Variety (December 1921)

\ so THIS WEEK Friday, December 23, 198J ALHAMBRA This week's Alhambra frameup has everything, fast dancing being itn outst anding feature, with ascend- ing values of clean-cut specialty material from .beginning to end. There is plentiful comedy, eome novelty and enough singing t« c-nrry the entertainment. All in all, one of 'he happiest lineups 01 an eight-act bill that has come to notice in a long time. Top honors in all departments of class entertainment, of course, go to Bessie Clayton and her 10 assist- ants. This is the last word in sub- limated dancing and musical pro- duction for vaudeville. Thirty-five minutes of whirlwind stepping, fas- cinating jazz music and not t. spoken word! Here is one instance where the half-hour limit doesn't apply to vaudeville. There is more fast, spontaneous entertaining In this pe- riod than moat bills get across the footlights in a whole evening. The act starts faet and gets faster as it 1^'ogresses, coming to - peak of ac- tion in the whirlwind dancing of fJuy and Pearl Magley near the fin- ish, with a speed demon finish of all concerned. Miss Claytop holds the laurels of the ragtime steppers for refinement of technical style and class of presentation, both individu- lly and as a producer. Jack Osterman, who came No. 4 instead of the programed position o^ opening the Intermission, Is in a way to make an individual niche for him- self in the two-a-day. It is a nov- elty to find a monologist of his years with his easy poise and certainty. Ills great appeal is his youth and clean cut appearance, and he does well to mould his talk, as he does, on youthful lines. The breezy chat- ter about the girls coming from a likable youngster takes on a special angle of interest. The best of the monolog Is that which puts him in a dejected light. The loveable young- ster is the one who doesn't have too easy success with the girls, and he does well to hold to the attitude ex- pressed in his line, "Every time I meet a girl on Monday she has a birthday Tuesday." Most of Oster- man's talk is In this vein, and he should develop that style of ad- dress, leaving the wise stuff to the others. His one song at the finish to. him away to hearty applause. He could have taken a couple more bows, but Judiciously declined. Alto- gether a worth while even quarter of an hour. It re.iains in naming the high :ghts of the show to record a riotous laughing 20 minutes for Eddie Kane and Jay Herman, who clowned it to uproarious laughter next to closing, following the Clayton furore, having been moved down from two before Intermission. Here is a vigorous sample of intelligent low comedy, with its fast exchange of absurd "nut" chatter and the swift extern. stuff—at least, much of it sounds ?xtem., such as the crack of Kane's when a top loft interrupter, broke In. "Sound your A," he directed the trombone, and then on the note ad- vised the disturber to try it again, capitalizing an obstacle. The Greek waiter in Kane's hands is especially __ . ,_ Ag > u „---. 4ll- _ «, m *^i«i *« funny, even after the others have ° n ™ 8 f el ' v n e £ y *Jf n ™%Z L nft peddled it, and their "nut" talk is \™1%' ^v, dlnk 7 t? 1 ? 1 perche< * alof j •ronuinMv »™„«imr / and capable of being swayed and "eagle-rocked" plus a unique stut- tering, explosive manner of telling worthy response when the attend- ance was considered. Showing No. 4, or next to closing, were Bert and Betty Wheeler. The former worked it up nicely with his clowning and remarks delivered from a prone position, to a solid finish, which allowed for ample reason to return for the mind-rending s« ance. Miss "Wheeler, as usual, scored with her appearance and continues to do a valiant straight. Frank Dobson with his "Sirens" closed the initial half of the evening, providing sufficient entertainment. (Jetting away to a slow start, the tab built up, as it went along, cur- taining to appreciative applause after it was all over. Dobson seemed to be working not with usual vigor, hence the retarded getaway and the necessary additional labor to overcome the beginning. When Dobson is "right" the act registers all the way; when he's not it's an uphill grind that seriously impedes tho playlet. Skiff. JEFFERSON "The Storm," a condensed version of Langdon McCormack's meller, topped the show the first half, and whether it was the fact the neigh- bors had gotten wind of the spec- tacular effects entailed in the pro- duction, or whether it was-Manager Gorman's circus lobby display of a woodland interior, the gate receipts were almost capacity. The loges and boxes were populated to the highest tiers plus a solid orchestra attendance. The show itself played perfectly, and those with a little knowledge of stage crew work marveled at the fast striking^of "The Storm" set to make way for the last full stage turn with but a short 15-minute of- fering in "one" in which to do it. The flash act carries with a preten- tious forest