Variety (March 1922)

VARIETY'S CHICAGO OFFICE Cfitcago STATE-LAKE THEATRE BUILDING • Friday, March 10, 1922 I mmm vaubeville shows APOLLO ) IMt'iiiy of ('lass and llasli tiiis ^•<k. 'J'iie Jirvt rlass ;nnl fla.'«li rani'- in llic I'rainis Itoni.iuli offning on third, ri'P«iit«''l by <;('orfAT> Mayo ami Co. in ;i tal»l(»i<l inn.sioal «'onif<ly, then more of it addul by Frctb'ridv •Santlcy and his bfvy of Kirls, and its conrluNJoa airi\inj^ with \h*' lii«- olotto lirotljMs and .Swansun Sis- ters. Tho bill is not ^vhat could br termed a fast niovinK variety bill. despite It pot the fastest start of any show in this house for .'nine time, btit it is .a Kood, (;onsist^nt enteitaiimuMit at wliirh the patrons received full value for tlnir niomy and d'M'JUtf'd wol\ satislHHl. isantley and his M«lody Maids had J he top position and 5aK'cci'(b'd in hoIdinpT their own. This turn is somewhat of tb»» type of the •IMajio- phiend." Sjditting the top position is "The Bridal Sweet," the CeorKc Mayo act, which closes tho Jlrst part. The turn is all Mayo. The s.ippojt by the other two male membrrs of the act—Harry V*»kcs and I^owcll H. Drew—is not tlic strongest, as the attempt of this duo to keep i>ai'e and step along %\itli the contic is negligible. To greet the early ar- rivals the Great Emanuel performed a number of thrilliri^- atrial feats fcwinging to and fro on a alack rope and wire. > ; v ? . Beck and Stone found tho "gravy" ppot in the next position. The boys <lelivercd their comedy singing, of- fering vne number after another, and each was accepted in good stead. Rennault on his return en- gagement scored far better than he did on his initial appearance with his "New Fantastic Kevue." His display of gowns surpasses any that liave been shown hereabouts by any similar artist and are worn in a fashion and style that permit of their being shown to the best of ad- vantage. Following was Ja^k Merlin, thf^ "talkative tri«ks(«r." Merlin .lust stepped out and ui^set theirs froni tho start. Opening the secon*! portion of the pliow were the Ciaudsmiths and tlnir dogs. When last seen only the clown dog worked with the brothers, but now the younger one is performing and doing niiglity well. Next to closing and following tlie Santley turn wns Mllo, a rep«'atcr here and in the tough spot, but sailed alouA «U a "90-mile" clip with his talk and mimicry. Closing the show were the Rigo- l<tto Brothers and .Swanson Sisters. This act placed here worked at a great disadvantage, as the curtain is drawn and drops )>ulled .several tim«!S during tho act to allow for <hangc8. Naturally the audifnco thinks the proceedings are over and there ar« always some of them homeward bound. The val^ of an act of this type is lost totalJ^n that l)osition. The quartet worked in hard and zealous fashion and scored •oundly witli those they lieM in, PALACE Chicago, Mar( li R. ■Right acts on tho bill and live ^♦oi)ped the sliow. A good blendod entertainment with an avalanche of melody. Julian Kltinge, lieadliner. m.iintaincd his laurels in easy fafih- ion. Pressler and Klaiss, next u^ elosing made an impression on the Monday night gro\ip. Opening tlio snov/ was Margaret Taylor, a win- some and dainty dark-haired girlie who sang and daneod and then per- formed a number of rem.irkable feats on the tiglit wire. Worden Brothers closed the .«?how Next Bernard and Carry, with fi.\iu.'oiJated songs. The boys Laimed up, cased t!uir nun)ber8 ov^r .Tid -•■•ippcd the rlitnax. I'atil De'-K-er and «*(»., in a ci)njedy by Kdward JJujkc, Jabelle<l, "ileard." The ; tory is one (rue of everyday life. Then trouble .starts and tluro is no end of it, until Decker as the husband tells (he wife IbbMi \alley that he con- cocted a st'lK'ine whereby he w.is going to cure her of talking too mucii. To do so he had anotln-r woman—Nina Seville—tell his wile a stoiy which he had told her and this woman cnlaig'.d on bi.s version I onsiderably. Then, of course, the wife in turn b ft her imagination w<}rk and she lold her husband her version, whi'li was much chang< d from that told by the other woman, nhile the