Variety (July 1923)

•. »a,v ^i'^'igfcvi. f • «* .< , Thursday, July 26, 1923 VARIETY <1 m €t Toronto, Canada, July 14, 1923 •A PENCIL ANSWER TO variety;* WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 1923 From a t I LIEUTENANT GENERAL: to a GENERAL PARE Considering thdt I am only a Lieutenant, I am somewhat timid to address Your Excellency as a General; for the proper answer to your full-page advertisement. No doubt your supreme authority as General conceived the generosity for space,—it proved your generalship as a showman, yet I think that most booking agents were not on the target at all. Your sharpshooting missed fire lamentably, in particular when you wrote about White Feather —seldom are white feathers found on French, roosters, never on a "French Officer." Had you remembered your primary school lessons you would have recalled, "Fine feathers make fine birds," evco stage birds, and, no doubt your General's uniform must prove the old proverb. Why not climb up a little higher General, and play to the house better by calling yourself Emperor ? Why did you stop at General ? You say it's only a ^tage name. Get the best,—a little thing like that shouldn't worry you. But to come back to my pencil answer, I claim that my act is legiti- mate, from start to finish, real bullets, real re- volvers, accident proof targets, and as a side line, I expose fake shots, such as lighting matches and blowing out candles. This line may reflect on unscrupulous actors who fool the giillible public. It is a genuine effort to keep genuine sharp-shooters on the stage instead <iL^«©Uing pencils on street corners. My pronunciation of Shttkespeai^s na- tional tongue may be faulty, but my shoot- " ing is accurate, my title genuine, and I close with due respects to Your Excellency. As for asking you for work, I am booked ^olid, and have been since my first contract. <GBNBRAI.) Ptnd Him LOS ANGELES By JACK JOSEPHS Many hits have graced the Or- pheum, bfkt none equaled the suc- cess attained by Van and Schenck, headlining the current show. They ■were compelled to do 18 songs. The current bill otherwise missed balance, all the good things coming together in the final part. The last three acts cost well over $6,000. Leon ErroU repeated his big laugh- ing success, fifth. Van and Schenck followed, and Eva Shirley came next, deserving especial commenda- tion for holding so well in the sec- ond week, closing and following the Beacon's hit of hits at that. Alex- Ftuhionable Summer Fwnrt at a Big Re- dtMction, Saving of Over 50% fSptOii DUcountto I . the Profleir^ion I Piu^ Repaired and \ %modeled andria, with the xylophone comedy knockabout and the duo playing of the men. landed .safely. The Trenncll Trio started the show well enough. The n.en have some good hand-to-hand and acro- batic stunts, and the dainty girl helps to set them off nicely. John Shechan. with Blanche Roberts, has a good line of fly talk which affords him good opportunities aa the in- formation dispenser. He showed excellent comic ability. Bessie Browning, with Albert Vernon at the piano, encountered some difficulty getting ovfcr Monday afternoon, the house not taking her nut endeavors seriously. Miss Browning won out, however, with her Oriental number and Foy im- pression, concluding to a nice hand, but hardly enough to Justify the speech encore. Josephs. Long T^k Sam company, head- lining at Pantages, are worth the price of admission, but this present bill held other good features that fully redeemed the absence of com- edy. This Chinese troupe, with Long Tack ever in the fore, are really wonder workers, offering a variety of stunte that are entirely out Qt the ordinary. Tlye marvelous feats on the bar displayed unusual grace and skill, and with all hands going itl top speed made a whirl- wind finish. Marion Claire, wi a powerful voifce and smiling countenance, offered heavy numbers in most ap- proved fashion. She held next to closing spot creditably. Miss Claire jazzes it up at the finish, and her encore bit with the orchestra Is good showmanship, Harry Downing and Co. provided solid entertain- ment. ' Downlng's double voice stunts injected laughs, and the sur- prise entrance of Charles Dunbar and his dancing won favor. The couple of girls and Earle Stanley at the piano round out a good revuette. Mildred Andre and Melody Maids, with pretty stage hangings and at- tractvrly gowned girls playing violins, presented a pretty stage picture and were enjoyed. Miss Andre also displayed a sweet voice, and, combined with her charming appearance, led the others success- fully. Lewis and Brown, a qouple o' neat appearing male soft shoe steppers, showed a wide diversity of steps, second, to huge appreciation. Les Qladdons opened effectively with art poses. Josephs. Spanish Shawls Mantillas (Laces) and Combs FOR SALE 7 at the^ Spanish Dancing Studio 637 Maditon Ave., New York rbone Plas* 21M Trixie FYlganza Is doubly honored at the Hill Street this week, head- lining the vaudeville and also starring in the feature picture. Business was capacity Monday night and hokling^'em outside. Miss Friganza had new talk In her bag and introduced a new California song, securing her usual hit. Whiting and Burt were another out- standing feature, registering em- phatically. Altogether, the bill wap excep- tionally