fire effect in which the prop trees crash across the stage into the log cabin, and it certainly requires efficient work to clear the stage for the closing cycle act. As to the audience itself, one can- not help comment on its orderly de- portment. To think of some of the "yeggs" this house once drew the change is nothing short of marvel- lous. After cordially applauding the management's wishes for a merry holiday season the audience was in excellent humor and everything went. The Aeroplane Girls were royally received with their aerial whirling trapeze and "iron Jaw" six- minute offering. The prop planes from which the duo perform their stuff are propelled by electricity, and the whirring of the practical propellers, coupled #ith the military orchestral tempo, makes for a spec- tacular effect. Joan Gerenalne, No. 2, a statuesque blonde, displayed a mellifluous con- tralto with a polite song cycle of the better class that was well re- ceived. Charles and Madeline Dun- bar followed with their barnyard imitations, the cat flirtation for the getaway scoring the best. The in- sistent applause warranted an en- core, but they seemed unprepared for it. Billy Hallen was No. 4 with a "nut" routine that depends more stage in Colonial dr.«. It maybe tion of the Hn«j. 1»*jW jut I «£- fine for the small time, but it drove this A. K. out of the theatre. The show (vaudeville) started with the King Brothers in a lift turn, with two or three new tricks. The last, a flying catch, was made through a couple of paper frames and over four chairs. The first miss was a stall, but the second miss didn't look that way. TJiey made it on the third. It's all right as an opener here. Claire Devlne, a good-looking blonde with a male pianist, was the first of four acts in a row in "one." She did 15 minutes with pop num- bers, ending with a blues, making a rather nice No. 2 for this grade. After were Hart, Wagner and Eltls, a three-act—two men and a wom- an. The men crawl on the stage, or dance on. on their knees, to the "Humoresque" melody. That looked good, but then the turn commenced to slide and never stopped. The men opened in tux and straw hat, CRESCENT Bareback riding, prancing steed* circus ring, clowns, acrobats gym* nasts, whips cracking and anaDnta out staccato reports in a mann2 that conjured up visions of silk hatted ring masters—big top atmo.* phere, lots of it—nothing lackhT. except pink lemonade and sawduS to make it perfect at the Shuber* Crescent, Brooklyn, this week ThZ Hannafords • and Bob Nelson ?ne-ivoVT. rST N-lTev.^ %£&1S*-JHX£S^ Con. nl * ht ° f the nlne acts listed, fog. were sight turns and another cam* partly within that category ThI other four were singing acts nJ girl acts, sketches or monologist? Not a good arrangement from a va- riety standpoint, and not playii* any too well, but the circus flavor should help the matinees this week —It's a dandy entertainment for kids at holiday time. * The orchestra was a row op •* !ate n rXne"n , K n to U ev"nin/d™ , 8e'foV There"wa. V Jammea lower floor short of capacity and the bato^ some, and while good for some laughs here, isn't meaty or clever material. They dltt well at this hou~o with an act Just about built for the acoustics. The Unusual Duo, a pair of male roller skaters with some dangerous looking body swings, closed the show before the feature picture. This pair work hard and have some flashy looking spins. One with ankles locked around the neck of one remained for the picture. STH AVE. Not a thing new to the regular vaudeville audiences, but still a show the first half that is bound to please the malorlty of consistent patrons. The regulation eight acts, with Lewis and Dody and Keane and Whitney splitting the headline. later" used a telephone book—a bit of business first done in burlesque. Ashley and Dorney, with a young woman, were the next three-act of the same composition. The turn when getting down to the straight and parody singing got in strong with the house. It was pretty light before that. It's the Herbert Ash- ley style of following the straight version with a parody that sends over any act it seems he is in. The straight singing member of the Ashley turn had to be followed by Frank Hurst, single, with a wom- an pianist. The woman player was the best pianist on the bill. Hurst sings pops and ballads, using his introductory stuff about himself and his past to open and close, as he did when starting out as a single. It's time he forgot about it, for audi- ences have. Hurst did quite well with his regular songs, but not so well when he finished with a "Moon" number as an encore he said had been written by Mary Cook, his pianist. 