Variety (May 1926)

Wednesday, Hay M, 1926 VK2IETT 39 VARIETY'S CHICAGO OFFICE HAL HALPER1N in Charge State-Lake Theatre Bid*., Suite 520 Phone*: Central 0644-4401 CHICAGO Professionals hsvt tfce froo moo of Variety') Chicago Offioo for information. Mail may bo addrossod car* Variety, State-Lake i"ho- atro BWq., Chicago, ft wilt bo hold oobjoet to oall, forwarded or advort'ood in Varioty'a Lottor List. SELWYN EDGAR SELWYN "GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES" A dramatisation ay Anita Loos and Joan ■we rson of Anita Loos* bast seller STUDEBAKER F "S,,Ti™* •» ALABMI ATTACK I ADVSNTUBBl Whiteside In ft Modern Comedy Romance "The Arabian 9 ' a. oordon Kean, author of "The Hind a" Assisted bj MISS SYDNEY SHIELDS and Company A COHANS THEATRE * CLARK fffKKET OFF. CITY HALX Telephone Central 493T GEORGE M. COHAN'S Newest American Farce Comedy THE HOME TOWNERS CORT Wednesday and Saturday. JOHN P. BRAWN, INC.. Present* A Mystery Comedy OUT OF THE NIGHT By HAROLD HUTCHINSON and MABGBBY WILLIAMS ejUh Janes SfMCtowosd. AUya Ktes, John Daly Marphy and others Stated by FBANKLYN UNDKBWOOD AA. H. WOODS' f DELPHI A8CHER PLAYER8 XftibMV a**er. Fm ■a!ps..Kcl**sl»«> Mas. (For a Rob) Bummer's Bis; Surprise Success "WEAK SISTERS" with Elisabeth the "Six Wayward Girls" Stased by Harry MJntarn J Saperrlslen of Mr. KX NEW SHU BEST 01 V M D I /* Seats Four L T M r I v Weeks Ahead CASTLES in the AIR 2<th Week with VrVIENNE BERNARD rru atl g n%H vrLc e J. HAROLD THAIS MURRAY LAWTON AND A GREAT CAST OF 100 la the Best Musical Flay oa Earth LaSALLE Mat Wed. & Sat. WM. ANTHONY McGUIRE Presents JOE LAURIE, Jr. in -"W-i -W«Rich" SAM J. PARK VAUDEVILLE AUTHOR Room 600, Loop End Building 177 North State Street CHICAGO, ILL. BE A "SURE-FIRE" ACT Bookers buy comedy acts that have Individuality. There Is no real market value to "just Raff*." A nklt with a story and provision for numbers will put lo^i In the money. —25 Years of Vaudeville Writing— FRED J. BEAMAN In an effort to set away from closing the show with dumb acts, straight vaudeville In the recent doxen years has been turning more and more to the afterpiece to give the bills strength at the tail-end. So far as the Palace, Chicago, has been concerned the great majority of afterpieces during the paat sea- son have been a pain in the neck. This week is an exception. Yorke and King, the tintype team, have Inspired and supervised some added didoes following their own act next to closing, which are unusually suc- cessful. The trouble with moot of the afterpieces haa been that too many actors were pressed into serv- ice and there wasn't enough mate- rial to go round with tho actors feeling self-conscious and the thing and their popular ballads put them over. The show, late In starting, was opened by tho Three Orontos. These balancers have a great act You don't have to be a pessimist to figure that the Lincoln Is going to have a tough time bucking a first class presentation house. Par- ticularly if tho association books bills like the last half of last week. Tho big comedy act was Shapiro and O'Malley, formerly Hall and Shapiro, a knockaround hokum act that never fails. "Stars of Other Days," with its appeal largely sen- timental, took applause honor*. Acta of this typo are booked on human interest considerations CORRESPONDENCE All matter in CORRESPONDENCE refers to ourront week uaJ otherwise thtffcoMtf. — ~; ~" "JT J" .IT Z' Tho cities under Correspondence la thla tsetse of Variety are as follows and on pages: Face ALBANY BALTIMORE «2 BUFFALO W CHICAGO 67 CINCINNATI ......»•«•••••••• 62 CLEVELAND 62 DETROIT 66 L08 ANGELE8 60 MILWAUKEE 631 SYRACUSE NEWARK 681 WASHINGTON NEW ORLEAN8 68 OKLAHOMA CITY 58 PITTSBURGH 68 PORTLAND, ORE 68 ROCHESTtR •.....