Variety (Jun 1926)

W^lnniMliy, Junt 9. Itm REVIEWS VARIETY 19 FILM HOUSE REVIEWS STRAND, B'KLYH Brooklyn. N. Y., June •. ■dward L*. Hyman. managing dl- Motor of tha Mark Strand, in this Borousb ot Brooklyn, la giving the DTvaentatlon angla fullest attention. Souslderlng a natural handicap of Mcond runa In lllm featurea. The feTuaa generally playa the New York Strand'a prevloua week a feature, as Sltli "Ranaon'a Folly" (Richard Barthelmeaa), a weak sister In the flicker line, current film attraction. The Record Boya (Al Bernard, frank Kamplain and Sammy Stept) liave been garnered by Hyman for their film house debut, and featured in the lighU above the film. (Pres- entations.) Aside from th(» extra attractions, Hyman has insured himself a nucleus lor permanent presentations akin to the Capitol Family In idea, with certain soloists permanently fea- tured on the program as standing bigh-llghts and sandwiched in on occEuslon for the interludes. Thus in ' Melodies Eternal," the 10 ballet girls, under Sonla Serova's direction, fit the motif charmingly. An Inexpensive production, the 15 minutes consumed by this musical revue were possibly more Impressive than the "money" act Schubert's "Serenade," with Tom Williams, baritone, at a painted organ, is fetchlngly soloed, leading into a black-out disclosing the fem- inine inspiration of the immortal aerenade resting as a vision amid the pipes of the organ. Sacha Klndler, the concert master^ Tlolln soloed the Massanet "Medl- taUon" from "Thais." with the ballet corps first introduced. The Mark Strand Orchestra, now under Willy Stahrs direction, offered the "Faust" finale ((iounod). and Liszt's 'Tilebestraum" was another ballet atage Interlude to Lilly Kovacs' pianoforie solo accompaniment. The four subdivisions of the pres- entation dove-talled nicely, the im mortal classics being sufUclently fa miliar to prove popularly appealing, and, with their production Investl ture. making for likely stage inter- lude. Willy Stahl, Introduced aa the Bew permanent director, comes from the Rialto and Rivoli. where he was associate conductor under the Rels enfeld regime. Stahl la a modest showman, the "Pagliacci" overture finding him acknowledging every- thing with his 26 men in ^nsemble this being a bit unusual, considering the Importance stressed on the Stah debut The new conductor is a vet- eran in picture house music and wil have his effect on the Brooklyn Strand In favorable fashion. Estelle Carey, seemingly a fa- miliar. Judging by the acknowledg- ment on her entrance, soloed "Glan- hina Mia," from Frlml's "Firefly,' In robust soprano. Miss Carey is a personality songbird of most plenn ing appearance, the merry twinkle In her eye and smile registering throughout her brief three minutes Of the permanent staff of solo Ists, Harry Breuer, the xylophonist and Robert Thrane, solo 'cellist Were not utilized this week. In total, a corking show, as far as the stage and musical presentations are concerned, exceeding the film attraction In merit Possibly the contrast Is more apparent in this case, since the" Barthelmcss offering Is but another downward step In that star's late decline; but the cur- rent show Is a corking answer to the whyforo of suitable stage of ferlngs to round out and build up * picture house program. Abel, HARDING (CHICAGO) Chicago, June 4. Another of Chicago's famous su- per de luxe syncopation shows at the, Harding this week, irnles.'^ presentation talent is purchased at wholesale prices around these parts the show must take quite a sum from L & T's pocket; but If the Wednesday matinee was any gauge, put more than that back. The Harding syncopation show had a thread of a plot running through It A wild-eyed amatour Sherlock Holmes (Delano Dell) irantlcally -pursued a notorious Jjelody thief (Jimmy Dunn) across the staqe at frequent Intervals. The pursuit at the start led rlpht Into I !i ?f*^^'(?ry, where Henri Gendron and his orchestra, in red sweaters, ^Kish caps, and patched pants, J^ere discovered putting out hot JJinea under the shadow of what m»Kht bo the Brooklyn bridge. i e*,'gy Hernler, Paul Ash's little Persoiiata girl, had a comedy song ana a hip shaking Charleston for occasion, which netted her an encore. This, with a few well P'aycd numbers from the Oendron fM?T^^''^^'""' brought the first "in lUii .section to a close. Working »n front of the curtains, Stanley lyrnes executed a comedy a^nk .