Variety (November 1924)

mber 26. ItM PALACE'^- 0f tb« >r »» t—t ptoylivK ▼aadevlUc ^|]l( ever Msa At the taooa*. Mor« Hf«« tlire« lioara th« ataow ran. du« la tb* Bomcroua encorea and r«- 0tXl». A tabulation of the hits would %tgla with the opening: act, running ylfbt down the line to the cloalng Mm. The bill was awltched around at ■l(ht Bert Hanlon <New Acts) 4ropplnar down to next to closing from fourtli. J. Harold Murray (Hew Acts) took the No. 4 spot from opening after Intermission. Powers and Wallace (New Acts), second after Intermission at the imatinee, moved up to No. S. h The nine acUs without any "blah" '>r "names," but brimming over with real vaudeville artists held t(bem In like a Sing Sing benefit and l>«ent them out buzzing. T Elly opened with her corking juggling full stage turn and was followed b7 Bernard and Garry. Thla pair ef youthful harmony singers In brown cork were a flam- ing sermon on t^e value of a show Stopping deuce act to start a-vauder TiUe b411. They were like kerosene - on a prairie fire and softened It up tor everything that followed. Powers and "Wallace In "Georgia," a pretty novel different vaudeville turn with a beautiful set added a touch of variety next, and mopped aicely. The bits were beginning to drop all over the place. J. Harold Mur- ray, the good looking tenor from musical comedy, goaled them vo- . cally and optically, following with i' A corking cycle of songs, and Jimmy I- Hussey, back from an excursion In c'the legit ("Izzy"), woofed tliem In InJettlng a Ticket." Edward Hlckey 1 assisted. The act contains every '■.'known wheeze extant, but the mo- I'llon plcfure prolog and the real '^ Kash roadster give it a new flavor. (i'^It was originally, a scene in the V, Ziegfeld "Follies" and is credited ^lo Eddie Cantor. No program men- '; tlon is made of Madison's Budget. ilThe Old Hokum Bucket or the tether contemporaries. Hussey fin- Fished In "one" and sang "J Most • Cow to Moscow," "Far, Far Away," ''. to election returns. [; Ben BerQie closed tbe first half I And closed It right. > He almost p, closed the orangeade stand Up tlie ( Mreet by holding up the Intermis- L 0lon to encore repeatedly. The Bet- ^ ale act Is a lot of vaudeville value. f' Be has one ef the best of the Jazz %lMinds and In addition is a comedy act in himself. Bemie is unctuous, ,: smooth, witty and always the last i, word, gaglcally speaking. ;He picked •ut Conway Tearle and Benny '_, Xieonard In the audience during "oil- i^'teg" period In Ms routine. Take it ^ from one who knows, Bemie 1* bo f chump. K The house had Just about worked tbe stone bruises out of tbe dukes i ivheo Kitty Doner hopped on. Miss I Doner is a speedster and an artist.- , If our couMns across the pond I think they faavf a patent upon the V valsing ol male impersonators they 1. renght to get a load of this baby. In ^ vale clothes she is as masculine as p • Notre Dame guard and female togs as feminine as bare legs. As m. dancer she is In a class by her- self. Miss Dcner danced herself I Into the^ flyweight division before % they would let her go, and. being i!< in a particularly facetious mood, r atte landed heavily with her always & enjoyable clowning. She finished h. smothered )n flowers and bad to r -speech." J . Bert Hanlon (New Acts) Hook a ':-.. tough and late assignment and V made it roll over and beg. Hanlon y; was all over the stage and stopped 'i( any contemplated walkout with his ^ opening song and gags. He tore otti one of the hlU of the bill and the' ■eason aftd put himself away as one Of the best and original male sin- Cles in the racket. A speech at 11:12 •without losing a commt'T is not to be sneezed at. "Ledova" (New Acts), a George Choos dancing turn, closed the ■how and made a remarkable rec- ord. The act lost some, but held nearly three-quarters of the house with vlie clock on the way to mid- night. If the Pa'ace played Very many shows like this one It could use a few cheer leaders. Con. v^JliAPyjiM,]^ i^vj^wst ^p^^^"r'TFvwriwij«iw.wv^"f»<.yii'iiHHF t^v^.'wfittj'jsimv. '••^ 7'^Ut eoneert bUl la Brooklyn, where It tied them up. Tbe only other comedy oasis In Mo desert of dancing was glibly kaa«ted by Bob Nelson, who chat- tered ketween his song numbers and finding ready response, thus dis- proving it was a comedy-deaf audi- ence. Nelson carried nicely follow- ing the bear act and set them pretty for Seabury and Hathaway in clos- ing spot (New Acts). The McDonald Trio opened with the familiar snappy line of trick cycling, while Nancy Decker deuced it with a song repertoire not neau-ly as sure click as her previous one. Nancy had a whale of an act sev- eral months ago with mostly special numbers, but has seen fit to discard them for