*•••••••••• 82 8T. LOUIS 68 8AN FRANCISCO 82 8EATTLE 82 68 •Is First Street Jackson. Mich. becoming blah as a ..result. The Yorke and King efTorta hAve been more intelligent with brevity count- ing, too. The bill aa a whole ia excellent and business Sunday mctineyj was almost capacity. The box office queue made a reappearance in the lobby for the first time in five or six weeks. Credit for this goes to Ted Lewis in his second week with a new and better routine. Lewis possesses to a superlative degree the ability to entertain no matter how many times ho has been seen before. He is introducing this week for the first time Esther Sterling, a new girl dancer as an associate of the cuUv. BQbbe Arnat, wh ©. has grown in ability and popularity* during her association with Lewis and will probably be stepping into production work any time now. Lewis .appeared in the afterpiece and was a riot with a hoke ventnlo- qulal bit. One act failed to measure. That was the Braile and Pallo Revue. Braile and Pallo themselves are a clever adagio team, but the act otherwise falls below par. A young juvenile named Lew Kessler Is fea- tured. He has one or two flash sTeps"satfawTCffWt into ar -ctmpie -y* routines of fake dancing and that s all. He possesses a squeaky unde- veloped voice which makes his sing- ing a strain. Dora Mauphan, in a song cycle, held fifth position. Miss Maughan is new to the Palace regulars, bat her act had the audience heartily "endorsing her all the waj. A clever gal with a vaudeville future. Naughton and Gold, from across the sea, offered an assortment of hokum In fine style. They con- tributed their share to the after- piece, dragging up Jimmy Nervo (Ncrvo and Knox), who was in the audience, to participate. Also in tho aforesafd afterpiece was Smith and Strong. They were in No. 2 spot. They sing, garbed as cowboy and Indian, with a special setting In "two." Their voices are good rather than entertainment values The frisky old boya and "Corinne* manage to put on a fairly diverting bill of ancient specialties, but es- sentially they get by on sentiment. Gertrude and Boys, an acrobatic turn camouflaged, opened. They were covered previously at the American. The closing act took the basket of lemons. It was an agony of blue notes from a five-piece band led by a monotoned cornetist. Carol Riley and Courtiers waa the label. The musicians are poor fakers while the dance half is mediocre. To make the evening more of a frost the feature picture was a trashy 1926 release. Loop. The Place To Dine — At Any Old Time Ss THE GREEN GRILL «• DELICIOUS SANDWICHES, STEAKS, CHOPS and SALADS OPEN FROM T A. M. TO IX P. M. CATBSKW B TP -TJMt y g o yrp g iON . WHEN IN CHICAGO VISIT THE MOULIN ROUGE CAFE it 416 So. Wabash Avenue CHICAGO'S PLAYGROUND OF BEAUTY" Always U.ta* Good Acts Writ* la Year Open lime For Reservations: Phone Ilarrfeon B*t# ARE Everybody Ylslslac Chlea*a Gees ts INVITED Rothschild and Leider man's to RENDEZ VOUS CAFE VISIT *>1 W E"8* PARKWAY AT BROADWAY Best Food Entertainment harley Straight Incomparable Orchestra "Miss Apollo- at tho Majestic this* -week; hr a -prhco dad. When this so-called act is boiled down nothing remains but a heap of ad- vertising pamphlets. One Charles Howe is present to praise the quail, ties of the Apollo electric pianos on the stage, and he demonstrates tonal elasticity and recording faithfulness by making it play alone and by playing a duet with It A girl dancer at intervals tried to bolster up the sales campaign with a few steps. They should have known better than to try to put- over a publicity -QUA? ft tlft-^P-a,. Jjh£_ MaJp.stir - regular a _ Of the genuine vaudeville there was much to warm the heart. The entrance of Blanche and Jimmy Creighton received small ovation. The Crelghtons, in rube make-up, played on words in a manner that had the audience in an uproar from the start. Another riot was the Pillard and Hittier affair. placed next to closing. The comedian worked his gags in something resembling a Hebraic dialect while the straight man gave him all the backing In the world. They finished to much laughter. Small and Mays, colored steppers, with songs and gags, did Well, but their humor appo.ared strained and weak. Their military Jig and a couple of songs rendered to ukelele accompaniment almoHt overcame the gap angle. New humor Is suggested. The act closing the bill has been seen twice before, and each time Und» r a different name. This week It is called "Bits and Hits from Broadway,** and a few of the fa- miliar faces are gone. Five girls, worklmg very good together a« chorines, a male songster and a whirlwind male Jigger make up tho personnel. A typical dance flash with cheap scenery and some pretty tfiwrr* nunitiors. Miilvia Franklin produced It. Ruth Clark and Dun^e Lords (three men) were in the third spot. MIs.s Clark didn't shine either an a dp.ncer or a singer, but has a pleas- ing personality. The three dancers In a few specialties were good. Bingham