good, with each act con- taining more or leva comedy. Marion Murray and Co. vcored a comedy success, aecovid. McCormack and Wallace op^fied with a ventrilo- quial offering that started things happily. Harold and Wilki Brown reported 111, and Bert Howard, re- placing, appeared to more lp.ugh returns. The picture was "Mind Over Motor," starring Miss Fri- ganza. Josephs. A big crowd of professionals turned out to welcome Leon Errol on the occasion of his first vaude- ville appearance at the Orpheum. SUBSCRIBE FOR GET ALL OF THE NEWS OF 0U1D00R AMUSEMENTS SUBSCRIPTION: $5 annually; foreign (including Can- ada) $6. Six and three months, pro rata. Single copies, 15c. V V^ 154 West 46th Street, New York City Jack Raymond, Orpheum man- ager, on leave <yn account of illness, has returned from the mountains, where he regained much of his health. i The Bowl concerts at Hollywood are drawing bigger businesA than last year. The aeason ticket eale was exceptionally big. Dick Collins, who had been pre«s- agentjng the picture exposition, has gone back to Chicago. Leon Levy, assistant lo Jack PartinKton, of the Rothschild** the- atren in San Francisco, is down for a week. Jack Howard, exploitation man. arrivnl last week from Detroit, where he has spent a year. Purt Earle arrived here la«t wotk and is getting come mu»ical actH together that he Intends pr«-Kf-nimg th e pictnre houHCa here. Mia. iJurl WANTED: ADVANCE MAN PERCENTAGE BASIS To trnvtl ahr ad of recopnizrd band anaii>.;iri^; bookings and publif jty. ADDRESS: J. M. 8., Variety, New York. FRED NTON and >i.. . . SAMMY f • LD APPEARING IN PERSON Direction ROSE & CURTIS ON A VACATION UNTIL SEPT. 15 "ZlVt''" CHART 3085 B. F. KEITH'S PALACE TRACK WINNERS AT A GLANCE. 1—Ffnton A Fields 2— ( B«k«fi'« Theatre QroUtk \ } Vinctnt Lop«x 3—Lowell Sherman {Dead Heat THE SUMMARIES Two dark horses named Fenton and Fields were the popular favoriteti at this track this week, and. judging by the speed they exhibited, will be popular everywhere they perform. Fenton's name Is Fred and Field's Is Sammy, and they both work in blackface. They do a lot of fancy step- ping, some songs, and have a ()ot of gngs that struck the fans so well that they instantly made them favorites of the program on Monday night, despite the fa'^t that there were a lot of other big names on the bill. Blackfoce entries do not usually do thin sort of thing, but the stuff that this one put over was so well handled, the dances were so well done, and the whole offering was so well roiitincd. that the patrons Just had to put the act in flmt place. Someone once said that "If you wish to eee the sun you should look at the moon." NEW YORK "STAR" • Fenton and Fields could not have selected a better spot for themselves had they been able to dictate their own position on the bill. Following the Russian turn the pair of blackface comedians have things pretty well their own way this week. The spot is just made to order for them. They are pulling down some big laughs on some stuff they have been doing for years, and we have never been present at any theatre when they went as big as they are going here this week. The audience was Just then-in a mood to laugh, and i.t was an act like Fenton B.WBL Fields that was needed to put the laughs into the proceedings Just^bout this time. The com- edians rely more upon their business than their talk, and all of their "hokum" bits are screams here this week. The boys go through some dancing that the audience applauds and they "hoke" It up well, but their big asset is that they know how to sell their stuff, and they have a lot of buyers at the Palace this week. '•VARIETY" .'/ Fenton and Fields, fourth, and Dooley and Morton, next to closing, were the other hits. The first pair got an immediate response with their hoke blackface comedy. The Palace laughed louder at the old gags than any of the other New York audiences have, proving that the Palace Is "soft" for the hoke. Con. Earle, his 'wlie, has been here for several months and is residing with relatives in Hollywood. Mr. Earle le at the Alexandria hotel. The Monte Carter show returned from Honolulu Tuesday, The com- pany played a stock engagement in tho islands for ten weeks. Sophie Tucker, vaudevllllan, had a film test here. She may do a pic- ture while vacationing in the west. The Ml.Hslon Play, which has been running at Kan Gabriel since New Yeare Day, closes Aug. 6. Edward MartlndeJ. film actor, is buildlnp a hou.'<e on the hlphest hill- WANTED, GIRLS Good Dancers for troupe work In vande- vlllc; Immediate engagement If snttable. rinem* Club, 184 W. 4(tth Ht., N«>w York City, Friday, Joly 27th, at 11:80 A. M. top In Hollywood. On a clear day, according to Martindel, he will be able to see the beach cities and Catalina. Edith Clifford and Zella Ingra- ham are temporarily in pictures at the Lasky studio. They are sched- uled to leave for Europe in October to resume vaudeville contracts. Apply IRENE VANCE HJ^_ You Cannot Go Wrong When You Depend On The TAYLOR XX WARDROBE TRUNK $75 TAYLOR'S tS K. Bandolph 0t., CHICAGO tlO W. 44tli 8t., MKW YORK Extraordinary Annual Sale The regular Winkdman mod»'ln cif-atcd for the st/ipe or street, offered at prices far below their arttial value. Formerly to $12 Btyl 21 ^inkelman in Quality Foottccar West 42nd St. Philndtli'hia Ncio York /