man-Frank W. Taylor— found him.'elU in liot wat / ai)Ienty. Hut not so until IVeker pulls the old ■red, wbitf ;«n<l blue" by telliiiii wi)at th(! ;;ossips bad ilone for <'has. M. S'.iiwab, Theodore Hoosevelt and Woodruw Wilsoji. As far as the vehicle is con"erne<l itself it can- not be said to register "forte," for it comes to an a»»(icllmax and just nsis there. At the same time it is so well and earnestly acted that the failncies can bf» overlooked and the vehicle toleialetl. for it gets laughs despite its inconsistericy. No. 4 was Aileen Stanley, "Chi- cago's Ov»n." That was demon- strated by the reeeption. She lived up to her home town title of "The Cirl Who Put It Over." One num- Jier seemed to got over better than the other and her final number, a .Swedish character song, went over in tornado-like fashion, causing her to be the second show stopper cf A siHcch was in order were passed over the $85.00 MONARCH TRUNK To the Profession for $52.00. <;i ARANTEEI) I'OR FIVK YKAKS. C'onU)l<>t« bne of new an.l ufoU trutH;*. Vour old trunk in excliHnge. Spccal rat'js on rcrairs. MONARCH TRUNK «nd LEATHER WORKS 21 N. Dearborn St.—219 N. Clark St.—Cliicaqo. the evening, and flowers footlights. Then came the iiiepressil)le Stan- ton Boy.s—Val and Ernie. The wind was blowing in their direction, the boys had their sails set and rompetl over the tai)o to* the next show- s(opi)ing aggi*'gittion of the eveniny;. McVlCKER'S Chicago. March 8. A perfect spring day drew out tiie m.tjority of theatregoer.'?, and the lirst show i)layed to a near capacity house. The bill was up to standard but a little slow in getting started. After thr«:e-(|uarlers of an hour of pictures Klla La\'ailcamc on with a mixed routine of work on rings, trapeze and strong jaw stunts. Miss I..a,Vail endeavors to add class to her stunts by posing end slowing hci" feature tricks. There is nothing un- usual in the routine, though it was well executed, l'*or a closing thrill she did a su(!cessiori of giant swings on a steel trapeze. Davis and P.radner. two girl", went through songs favoring the s'^mi-classieal and ballad. Their voices were excellent and their np- jiearances acceptaV)lc. yet the rou- tine v.as not vaudevillized. "Waiters Wanted," with two m^n and ono woman, played roughly, duo to a number of causes. The .iction takes place before a special restaurant drop in "two." The woman, dr<'ssed in shorts, enters with a "waiters wanted" sign. Two men, ex-convicts, apply for the job.", comedy arising through jail terms aT)plying to the waiters' jobs. The entire cast spoke unnecessarily loud and acted stagey. At times they spoke o\er eaeli other's lines. The act is all talk, almost sketch-like, with the last minute ending with .song }>y the trio. "Margys Day Out," a two-people sketch, with two men, moved with freshness and action that caught the attention of the entire audience. Both of the cast did excellently and netted six curtains. Brownitig and D.ivis, two men in black-face, cor- laled the comedy honors. The talk is typical and never fails to crash ov* r. The m' n tlo no dancing but substitute a few songs, well ren- d red. I'or an eru'ore one of the team sang a spe-ial version on th"' re.signing of .Iiul;;e Landis, a fresij current local lf)j»ie. ♦^'ribson and Betty had the cla^s of the show, togither with a vehielp that mcrit.s iterfoiinanco before l!i'' ACME SCENIC flRTIBT STUDIOS SUITE 308, W. RANDOLPH ST. OPPOSITE APOLLO and WOODS THEATRES. CENTRAL 4358 CHICAGO THE BEST SCENERY MADE—THAT'S ALL _"THIS SIDE OF PARIS" ■% MOULIN ROUGE CAFE . Ai.Ti::..! itofi'iiK. Mi«n.Tt:«-i THE LEADING CAFE AND RESTAURANT IN CHICAGO itPSh'.tli anJ J:u\iO!l '"ir Si.<:( .'l-v. S. rvi.'o a ia carle Ail Jl.Ji.-. THE DANSANT DAILY Tat.lc tl« bote fii-m 0 to *). II'kI' •Io'^p ••iit» i».Ti»>ni»'nt nn<l (I.Tn-Ing till closlrg t! i:**. 8 TWO BEAUTIFUL DANCE FLOORS f 416 601TII U.\IJ.