published songs. George LJoyd and Uosalie hit nicely No. S with their songs and dances (New Acts). Edba. HIPPODROME A good deal of a sight show this week, with many-peopled turns, re- calling the Hip's former spectacle days. There was novelty enough to round out the entertainment, but Monday night the going seemed too quiet, particularly so after intermis- sion. Three acts held over from last week—Lillian Leltzel, Royale Slam- in many a day, and drew a ware- house full of applause. Mile. Lucille and Cockle, white and green parrots with a woman trainer, were on the deuce spot and did nilldly. The start-oR was slow and the windup good, but the green parrot Interfered often with the white bird's solo tsuff, thereby mak- ing the woman call for a repetition. Fay Courtney (New Acts) alone was next and did nicely, but not suffi- ciently well to grab herself an en- core. Fourth held Joe Nlemeyer ana Elizabeth Morgan (New ActH), with two asslstantH, who did fairly well in a dance revue built up by uBe of the house chorus. Then came Glenn and Jenkins with their push-over a set-up. Everything they did was good. Their dancing, gags, music and gen- eral nonsense smacked this crowd and slid the boys off to almost unan- imous applause—applause that con- tinued even into the Ray Miller Or- chestra act following. Miller built as he went along. He didn't get a tumble on opening, but that didn't make him cry. He just let the boys play and did his cus- tomary movements—and drew re- turns when the piece was over. Then came others, with the returns grow- ints all tbe time, so by the time ese Troupe and Galettl and Kokln. Miller had knocked them for a »fti. w .. , . ...... spasm of applause he was getting The best scoring came toward the | „«rmprt i.t, htm.AU Thon n^Ji. close of the first part, with Rae Samuels and Miss Leltzel following f STATE Nothing outstanding in the vaude- ville on the current bill, with the management 'evidently calculating upon the screen feature, "He Who Gets Slapped," to do the trick. It wasn't a bad guess either, for the picture packed them in Monday night. Whether it was the serious theme of the picture or whatever else It might have been, the Monday nlKlit assemblage wan not over responsive to hokum. With few comedy fea- tures spotted, you'd think they'd laugh at almost anything. But they didn't. ••Teddy, the Wrestflng Bear," a hokum skit, readily found that out. The act, which has been a near- panic In other Loew houses, failed to excite them much at the State, getting only ripples from materia! that brought roars elsewhere. Only the previous evening the reviewer each other. The aerial wonder from the Ringling outfit was In prime con- dition, accomplishing 166 revolutions on the high rope. Sunday evening she bettered that mark, clocked for 176 swings. The wonderfully molded little athlete trotted off to a neat ap- plause score for the Hip. The cir- cus atmosphere surrounding the ex- hibition was given a touch of the real by the presence of Lou Graham, the Ringlings-Barnum-Bailey circus announcer. Miss Samuels tickled the house despite she was under a handicap, feeling so ill Monday morning she was disposed to retire from the bill. It is understood the "blue streak of ragtime" has canceled bookings be- yond this week. Three of the half- dozen numbers stood out, they being "See If I Care," a rube lyric, and "Nothing Can Stop Me Now," the latter one of the encores. The Royal Siamese Troupe is cer- tainly colorful, though not wholly entertaining. It Is a novelty, and probably not figured to be more than that. Yet there Is something very real In the turn—the bahnboo ball game, principally pedal manipulation. Its curious name of Takraw m^ns nothing, but the skill with which the four men control the balls is excep- tional. The chap who is announced as the Babe Ruth of Slam gave an amazing exhibition. The girl dancers are a curiosity, but are hardly grace- ful, according'to Occidental stand- ards. They are the bully dressed barefoot dancers yet seep hereabouts. Ferry Corwey. no stranger within the Hip's walls, opened intermission with his collection of toy pistols and novelty musical Instruments. Cor- wey won some giggles and will doubtless run the favorite with Thanksgiving audiences. Especially designed as a Thanksgiving feature is labeled the "Barnyard Follies," which has Walter Stanton, the roos- ter, combined with Odeo, « Parisian novelty, supported by the Angelous Sisters. In addition, the entire Hlp- I>odrome girl corps was inserted, with the turn staged by Allan K. Foster. Odeo's Ideas Is a visualization of the man In the moon, a lirge par- tially mobile face replacing the cir- cle of a painted moon. The eyes of the pirouette