'Moon." "soon,' "croon and "tune" have ever seemed the main Ingredients for Joe Howard's favorite. They are still working in rhyme if not in harmony. Then camo the "Topics and Tunes," a Victor Hyde productron, that looks good on the production end and appirently was expressly built for small time. The other acts were not seen. The State is charging 65 cents top in the loges on the balconv floor, where smoking is permitted. The last vaudevilles-show starts at 8 55, with the feature a*aln to follow, making the final performance end at midnight. It's a big and handsome house, L,oew's State, at "the corner" of all the United States. It does look as though it needs a show almost as big as It Is. Sime. their usual quota. The Clown Seal, a clever applica- tion of the natural traits and tricks of a seal adapted for comedy pur- poses. Lowe, Freely and Stella Jn the second spot, both acts pleasing the audience to a certain degree. The first wallop came with the advent of Jim and Betty Morgan with their combination of popular songs and the raggy piano stuff fol- lowed with the violin and blues. The act was a sure enough hit with those In front. Robert Emmett Keane, Claire Whitney and Co. in their sketch of- fering pulled a laugh here and there, the audience for the greater part not grasping the playlet when it first opened. Keane is far and away the best in the act. Miss Whitney proved herself an excellent foil for A theatre party did the trick-^ there's a big one scheduled even night this week, excepting Saturday and Sunday. That theatre part* thing seems to be a Brooklyn prod, uct, native of the soil, like budfc dancers, hicks and rubber plants It put the Brighton over for George Robinson this summer—the tou gh* est the beach has even seen—audit apparently has done the same tor the Crescent. Burt Shepherd caught a fairly well settled house with his inter* esting whip manipulations. A girl assistant, who holds papers, cigars and other articles in her month while Shepherd cuts 'em In halt flicks off ashes, etc., with his long whip, talks occasionally. She owns a quaint foreign accent, and she's decidedly pretty. There age fir greater possibilities for comedy, however, in that accent than the light comedian whose work in a cured at present, and they can be genuinely amusing. Willie Rolls, In an interesting Nllcr skating novelty, opened the ihow, followed by Peggy Carhajt with her violin specialty second. Miss Carhart's offering is severely straight,' presented In unpretentious style and making its sure appeal en- tirely on the score of musical ex- cellence. Her playing o£ "Mighty Lak' a Rose" becomes a delicate bit of musical eentiment. She loses something after this, however, by in- dulging in pompous technical fire- works. Hunting and Francis In "The Photo Grafter" sustained the com- edy running. Their lines might be burnished up, but the business Is amusing and the agreeable singing of Corrine Francis and the stepping specialty of Tony Hunter lift the offering into the clever specialty class. Osterman, next, sustained the pace, and Franklyn, Charles and Co. put an appropriate applause period to the half. Miss Clayton and her energetic aides picked up the show after the •Topics" and Kane and Herman performed the feat of holding up a spot that would ordinarily have been an anti-climax. It remained Tor Fran:, and Kthel Carmen, hoop lOilcis, to close the show. They did only about seven minutes, but that was exceedingly fast work and kept most of them in. Hush. his "Kelly" stories all summed up for a perfect score for Mr. Hallen. "The Storm" (New Acts) was fol- lowed by Joe Laurie, Jr., assisted by his "parents." The house ate up that father and mother stuff and Laurie was unanimously voted a hit. The old couple make excellent ap- pearances and look good enough to be his or any nice young man's papa and mamma, and the audience was very gullible Monday night. Dow- ney and Clarldge (New Acts) closed. Harold Lloyd's "Never Weaken" and a Corinne Griffith feature com- prised the flicker entertainment, showing in the order named at the end of the vaudeville. Abel. 81 ST ST. An average five-act line-up play- ing to a half-filled house about sums up the impressions Tuesday night lel't. The show ran along evenly, neither taking the heights nor de- scending to the depths, with George McFarlanc the outstanding figure on tlio program when he came forth in the center of the running order, leaned against the piano and crooned himself into a couple of encores. With the number of patrons present it must have been more like singing in a parlor than anything else to McFarlanc—and it was a most suc- cessful musicale. Previous to the singer were placed the Musical Hunters, opening, fol- lowed by Charlie Ahearn's troupe that livened it up. The act con- STATE The first-half bill at Loew's State held two or three good small-time turns out of a total of seven or eight or more. The feature. "Walling- ford," was the only item billed in the front lights. It may have been re- sponsible for the draw Tuesday night, though the house was far from filled, up or down. But it's a big house—so big that personality on the stage falls to penetrate to th* rear rows of the orchestra. Its acoustics are excellent and