and Myers in the deuce spot. Songs and vocal humor, put over exceptionally well, made this mixed team surprisingly popular early in the afternoon. Jack La Vler, comedy perch worker, was also billed. Th* house was well filled for the first chow. Hal. A., the theatre played a split-week policy with a feature picture, shorta, and five acta. Business wasn't so hot. Then came the Tower theatre and the W. M. V. A. decided to give the newer and bigger house first grab at its acta. As the Tower is neighborhood competition the Jeffery management decided that It wasn't getting s square deal and Informed the W. V. M. A. that the Jeffery must get Its acts elsewhere. Cooney Brothers made a bid for the Jeffery and got it. They took down tho "loop vaudeville" signs and re- placed them with "big stage show" announcements. They changed the policy from straight split week to three-split, and used three acta in- stead of five on each bill. They in- serted short film subjects between the acts to give the stage show a prolonged effect. They gave the pit musicians large fancy scrolled music racks and told the organist to play a^aolo. with screen sUd.cs. "* "Result":' better 'business than the Jeffery had had previously. Lew West books the acta for Cooney Brothers and ia showing good Judgment in going in heavily on the flash and novelty stuff. Two of the three acta reviewed this week used full stage. William Clayton and Co.'opened Clayton and girl partner started with a Dutch wooden shoe clog. Which lacked pep for an introduc tion. A fast acrobatic dance by Clayton and a too dance by the girl brought healthy applause. A good speedy close waa effected with a well-executed adagio number. A pianist who tempoed for the dances filled In with a violin solo. Inai much aa the opening Dutch costume number haa no particular signifi- cance or merit the team would ben- efit considerably by replacing it with a faster bit. Freeman and Morton, mala char- acter singers, have good material for the picture houses. They draw a much better hand hare than they did at the Majeatio a few weeks bo- fore. A black stage illusion nov- elty presented by Panl Klelat and a woman partner, hit heavily with the youngsters. Dressed aa a clown and "speaking" Intelligibly with a whistle, Kleist went over well with his - construction of a living figure from miscellaneous parts and his "floating" object blta. Because of the usual darkness film house eyes are much sharper than the vaude- ville optica, so it might help Kleist xo turn on the - tftxg* ihrhts briefly before his act opens. International newsreel and other shorts were sandwiched among the acts. The news reel carried the Odiva seal act as a fill-in for no apparent reason. Leonard Smith at the organ played tho familiar "Horses," using cartoon slides. His attempt at the community singing idea met with little success, mainly because the audience wasn't worked up to the exertion. "Let s Get Married" (F. P.) went over topnotch as the jfeaturc, _The_ c^usTomers gave "ft" a™ round "of ap plause at the finish. MORRISON HOTEL CHICAGO World's tallest. 1144 aad oaths SPRING IS HERE Store Your Furs in The da moths, Are, das* f a*w" v ■a* as wast far lavety furs. Repairing and Remodeling -i^er i w g taa mam- raer months yoar fare eaa also be remodeled lata aew end charming ' 4a- siffna. Blumenfiekfs Fur Shop 204 State-Lake Bld$>, Chioago nBliBBORW ISM WORK CALLRD FOR Oar Refsrestet—Asyeee ts Sac* 0ssta oh ^ SQUARE * 07 West Randolph St, Chiaaao H O T E L la the Heart Of Chicago's Hie Chicago Home of The Theatrioal Profession Pot Oyer 14 Years Too will be pleased to lad a Hotel that really makes you feel "At Home.** Oar aew leass for fifteen years has en- abled us to re-carpet and re-decorate ta-rottgfrcmt: "~ No Advance in Rates OLEN W1LME8, George M. Cohan la expected in town to make further reviHionH in the script of "The Home Towners." The third act already has been greatly changed and speeded up. "Abie's Irish Rose" waa the first show to play Kenosha, Wis., in three years. As Raxe Brothers have Kenosha, among numerous other (Continued on page 63) iv it: IJ * "X 1 4 4* 'In a> Special Professional Rates Room for ene—$10.00. 111.00, |14.tf, $16.00, $111.00 and $21.00 per week. $1.09 additional for two pernons. Room tor two. twin beds, $23.10 week. 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