glisten as though real. Once the big boy cries. The lips, tongue and ears move now and then. No doubt about Odeo amusing the children; In fact, the effect Is the outstanding bit in the Interlude. Nelson Keys, With Irene Russell, essayed next to closing, doing well despite the routine being softened. The Chinese bit might have been dropped, for it missed here. "Bunch." however, saved his dance impres- sions up for the finale, and that sent him oft nicely. Galettl and Kokln, with their com- edy monks, were on fourth, the bar- ber shop bit getting something, but the finishing wooden soldier stunt Is really the best count. That one dancing monk will draw attention anywhere. In the bell-ringing por- tion It seemed qxflte scared. The Hip girls' appearance early in the act was marred by four of the danc- ers getting off wrongly and bungling the routine. The Quixey Four handled No. 2 to fair results. Opening were the Hol- land-Dockrill Riders, a sight eques- trienne turn. Slayman All and his Arabian troupe were built up ef- fectively as to sight and size. The billing. "An Arabian Spectacle," con- veys the Idea, the color scheme pre- sfntlng a real picture. nee. warmed up himself. Then came "Limehouse Blues," and the ap- plause kept on. Then three encores (and a basket of flowers) and a finale which began with the strains of "Auld Lang Syne" and nroved to be a medley of old song hits. That was the biggest of all. Smiling Ray just kept his little grin set and came back and bowed half a dozen times before the gang was through. "The Border Legion" was the pic- ture. Buslhess capacity all over upstairs and three-quarter way on the level Harry Kahne in demonstrating the complexities the human mind can straighten out. Kahne asked for questions and seciired plenty. Al- most committing suicide by evi- dencing a tendency to become peeved, the mentallst evidently realized the danger in time and switched tactics, which probably saved him. It took a long time for Kahne to bee .le set and that he did make the grade Is creditable. On the other hand it's true that 24 minutes Is too long a time for him on the stage. At least one trick can be eliminated and the pointer would direct to the opening bit which is prone to temper the con- cluding item througli sameness. He closed solidly. The early part of the running was shy of comedy. With two acts using pl.-inlfits the similarity failed to aid the general makeup of the bill. Bert and Dolly Ryan just about drifted past without causing a rum- pus and the sulking of the man over the cros.sflre not drawing laughs was anything but a help. The material actually didn't rate a titter and the other IS reasons don't count. A three or four minute stage wait prevented Olcott and Polly Ann from making a belated en- trance whence they Indulged upon the crowd for another 24 minutes. An encore tacked on the last four and, while the applause didn't call for It. the extra bit proved the out- standing Incident. So much so the routine could be pushed ahead a notch, dropping the initial number of across counter bantering, for In- finite value. The double piano ad- dition also assLsted in the after- math. Thomas F. Swift did nicely with his gob vehicle and entertained if not causing hysterics. His con- Is certainly adequate. Tt Is In 7< minutes the ro-ain fault «ill ll found, for the story could li.'iv' been screened to as niu''h ad vantage, maybe more, in .in h iir. The release will please the ai'ilcnt screen-goer, but it also iS an ex- ample of that type of lllni nliloh the anti-picture exponent rldli'ir.es. snd not without cause. Th»- term, "Just a picture," covers evcrviliing. THE SILENT ACCUSER A 1»ulp B. Mayer rroduiiion r. ci'»l hy Mftm-tUjldwyn. Htory by Ja'-k p,y.p. d- rwt«d by ("hester M. Frsnkllii. Rh^wn Kt Ih*- Capitol. N. T. week .Nov. i!3. irjl. RunninK time 08 minute*. Ilarbara Jan* Eleanor Ttj.-irdman Jark Raymimd McKe« Phil Earl M^i ,-iif« Urandfathar .Paul \Vtl(cl- Th« Palntrd Ljidy .Edna Ti-ht-nor Peter th* CJrtat II!:us<?;s sets. HUk. RIVERSIDE Business sure skidded off Mon- day night and the house looked sick alongside the previous week. Artistically, the bill was a suc- cess, but from a swift-moving, com- edy viewpoint, a dud. Frank Wilson was programed to open. In his stead appeared Mc- Soverelgn and his diabolo. He Is an adept with the spinning spools and makes them do things the Orientals who started them In vaudeville never thought of doing. Lloyd and Brice are quiet work- ers, amuslns^ in their way and hav- ing a comedy routine that got re- sults. Harry Anger and Netta Packer, with another of their editions of the old man and ]ib« chorus girl settos, work hard to please and were successful to a degree, but