%hH AVEMK HARRISON 3853 best audiences In vaudeville. They open before a hotel lobby drop, de- pi<;ting a drug store and magazine eounter. Gibson enters nattily dressed, divea for tho drug store •md comes back stewed, llo flirts with Miss Betty, who Js at the magazine counter, and then both go to work tooth and nail. Gibson has a musical comedy juvenile's appear- ance about him, and tops it with talent in dancing and singing. Miss Jietty is a bunch of sunshine, with an abundance of personality, looks a)ul tigure. They both look like liv- ing fashion plate.s. The disappointment of the bill consisted in the headliner of this sliow. Babe LaTour. Last season Miss LaTour carried a i)lano player, who was an asset to her, besides Idling in the stage waits during her ch.anges. As the act runs now there are breaks in the running that give Miss LaTour's act a careless ap- pearance. She has a few new num- b(^rs and her dancing is r.ot as well executed as expected. Her encore of tho specialty song abo\it the sex- tet brought her nuich applause, but was insutllcient to recall her. "Musical I'eaches" <'los<^d the show. Tho act consists of live wome© who play instrume.Us and sing. It is a flivsh, with much scenery. Fred Klliott and Yosie and Co. not seen at this show. Loop. STATE-LAKE Chicago, March 8. Len« seems to have hit everything around town, for at th« six o'«doek show Monday the lower floor held only about three-fourths capacity, unusual for this house, which gen- erally herds them in at that hour. The show from an entertainment standpoint is of unusually good calibre and arranged in such fash- ion as to send it over in perfect style. It seems as though the bookers in arranging this show l)laycd considerable partiality to the full stago turns, for there were six, and only one act in "one." With full stage acts, it was expected that there would be stage waits between turns, but through tl;:; efficient handling of the situation by the house management and stage crew there was not a second's pause be- tween the turns. Moore and Littlefield topped with t'lcir old comedy skit, "Change Vour Act or Back to the Woods." No matter how often I^loore and I^ittlelield show this turn, they are always freshening it up, putting in new lines and gags. At this show there wa.i no exception to the rule for they just "goaled" ihcm as they have not been goaled in a long time. Opening the show were (^orinne and.'Dick Ilimber, in "Coquettish K^eles." Just what the title may mean cannot be inferred "by—the styl«* of work performed, as this «:ouple participate in dancing and musical renditions, tho former by the girl and the latter by Jlimber. lioth qualify nicely and were tliey placed a little further dov.n on the bill might have shown to much bct- t<r advantage. Sophie ICassmir and Co., the company a male pianist, were the only act in "one" on the bill. Miss Kassmir is a vocalist of high standard and calibre and .sub- mits a catalog of songs, mostly elassical and operatic in nature. The repertoire is consistent and good, but hardly one that would sufllco for tho popular style houses. She might drop some of the operatic material and In Its stead use lighter numbers and this way find a more serviceable offering than she has at present. "Trcying" It were Robert Reilly and Co., a man, woman and boy. in a song playlet entitled, "Bedilia O'Shea." lieilly has the same idea oi' olTerIng as have all the "Reillys," and interprets a tale of love for his own "little colleen." Tho songs, costuming and dialog are all special material and of a typo whleh have humane appeal and strike home easily. The youngster is a juvenile prodigy and gives promise of de- veloping into a capital comedian. Both Beilly and the woman jxtssess good voices and, a?i have all per- sons doing Irish charaeterizalion. have plenty of pQrsonality. which is a most valuable asset. Tho turn went over very well. Wood and Wyde, in "All Right K.ldie." have be«". all right hereabouts for sev- f ral weeks in other houses. Went uv.r big. Xext to closing was Marshall Montgomery, who knows how to submit and sell. Closing the show were tho Yip Y'ip Yaidiankers, fre- Muent visitors here. But frequency (ices not make them undesirable, demonstrated by the reception. .Toe Cooke and Alexander Brothers and l^velyn billed but not