Variety (October 1921)

VARIETY PricUjr» October 28, 1921 ■SSE „r ? • xrr'ii.ni'aTjuii t ■■iMii sac FRANK HARRY "* i-f-.-^r*. .•! V-'Jk^' AND On Opening: Bill, Apollo, Chicago—9th ACT, NEXT TO CLOSING. Tremendous success Last Week, Shubeit-Crescent, Brooklyn (Again NEXT TO CLOSING!) Next Week (Oct. 31), WINTER GARDEN, New Yoric City FITZPATRICK & (yOONNELL DID IT Closing our act with our nevr son?, "CHICKEN CHASER'S BALL," published by WILL ROSSITER, "The Chicago Pub- Usher," 30 West Lake Street, Chicago. th« old theory that one works b«^t- ter if he gets erKjouruKcmcnt was ])roved again, and the ntudeiitH und everybody else In the crowned liousc KOt all possible out of every act. WellinRton Cross in the No. 4 spot set a mark fur all th^^it followod him to shoot at, nud not until Sophie Tucker appeared, No. 7, did the mob show as much interest; The Dcmon.s drew mor^ applause than any Irsi act at the Davis for some time, the timibiers working up to a frenzy of Hpeed. with the octette going in all directions in full stage. Frank r.rowne. xylophonlst. first time here, lillcd the deuce spot nioelv. his syncopating effects tickling the students Sallie Fisher won a couple of curtains in her "Choir Ilchearsal," with Clare Rummer's "Wonderful Thing" the themo song. Wellington Cross has the best single act of his career. For part of ills turn he takes full stage for a little burlesque melodrama, which he explains he does merely to give the audience an Idea of the kind of drama he can write. His accom- panist, billed on the program as "ac- complice," Dean Moore, helps in a comedy mlnd-readlng bit, on the style of the one Ed Wynn is using, though snappier and funnier. Bradley and Ardlne, w^Ith John J. Fisher, a real pianist, accompanying, were ."(low in winning favor, but took :t couple of e.xtra curtains. Wylie ami Ilartni;in, flr.^Jt time ln-re, have a good hoUuni turn, with the f<'niale member bearing the brunt of the comedy. The act can stand better mate: ial. Sophie Tucker sold her goods like th'.' arti.'^t sh^» is. and had 'em begging for more. Miller and Mack, next-to-closing, took two cJirtains, and Hedford and Win- chester kept many in, even though they didn't finish until 5 o'clock. thing they did here .«»eemod to please. Their father appeared w^ith them /or a little (latiw Monday night. The rest of tl.t bill was top. heavy musical comedy, with d;ince on the side. It seemed to pleas«^ the ja'iz artists, but drugged a bit at that. They <lid ttne bu-^^ineHs at both mat- inee and evening. START the Season Right with TAYLOR TRUNKS Prices reduced Liberal allowance on your old trunk C. A. Taylor Tnmk Works 210 W. 44th St., Ntw York 28 E. Randolph St., Chicago PHILADELPHIA By ARTHUR B. WATERS The showing of "Over the Hill" at the Stanton has surprised every one connected with it. This New York run feature started with Irdications that three weeks would be about Its limit here, despite the 75 cents top. but it caught on firmly, and' the Stanley people changed their minds about withdrawing it at the end of last week, and prolonged It until Nov. 5. With Chaplin opposition in seven houses, it hai? lines up the street and turned them away. "The Queen x>f Sheba" will come in on Nov. 7 according to present i)lans. with "One Arabian Night" opening at the same time at the new Stan- ley. The Dhiebird, a community house in North Philadelphia, broke house records with "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" Monday night. The Stan- ley people passed up this foreign feature for the big houses, but the management of the Bluelaird was persuaded to make a try of it. Alvin Plough, a local newspaper man and per.'^onal representative of Fred C». Nixon Nlrdllngcr, exploited it. The Ambassador, the West Phila- delphia hoii.