much of Anger's efforts seemed to ^rike tfnappreclatlve ears. There are some typical burlesque "Tttlts," the one with Anger standing back of the iady with the excess avoir- dupois overstepping the Riverside latitude. The act has possibilities, but neede some judicious pruning. Frank De Voe, his voice and per- sonality and a piano player who plays for results and gets them without any grandstand stuff, scored a substantial hit. A clean enter-' talner and one who does not niu^h hlfl words. Alice Brady closed the first part. The dramatic sketch of the two globe derelicts Is Impressionable In a way, but the time allotted for vaudeville makes It bard to hit the grade. After Intermission Maryon Vadle and Ota Gygl In the most preten- tious and most artistic musical and dance offering this gifted pair has yet brought to vaudeville. The variety audiences take kindly to Mr. Gygl's violin work because he docs not overstay and what he plays he does gracefully skilfully and without any physical fanfare that ifl supposed to denote tempera- ment and all that sort of thing. Miss Vadle was never seen to better advantage and her drum dance is a most pleasing concep- tion. Mary Izant, pianist, shared honors that -were well bestowed. After Lou Holtz' easy comedy euQcosR, Christo and Ronald closed the show. A corking good act of Its kind. Hand equilibrists who look human have personalltlex, with one of the handsomest youths ever seen doing this sort of work as a feature. JforV. ceptlon of a sailor "malting a play" for three consecutive girls, secur- ing dates and then having to leave port tickled the gang and all was well at the 'tape. Swift 'handles the outl.ay abov*; par, receives ade- quate assistance from a company of four and \va.s particularly wel- come upon this layout. Ward and Van (New Acts) held the next to closing spot, always a "velvet" position here, but ratljer surprised by doing little with it. The Wright Dancers, fiash act from the west, closed. Skiff. JUDGMENTS "" ' \ (Continued from page 9) Undsr-8sa Amus. Corp.; same; same. DsrI MacBoyte; N. Y. Tel. Co.; J18.88. Dorothy Oattoni Hamilton Hotel Operating Co.. Inc.; costs. $537.14. Michel Fokine; J. J. Shubert; costs, 1916.30. Oil Boag; R. S. Snmuels: ll.OOn. Csthsrine Curtis Corp.; Little Es- tates Corp.: $2,449.84. 81 ST ST. All in all, good bill here this week, with a couple of letdowns that never get to the serious stage and with more than enough good stuff to pro- vide a counterbalance. The openInK .ind closing acts were the hits with Glenn .ind Jenkins in the next to shut spot counting heavily. William Brack and Co. opened with the best combination of risley. BROADWAY Housing a gathering possessed of a nippant tong;ue, it looked like a rough voyage for a few of the acts on the 41 St street corner Monday night. As early as the opener the audience cut loose with trite re- marks. tJnwarranted the epidemic spread from the balcony down to the first tier and then Into the orchestra. Homer Romaine suffered the Ini- tial fire while conversing during his work on the trapeze. His physical efforts brought him a corking re- sponse but. at that, the verbal ma- terial divulged lacked anything to make It a necessity and logic is that it .Mh'ji/ld be dropped, and espe- cially before a throng that Is prone to talk back. Another act that wa.q a partlcu- HLM REVIEWS (Continued from page 24) fare, but too theatrical to convince. That qualification also includes tbe cast, with two exceptions, Norman Trevor and Ivan LInow. The pic- ture totals as indifferent. The padding allotted Miss Swan- son and Ben Lyon, wherein they playfully vie with each other, close- ly resembles a contest as to which one is the more cute and is obvi- ously the fault of the director. Neither approach the quality of work they are capable of, and by no means can this film be Included among the best In which Miss .Swanson's name has superceded the title. Norman Trevor and Ivan LInow actually give the only legitimate performances Included in the film- ing, with Trevor particularly stand- ing In relief, although a secondary figure In the script. LInow, be- lieved to have been a former pro- fessional wrestler, somewhat sur- prises with the authenticity of his "heavy" characterization. In more than one instance he upholds the story, from a spectator's viewpoint, where otherwise a general cave-in is threatened. The same may be said of Trevor, hence the deduction Is that the saving grace of this release tabulates as these two men. Based upon that unit in the French army as the "Foreign Legion," the story centers on a young American who has joined In search o? adven'.ure, and a girl going through a "mother of the regiment" routine while