the sight range the same, but from the or- chestra's rear the performance be- comes a matter of material only. That personality so valuable to a vaudeville artist stands here in stead only about two-thirds down. And the State's orchestra of 18 pieces. They aro playing for a small-time bill all the time. Many a good act in a house of large senle has had to watch itself being buried by a much smaller and ever yo much poorer band. In "Topics and Tunes," near the ending of the vaudeville, a nice little girl came forward to sing "Sweet Sixteen." She phrase 1 it t > stilt herself, and it was some phras- ing! Hut the orchestra stuck it out. That "Topics and Tunes" might be a good small-time turn. Itcll said it was last fall, when it was llrst produced. He sat through the en- tire act. It starts off with a re- written lyric to the "Glow Worm" melody, then the "Sweet Sixteen" thing, then "Dear Old Gal," then tinues to hold much action and pep, "Annie Rooney," or something like with the conclusion bringing a note- that, with the six people on the BROADWAY A typical thrce-a-day vaudeville bill at this house this week. About three-quarters of a houseful at the 8:15 show Monday night. Sherman and Rose, a small time dancing team, opened. The act car- ries a eye. The man is the stronger half of the combination, most of the solo and double dances running to Russian, at which he is an adept. They started things nicely. Helen Moretti next with a song cycle, Including semi-classical, pop and operatic numbers, caught on. The boys on the shelf gave her the whistling encores, for whclh the Broadway Is becoming famous. If they like you upstairs here, you're in. Miss Moretti was whistled to an encore, and responded with an operatic selection. She has a strong soprano voice of considerable range. Rudell and Dunigan, in special songs and dances with considerable comedy interpolated, landed strongly third. The girl has personality and looks well In two changes. The male is an efficient comic, handling a "boob," "rube" and "wise" char- acter, making changes for each, while the girl carried the lyrics. The comedy is a trifle rough, but all right for the bunch. Two of the songs sounded special. Lew Welch (New Acts) followed, doing well in the spot with new and old material In his monolog. Welch is doing his Hebrew character. Roscoe Ails and Co. next. Ails and Kate Pullman got a raft of laughs in "one" with their kidding, which **^s been worked up to such a point of efficiency it all sounds ad lib. and there Is no surer surc-flro stuff in the game. The house rocked at the fly chatter. Ails gets hit often when he backs up against the drop, also sure-lire hoke. Miss Pullman is sweet looking in her black and silver jazz costume and flashes a nifty dance of splits and acrobatics. The dancing finish with Ails, the girl and the hoofing musicians, who step out of the jazz band, put them over to a speech. They took the hit of the bill. Harry Tighe followed, opening as a monologist, singing two songs in ;i ragged voice and monologing about his lr.ve affairs. Ills two girl assistants join him later in some trio numbers and kidding with Tighe at the piano. The shorter girl is dressed atrociously. Neither of the costumes looks big iimish and should be replaced. With the pres- ent material Tighe can't expect any- thing better than the pop bills. The girls are good vocalists, but their efforts at comedy fail. The "slang" song with the girls interrupting at the end of each line for an'explana- grcat measure reminds of Edwin Stevens in "The Devil," done in a lighter vein. The husband of the cast did not stand comparison with the other two members, par- ticularly after Keane's clever per- formance. Lewis and Dody, playing a return date, were the real hit and prac- tically stopped the performance. Were they -prepared to remain on the stage for an hour with their "H*llo, Hello, Hello" verses, the audience would have been willing to listen. They were laughs from start to finish, even though a number of their gags were based on "blue" stories. Margaret Young had the next to closing spot, coming direct from the Palace. Seemingly Miss Young Is ill advised as to dress. A bine'; costume would be more befitting her personality than the gold af- fair with violet shoes and stock- ings. She did very well with the numbers at hand, although one does wonder what her sequel to "A Dis- appointed Chorus Girl" would have been had it been in the hands of a cleverer lyric writer who might have made a classic of it. Closing the show Lou Lockett and Miss Linn provided the entertain- ment. There is considerable lack- ing in the act for a real fast bilk even though it contains a different idea from the general run of acts to Introduce the dancing efforts of a team. With work it will undoubted- ly whip itself into shape, and then early on a bill it will get over in more speedy company. In the film division the Harold Lloyd comedy, "Never Weaken," put