seen at this performance. came on. The understandcr alms at doing dilllcult work without adding showmanship to it, and so, though tho routine was excellent entertain- ment, it was jiartly crude, duo to that lack of poiish whicli marks so many similar turns. The top man, an apparently yoimg fellow, did his trick.s and bits aiiily with no stalls. Ted and Daisy Lane trotted on with an entire.act of Bowery talk. Chi- cago, not knowing much about New York's Bowery, could wot grasp the "cleverness" of the flip remarks. Likely this Is one of tho common cases where New Y'ork acts kick tho roof olT in their own theatres but pass out of the picture away from the "stem." The talk seemed origi- nal and stretched out, while the dancing and singing were not un- usual. Clifford and Leslie, two men, dressed in white trousers and blue coats, wearing straw hats, fitted into the outdoor summer aimosph<M*e perfectly. Their dress put them in the audience's favor. Th'-y cross- fire with each other, then sing a lit- tle and dance a little. They were j liked to the i)oint of encoring. Paul [ and Georgia Hall started something and lost out through the man an- swering the audience. Mr. Hall plays the violin and gives bird imi- tations on it. Someone asked for an imitation of a sparrow, and Hall did a dialog with the "sassy" customer. It went so far tl)at tho customer called Hall "cuckoo." They open by entering In urchin makeup, with Miss Hall singing and her partn<>r accompanying on the violin. Ho then variates between classical and ragtime selections, and could ad- vantageously omit the raggy tunes. The curtain in "one" parts to allow Miss Hall to do a few numbers, and they close with a fast number, with Miss Hall dancing. Fields and Harrington wer«> choicely spotted and sailed into tlu'ir act, cruising about untli they an- chored with the honors of the show. Action takes place before a warship drop, with Fields as the gob and Harrington the otlicer. Their talk tickled the patrons and tiie singing finish got them past the winning mark by a big jnargin. Martha Rus- sel with her tympany in their fa- miliar skit did well. Harry White, next to shut, was the runner-uj) in honors to I'ields and Harrington. •The Dancing Whirl'' clo.sed the bill. The act consists of two v.omen and two men dapcing, with a thinl /nan playing the piano and handling the pianologs. The dances are very well staged and executed, with eacJi of the four vying with each other for dancing honors. HOOK IN EYE Victor Dyer Unfortunate In New Zealand TWINS' MEAL TICKET Pete Soteros Gives Fairbanks Girls Frank for Life Chicago, March 8. Because the T\iirbanks Twins, fea- tured with "Two Littlo Girls in Blue" at tho Colonial, have their stage names Dolly and Polly Sar- toris, Pete Soteros, restaurateur and owner of tho 1.1th Chair restaurant, adjoining the theatre on Randolph street, last week presented the Fair- banks girls with a meal pass for life In his restaurant. Pete said he was satisfied with the advertising his restaurant was re- ceiving from the stago names of the characters. Somo joshing friends had tried to tell the restaurant man the Sartoris girls in the show must be relatives of his family. The Soteros frank to the Fair- banlcs reads: "O. K. for meals at any lime without cost." CHICS NEW CLUB Chicago, March 8. Opening of the club rooms of the Chin-chin Club of Chicago, a new theatrical organization, took place Wednesday night. The quarters are located in the Adams Theatre Build- ing at -0 East Adams street, and are for tho use of members of the theatrical profession an<l allied in- terests. Over 500 tli'-.!t! i -al j>e(»p!e attend- ed the ftp« iiing w)ii«h was informal. H. W. Peters is president and Jules Edwards secretary of tho new organi>:ation. Cliicago, :Mar« h R. According to a letter received here by friends from Victor Dyer of Bur- ton and Dyer, who are playing /audcvillo in New Zealand, Dyer lost the sight of his right eye while watching some folks fishing at Auckland. Ono of the women in the jtarty which Dyer was with, ca.