minding a cafe. Film actresses who have played this identical role are countless. Miss Swan son offers nothing in tbe portrayal to register superiority over the previous definitions. The same Is true of Mr. Lyon, although responsibility hardly rests upon e!tT>«r of their shoulders. Others In the cast play acceptably, albeit the ability of Mr. Trevor to make what practically amounts to a minor an- slgnment predominate must take its place as the foremost Item among the personnel. Productlonally, the film Is sub Metro-Goldwyn mu.st have used considerable pressure on the n».in- agement of the Capitol to put this pict-tre into the house. The pro- duction is far from the caliber of picture usually shown in any of the big four Broadway picture houses. The film must surely have been turned out for a little nickel and looks It. Louis Mayer may think that In Peter the Great he has a, great police dog find and one that will overshadow Strongheart on the screen. That may be possible but he had better use his dog star in pictures that have a little more weight than this one. It Isn't only weak as to story, but It Is poorly directed, wretchedly edited and badly titled. In addition to the dog star there are but three characters that amount to anything. They are played by Eleanor Boardman, Ray- mond McKee and Eart Metcalfe. It is upon Metcalfe the heavy role falls. Both men are In love with* the' girl. She faVors Jack but grand- father objects to 'her marriage, so she and Jack ylan to elope. The "heavy" Is boarding at the girl's home and h. walks Into her room as she is packing to go away. He seizes her and she faints just as grandfather appears and the "heavy" knocks him down a fiight of stairs, causing the old man's death. The hero walks In at this point. Is accused of the crime, ar- rested and sent to jail. From this climax the picture is devoted to prison scenes with the dog star fol' lowing his master to Jail and aiding In his escape. Later the dog and his master, assisted by the girl, manage to corner the "heavy" and exact a confession from him. The lovers are se^n In the usual clinch at the final fade-out. "The Silent Accuser" Is the bunk as a picture for first-run houses and is worthy only of playing the daily change houses of the cheaper variety. The exhibitors don't want to be bunked by the fact that the Metro-Goldwyn were able to compel a Broadway showing for the pic- ture in the house they control. Fred. PRICE OF A PARTY Howard Eatabrook prtwnts iclth Hope Hampton. Harrlacn Ford and Mary Aator featured at th* Canwo, New York ^by tli« honaa and In the llchu), althouith MIn ftator la not f««tur*d by the pruduoFr on r« bllllBC. It'a an adapted niagaaln* ttory (or tIM ■M'ecD by Charlea Forrert Roc- buck, directod liy Cbarlea Olblyp. Afalat- ' ant director and editor. Bert F. HIebel. Photographer, Jchn F. Beltti. Opened at iC^ameo No«. 28. Itunnlns time, 53 mtn- ' atea. Orac* Barrow. Hope HaiSyton Robert (Jaaaon Harrison Fold Kenneth Bellwood. ...Arthur Kdmond Carew Alice Barrowa '. Mary Amor Kvelya Dolore* Dagmar Uo.lnwaky Strplien Parrel) Fred Hadley Bvelyn-a'Maid ........Edna Richmond Hall Boy I.n,.......Donald I.iahey Officer ...Edward Lawrence .a % ....= „.^.,v.,, .r.^.i...B ..,.» .^ trampoline Hnd head balancing work ^ ^ ,. ,. , . „ . . v. ^ . caught it for the third tUne on a seen around this ne:k of the woods lar morsel to Ue bowlwa mob was stAut^lIjr bet and U»€ jbolograpby Not a b(g picture, but mildly In- teresting story that should have some appeal to the flapperlsh ele- ment in Us romance and melodrama. In subject matter It is threadbare.• that of Innocent girls and wise New Yorkers, but the magazine author. William MacHarg, gave this tale a couple of twists that will be a Mt deep for logical reasoning to the countrified observer. Mr. MacHarg, however, wrote a mighty wise story In this one. It reads with mor^ force likely than It plays. That Is not against the players, since they can't do much with the mushy version for the screen. In the countryside where this will go best, it should do if played up, but only in an ordinary way, as It can't stand too much booming. The bent plug for publicity Is that Hoi>e Hampton is in It, the same Hope Hampton who became the center of a violent controversy whether she was suitable for the title role of "Madame Pompadour" «n Broad- way, her stage debut, and the re- sult—she didn't debut but may yet. Current report Is Miss Hampton may alternate with Wllda Bennett In that musical at the new Boclt., theatre. Miss Hampton doesn't distinguish herKcIf here. She glides through unemotionally, and there doesn't seem much else for her to do. Har- ,r.'son l'"ord can do little else in his (Coutisued on pace 12)