«*e under the manage- ment of the Felt Brothers, who open the new Aldine here on Chestnut street soon, has been having its troubles getting features evidently. Independents and such reissues as "The Lone Wolf and "Quo Vadis" have been used there. The Shuherts switched Donald Brian in suddenly at the Chestnut street opera house. Up to Monday afternoon at show time. Nonette was the headliner. Then Brian was •substituted. Perhaps they thought "The Merry Widow" being here would help him. He got a big re- ception with his song and dance number. Georgie Price pleased with his act. and the skit of Jack Con- way and company seemed to jfo over despite an over-abundance of pro- hibition gags. The rest of the bill was well balanced but not excep- tional. The house was not good at the evening show, probably because of the many legitimate openings. The Mosconis, a Philadelphia product, went over with a bang at Keith's. This dance act is. a.«i it stands, about at the top quality and I the patrons appreciated it. Rvery- Tho Karllon, the Stanliy com- pany's newest house, located on Chestnut street, between Broad and Fifteenth streets, opencMl here late last week. William S. Hart's "Thr.e Word Brand" and Charlie Chaplin's "The Idle Class" comprised the bill. The house is ch.irging 3r* cents up to <J o'clock and 50 cents thereafter, thus matching the Stanley's other house, the Arcadia, u block above on Chestnut street. Tlu> Karlton has a frontage of 4t> feet on I'hvst- nut and. according to real estate ex])ert«». that prop<'rt> is worth 130,000 a foot. The follotp'mg Leading Female Stars have secured their pla\)s through this office : MARGARET ANGLIN—-'The Woman of Bron/e ' ETHEL BARRYMORE—"Declasse' ELSIE FERGUSON—'The Varying Shore" .. .MRS- MINNIE MADDERN FISKE—"Wake Up Jonailian" DORIS KEANE—-••Romance" MARJORIE RAM BEAU—"Dadd/s Gone A-Hunting" EMILY STEVENS—-St. Ursula'* ALICE KAUSER -DRAMATISTS' AGENT M02 BROADWAY PLAYS NEW YORK BBOADWAY ££VIEWS (Continue<l fr(»m i>age 13) a tower of strength to the Hrst half. Otis Skinner, wijth Curtis Cooksey and Ben .lohnsoiv. assisting, in a scene from "The Merchant of Ven- ice," likewise pullM the .second half through, after it had dragged along in a hit-and-miss fashion for the better part of an liour. "Edro?" programed as making his, first ai)pearancc in America, offered a monolog that was liopelessly Kng- lish. (larbed as a sort of conKdy Mother Eve, his talk related wholly to Garden of Eden topic**, with blue- ncss liguring prominently through- out. The audience listened politely until he bad all but concluded his turn, but someone more impatient than the others started the "rasp- berry" applause thing, and Edro retired, Dorsha, second after Intermission, made her chief appeal through a dance conspicuous principally be- cause of the lack of clothing. Alma Clayburgh, following, pleased with several soprano solos, aided by a harp and piano accompaniment. Closing was the last act of George M. Cohan's "Broadway Jones." The comedy does not hold up w^ell with the passing years, the lines having lost considerable of their punch. Earl Gilbert gavo a likable inter- pretation of tho title role. He is a personable Juvenile, who despite what must have been a decidedly strong temptation to attempt an imitatioit of George M. Cohan's inimitable mannerismsv went ahead and played the part with un In- dividual conception of Its require- ments, and succeeded in putting it over. Florence Curran made an appealing ingenue, playing intelli- gently. Adelaide Power and Rich- ard Clarke were both excellent in their respective character roles. Huston Ray opened with a repertoire of piano selections, splendidly played. Another who contributed real enter- tainment to the llrsL half was Baby Vivian Conners. She did several (lances and a song, but, although hampered throuKh being forced to wui k li\ "one." rendered an excollt nt account of herself. Harry Truax and Co. closed the first li.ilf with operatic selection^;. Whoever has charge of putting on the Fidelity shows should make It Liifii '..;i.-^lMt.-3 to :•,( c rill of tli*? a'-ts beforehand, U is inconceivable this was dono for last Sunday's night fhow. The house vma a, little short of capacity, one or two vacant seats being noticeable here and here. It is likely, however, th.it these were .