^t her line. It wrapped around Dyer's head and the hook pierced his eye. The Fuller circuit has set his time back until his recovery. The loiter said he had already be n in the hospital for eight weeks, but antici- pated working in another few weeks. CHICAGO ITEMS Chicago. Man-'i 8. Ernie Young iiassed an e::amina- tion for admission into the lueal musicians' union. Young stated ))e- fore the examining board th.at he had had several years' expcience as a piajiist in a nunibei- of Mem- phis houses. Application was made here for the appointment of a receiv..- for the IIool Realty Co., agents of the State-Lake theatre building and other theatrical properties in Chl- e.Tgn. The HnoJ company during the Dailey Legislative Committee's in- vestigation into rental conditions here was described as the most "prominent rent gougers" in the city. The application for the reeeiver was made by the Multigraph Plate Co., which wa.M unable to collect on a 11,325 judgment it obtained against the concern. .lay .T. Mct^.nthy, a Chicago news- paper man for the past ten years, is re-entering the legal i>rofessio)i to practice law with former Judge C A. Williams and M. R. Eisner. MeCar- tiiy will c.'iter ex lusivtly to a the:U- rical clienti'le. According to the We«ln( sd;iy morning dailies three more in«'.n»KM'9 of the church are unde.talrinv; at- tempts at per.sonal i)Ublicii>', the latest trio to break into prin.t being the Rev. II. R. Ross, of Newark, who announces a forthcoming sennon on "Clean I'lay.s"; the Rev. Dr. ?lac- Arthur, founder of the Calvary Bap- li.'t Church, of wliich Doc Straton is now pastor, who ha«» withdrawn his membership from the clrarch be- cause of Straton's sen.satior.al meth- ods, and the Rev. Dr. J. H. Holmes, of New York, who d«^clarcs that t'on- ditions in tho theatre today are "a stench in the nostrils of every de- cent citizen." and describes himself ns a "passionate lover of the ilica- ter." The merger of all of Oliver Mo- rosco's theatrical interests into the Morosco Holding Company, Inc.. lias beeti completed, with the conipany being capitalized at $1,500,000. Tiie organization takes In charges the theaters in New Y'ork and Lor; An- geles formerly personally controlled by Morosco, the moving picture pro- ducing unit, the Oliver Morosco Pro- ductions, Inc., which has two pro» duclions In readiness to be released, and Charlotte Greenwood in "Letty Pepper," with Leo Carrillo in a nfc^^ play, besides other forthcoming pro- ductions both for the stage anl screen now in preparation on the coast. The title to the Manhattan op^^ra house, bought by the Scottish iiit© ^lason.s, was transferred to the new owners in the ofTloes of the Title (juarantee & Trust Co. ^EUGENE COX SCENERY 1734 Ogden Ave. l»honr: SKt:i>KY 3S01. CHICAGO ASKt COMMHIA TIIKATKK "EU," the Jeweler TO THE PROFESSION Speolal Diwoount to IVrfornitrs WIIKN IN ( UK .'\(i<> Stalr-I.rike Thoatre HUIg:., (•round Floor RIALTO Chicago, Mareh «. Tlie second week of the new poli.y of :i feature pictiu'o with eight a ts of Aaudeville and four shows a day brought tho S. R. O. sign out of the wjirehouse and a waiting crowd of i:uu and more. The film is a lirst- lun, which doubles the value at this lunise, and a person can see the i»ic- ture in conjunction witli the regular vaudeville for a little more than the .tvcrago price of tho movie houses. S'ssue Hayakawa in "The Ver- milion Pencil* took the boards for the first 75 mintites. Then De Lyons Duo, with hand-to-hand balanjing, BETTER THAN THE BEST SHOW IN TOWN FRED MANN'S RAINBO GARDENS CLARK at LAWRENCE. Continuous Dancing — Vaudeville. FrMiik VVestphnl ami Hitlnliu Orchf^trt*. Aiiiiiti-ur Tlu-atrii'itl Nit*- K*. _.,.., Fr hlay, ST. REGIS HOTELS MARION 516 N. Clark Street CHICAGO 505 W. Madison St. PROFESSIONAL WEEKLY RATES t U\StiK OF Il.%TI<:S: Thoroti)?lily niodrrn. .Slimic, ulthont bnth... fN.OO nn«l fftl.OO Vc^vlv f tiriilMlnMl lloiibit', Milhoiit Ilulh. .*IO.*iOniiil JlllU.Oo;; '^ . "• , Hlntsl*-, ^^Kh llrKh tjdO.riO niiil mi IT.OO^ «»»^<*" *«*'»< <« «" fbrj.lre<«. lioublr. M ith Hath . . . .KI4.00 mid iHld.OO l'>o«> relirnrnni linll. WE SOUCIT YOUR PATRONAGE