«.on^' nnd dance number with JJJouKh merit to got them future '-iKlit Madrap.q. slmultaneou.s «jri kif 1 ( IS. hr\t\ a nporlal .'et for coMume RkuubM^ I>««plU aU"^ dent quality the girls failed to reg- ster. Ed Meikel's organ solo was sand- wiched right in the middle of the syncopation show as a tribute to the boy's showmanship. Some of the cleverest cartoon slides seen in the Windy City were projected this week. Meikel's "organ club mem-- hers" were first called to order and then asked to join In the hunt for tthe stage show's melody th.'ef. The club's "purauit" waa punctuated with the customary community singing. Very good. Rome and Dunn, the husky male song team, chalked up the prize applause of the bill with their har- mony routine. The capture of the melody thief immediately followed, and a switch to full stage, a court room scene, provided the finale. As a Judge Rome was a small riot. The trial took place in song, with the entire cast on the stage, and Rome called on everyone for a sneclalty in his Impromptu Swedish dialect The cast seemed to enjoy Rome's comedy more than the cus- tomers. Seating the presentation special- ists on the stage for tho 18-minute trial interval put them at their worst. With nothing to do most of the time, Peggy Bernler, Stanley and Blrnes. and some of the oth ers, proceeded to talk Iqudly to each other, to whisper and to disrupt the effect in general. Since others on the bill were trying to hold the customers' attention, this chatter lined up as rank rudeness. All of the cast repeated In the finale, with Doree Leslie, not seen In the first section, doing a song and dance bit Ben Paley and hla orchestra in the pit took care of the overture and news reel accompaniment "The Cohens and the Kcllys" waa the feature. These mammoth sy«M;opatJon shows draw quite a bit of extra trade and they're hitting aa strong aa eveau McL featurea the Jazxing of 'The Waiera of the Mlnnetonka," following it up with a soprano eolo and a full atace set with a rising moon, which waa the most eftectlve flash of acenic stuff which haa been ahown at the State under the new policy of run- ning outright oppoaitlon to the Publlx Metro. He alao used Downey and Owens in duets; Forsinl, the accordionist; Horton Spurr, the dancer, and John Pardy, winner of the New England contest for the best harmonica player. Thes« acts were all planted In hla Jaaa band on the stages The printed program waa not fol- io ,4red, a Sernett comedy being billed, but not ahown, and aa ill- advised playing of "Taps" by the first A. E. F. bugler to reach France being also dropped after being 'billed. The supporting films com- prised a single news reel and an ink-bottle comedy. lAbb^ I STATE (BOSTON) Boston, Jon* ^ The Loew interests have at last awakened to the fact that this house needs programs if it la going to make a showing against tho Publlx's Metropolitan downtown. Philip Spltalny, a rare combination of showman and musician, haa done about all that waa possible with his Victor recording jazs group and the house orchestra, but even he haa been running ^y of late for lack of .supporting material, acenic sets and drawing cards. Several flat feature films were the climax to the situation, and the local howl that went up, combined with the soaring grosses at the Met must have reached the ears of Shiller, Sidney and the other long- distance Judges of the local situa- tion. This week brought Vera Fokina and a pretentious, although laxly trained, ballet Next week brings Grace La Rue, followed by Bee Palmer. The feature picture next week will be Lon Chaney la the re-creation of "The Penalty," an- other last-minute shift as tho pro- grams this week announced "The Exquisite Sinner." Although far from an Ideal show, this week's bill showed such a marked Improvement of the recent average that it Insplncd quite a bit of favorable lobby chatter. Spltalny used Mendelssohn's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" for his heavy over- ture, but It failed to go over as strong aa his average, due mainly to the absence of the fanfare and the spectacular flourish of more pop^ilar classics with which he has been so popular localbr. The novelty bit entitled "Musical Glimpses of Boston," was a sure- fire Idea carried out so crudely that it failed to go across. "Still" projections of typical photographs taken In the local Chinatown, Llttlo Italy, G'hctto, Negro dialect and other sections were shown, work- ing in, of course, tho state prison for the Inevitable laugh for the "I'rlsoner's Song.' The photos, however, looked like Willie's first ko<lak ma.