over a flock of laughs. Fred. i . _ 23RD ST. The 23rd Street increased its first half bill from the customary six acts to eight and billed it as a Yuletide Festival. From general appearances Tuesday evening the former policy was acceptable, as the additional acts failed to draw any added at- tendance, with the lightest attend- ance in some time prevailing on that occasion. Perclval Sisters (New Acts) opened the show, getting it off to a good start, with Ormsbee and Hemlg (New Acts), No. 2, deserving of a later spot In this company on the strength of their turn. Paul Burns and Co. (New Acts), No. 3, pro- vided a corking comedy punch, get- ting more rr.il npplause than Is gen- erally credited to a sketch at this house. The fast gait was kept up by Dave Roth, No. 4, with his imper- sonations of musicians and dancers. This single topped off his turn with some fast dancing, which brought him into the hit column. Howard and Sadler, following, had an easy time landing their songs and inci- dental chatter. The girls are ap- parently well known to the 23rd Street audience, that gave them at- tention from the start. Xo. 6 proved too heavy for the dancing team of Weber and Ridnor. through the male member being greatly hampered In his dance im- personation, due to tho use of George White and Pat Rooney im- personations by Dave Roth earlier In the evening, both of which he does and announces in the same manner. Lloyd and Christie with a fast line of chatter had little difficulty in scoring, with Do Witt, Burns and Torrence with a fast tumbling rou- tine dossing the show to a seated house. Hart. realized by the simple expedient of having the girl talk more, announo* ing more of the whip tricks than she! . is now doing or possibly through, conversational exchanges with Mr, Shepherd. Plenty of thrills in Shep- herd's whip stuff, a fine quality of showmanship marking everything he does. Harris and Santley, No. 2, in a sister turn, pop songs blended. tin gether with a well written Intro* ductory and rhymed interludes brightened up the second stanta nicely. The blonde member has a deep toned voice with an inflection that oddly recalls Ethel Barrymort* Why not a number travestying Mlas Barrymore's famous "There Isn't ~any more"? All of the five num«" bers were handled as doubles, all excellent scheme, taking away the monotony of the ding-dong alter* natlng of doubles and singles, with the running off and on eliminated and making for speed. Novelle Brothers next, white-faced clowns with acrobatics while fld> dling and the "loving birds" whis- tling bit almost identical with the way in which* Arnaut Brothers do both. The comedy smacks strongly of the regulation Continental brand —Juvenile in appeal and foreign 111 conception—but it brought enough laughs to balance the excellent turn* bllng. Marguerite Farrell made the song score an even ten for the first part, starting with a Kentucky number and successively offering a French dialect, English comic, that wound up with a bit of sentiment sung hi plain U. S., and two current pop songs. A change of wardrobe for each, with moving pictures carry* Ing descriptive titles and scenes of Miss Farrell's costumo changes Ailing in what would have been stage waits between. It was rathef hard to get 'em started, but Miss Farrell gathered momentum as fhi went along, building up with each song, and she went over the top with flying colors at the finish- Closing the first half were the Hanneford Family, Including the in- imitable "Poodles," who worked the house up to fever pitch with hli dare-devil riding, risky tumbling that had him escaping the feet of the horses by a hair's breadth, and unctuous clowning. Some of the latter is familiar, but it's all sure fire in "Poodles" hands. The pick- ing up of the imaginary nickel, with tho wiping of fingers Is still re- tained among "Poodles'" comedy routine. It's not only nasty, but ob- solete. The others of the family uncorked some nifty solo and en* semble riding feats that landed. The act held back the intermission, SCOT* ing a whalo of a hit that forced "Poodles" to a bit of encore clown* ing and a word or two of spoken acknowledgment. * Following the News Weekly ana Cartoons, Lord-A in held attention with his triple-voiced singing spe- cialty, lie was In splendid voice, the higher tones resounding with a full soprano quality und with but the very slightest suggestion of fal* set to. Had he been singing behind a screen it's an even bet all of thoee In the house that had not heard him before would have accepted the vo- calizing unquestionably as that of* woman. He did one number In Ens'* lish. announced as his first attempt in that language, and handled « beautifully until nearly the final Hnj when an unfortunate slip on a try for an extra high one inserted » slight defect, whi h let him down * not'h or two that somewhat dimin- ished his returns. . . A&ed .Bated, assisted by K'" ,c 42,000. ltinucd on page 29)