-^rd at