*?oUl and not called for. Mr, Skinner's "Shylook" disclosed him as the finished artist that he is. It was a pleasure to listen to his diction. The same applied to Amelia Bingham. Should either care to thpy could take the "acts" offered In the Fidelity show into vaudeville and hold the hardest kind of spot. As the redeeming features of u poorly blended show they, with Huston Ray. Alma Clayburgh and Vivian Conners.. stood oift like Re- publicans at a Tammany Hall rally. as the wife, her handling of the situ- ation between herself and the hus- band, wherein she finally confesses, was a splendid moment. Arthur Shaw in a bit as a Chinaman, well. the least said about that the better. Mr. Woods has been rather care- ful in supplying tlie one interior set, depicting a cabin In the mountains, having utilized a rather worn log cabin interior, but that was even forgotten when the play got under way. The play is going to "go over the heads" of the lovers of tho lighter things, but if an appeal to the I'motioiiM is wanted by an in- tense bit of playwrigbting done by a remarkably gt>od cast there awaits a big opportunity for this play. A MAN'S NAME (t^ontinued fro mi>.tge 1.")) rather self-indulg* at morals, ha.« liad in his employ'a girl whom Iw has gradually promoted from a mere stenographer to his i)rivate si>cre- tary, when into her life comes a writer whose work has constantly been refused by the publisher. The writer is ill. She recognizes his genius and fall.i in love with him. They are man led, and <luring tlieir struggle for su<'cess in New York he gradually becomes worse, imtil one, night she finds him in a faint upon the floor. Slio then goes to this man and for the sale of her honor receives the sum of $8,000, which money she uses to take her husband West. The opening of thr» play finds the two of them there, he recovered, and the publisher spending a vacation n<ar them. An Interview betwe«i- this publisher and the wife, coupled with the securing of the letter with a check enclosed that the husband has addressed to the woman's aunt, from whom the wife said she had secured the money, nrou.ses the hus- band's suspicions. From this mo- ment the Intensity of it all fairly grips. True, It is melodrama, but the work of Mr. Sherman doesn't let you think of that. The final act, wherein the husband sends for the man, develops a solu- tion that brings the love of the bus- band and hia gratitude to the point that he does not kill the man but. instead, marka him with a bullet in the wrist, he, during hla time in the open, having become an expert marksman, so that man will always remember when next time ho would take another man's wife. Possibly in the telling the true value of the closing bit is lost, but it was most convincingly done. There are but three othera in the cast in addition to Mr. Sherman. Felix Krembs as tho other man has but a few brief moments in the final .act, but how excellently does he handle those few moments! Dorothy Shoemaker, although given some- what to mannerisms, was effective WiRE—WRlTE-'^HONE FOB TOCTB COPT Fnb. by'L. WOLFE GILBEBT, Ino. 166 WEST 47th ST., N. Y. C'TY Pablkliars ef **DOWN TONDKR" COVERS FOR ORCHESTRATIONS ART BOOKBINDING CO. 1 19 WEST 42h street NEW YORK CITY CARRIE DE MAR FRED E. HAND JOSEPH HART ENTERPRISES THE PLAYHOUSE rilONK: IIKYANT \'M PKODrrFHiS <>K 137 We«t 48th St. CAllLE .\I>I)KKHS "JOHAKT** Ol.n MOON." rKon.K." \VII.FKl':i> <;i..\RKK & < O, in "NOW WHAT." THOMAS \. UIHK A CO. in "3IKMOHII<X." FDITH TAIJAFKRKO A CO. In 'TNItKR THR S\MK KKKOKKK K HI KTON A CO. In "THR MAN OF Till;: UlLIJAM (fAXTON * ( O. In "KISSE.S." KI>4A RYAN A CO. In "PRO FOR HHORT." .MAURI. TAIJAFKKHO ft CO. In "ROSR OF ITALY." HF.I.RN WARK In "THR KTFRN.Xf. IIARRIFIt." HODAKT HO.SUimTII ft VO. In "THR SRA WOI.F." IIARKY HKKRSFOKO A CO. In "TWFNTY OI>l» VRARS.' llRMtlFTTA i'RO.MSMAN ft CO. In "RVRHY HALF HOI K. " JULIA HRA.N. KFFIR SH.VNNON ANi» MANY OTIIRR.^. IN' rnKPAn,\TTf).v NEIV .4CTS FOR IIARKY HF.RF.SFOHn. A I,ONI>ON I'KODI CTION FOR iilH YORKR. .\ NOYRI. COMFI»lRTTA FOR |>OI>S<)N MIT CHRLL ANI» A < ASAOIAN I)R.\MA FOR MITCIIKI.I. LRU IS. THEY SMACK OF THE BEST THE NIF'TY XRIO •THEY ARE A VERSATILE TRIO AND PRESENT THEIR DANCINQ, SINGING AND DIALOGUE, WITH INSTRUMENTAL WORK IN A MOST CAPABLE MANNER." Direction JACK BILSBUBX -variety.