«»terpleces, and the titling was scrawled In Ink, In some cases nearly Illegible. Done well, this local idea should have been a howl. As It waa. it was a good smile, but nothing more. The feature picture was "Early to Wed, • the title being the subject of some high-powered publicity work tied up with one of the local papers by Joe Dl Pe.sa and Charley Winston, who are now In charge of the press work for the State and Loew Orpheum. The New England couple that had been married the prcatest number of years was sought for by contest with a prize offered of a second honeymoon. The picture Itself, however, proved to have merely a catch title that did not key In particularly closely with early marriage. It held up better than several features shown at the Ftnte in the past two month.s, howover. . i>pUaLny. for bis stage routine. VAUDEVILLE HOUSE REVIEWS PALACE STATE RIALTO SQUARE (JOLI£T, ILL.) Chicago, June S. Noise of a big splash in JoUet having reached the Chicago ofllce of Variety one of the reviewers went down to tho town to aee what it was all about Joliet is a town of around 40,000. It has been notoriously under-the atred for yeara Until recently only the Orpheum gave the natives a picture and three acta on a aplit week and the Princeaa gave out straight plcturea. There hadn't been a legit road attraction in town in three years. These facts help to explain the gasp of wonder and amaxement the new theatre has caused. The Rialto Square la a very good aample of the modern type of big flaahy cinema It la entered via a lonir mirrored lobby converging into an imprea- slve rotunda domed, pillared and balconied. The auditorium la large and high, with numeroua niohea, rich coloring, aubdued and hidden lighU and all the other familiar trapplnga expected tnm the uew movie palacea. A mlU town with a monotonoua sameneaa week in and week out doesn't often get a thrill like this one. Naturally they oyereatimate the importance. "Better than any- thing in Chlea^o"—"One of the beat In the world." two aUtementa txctn lays. The organ and the orchestra pit seem to intrigue the dtixena in par- ticular. The or«an ia a big gilt af- fair on an eacalatlng platform. Its equipment Includes about eTory known form of trap nolaa. How these nolsea impress Jolietl Leo Terry, formerly of the Capitol, Chi- cago, at the conaole and gives them a good reliable aure-flre aaaortment of organ hokum. Leo alao alnga just before he and the organ dis- appear from sight Bailey P. Alart Balahan and Katz staff man. Is directing the "concert ensemble" of It mualolana. The inatrumentatlon is diTlded about equally between brass and string. Overture good, bat Uke everything else on program, ne an- nouncement waa made as to what It was. The orchestra oomea up and goea down to the dellcht ol JolleC'a civic pride. A woman in tho lobby aald: *^ou get so much for ^our money* (M cents straight). Actually the old Orpheum, with Its three acts and feature at 40c. offered quite as much, only the new theatre disguises Its two vaudeville acts as presenta- tions, separates them with a short subject and plus the organ, orehes- tra and bigneaa of houae every one apparently la eonvlneed that here Is a great bargain In entertain- ment Samuel Tiahmaa, of the W. T. M. A. books the Rialto Square, having previously booked the Orpheom (now closed). Of tho two aeta the first half one, Meyokaa Japs, was a good presen- tation turn. The other, Colby- Murphy Girls, not so hot This act was probably booked because it had a Bowery drop and was therefore somewhat apropos the feature, "Co- hens and Kelly a" They did a bare skeleton of their' vaudeville turn. The young woman In the red Jacket who sat with her legs apart went f;overal feet two far In making her tough dame reallstlo. She put on a show all by herself which attracted the attention of several of the ma- slclans aa well aa the Jiudienoei Jollet being sewed up theatrically by the Rubins family, the Ralph Square Is a sure winner, as they could close up everything else (If need for such meaures) to make It pay. It will have a profound influ- ence In the town, as tho presentation form is new to JoHet Roy Rogan, long manager of the Orpheum is handling the new hoose. //eep. METROPOLITAN (B08T0N) Boston, June t. Cantor Jomti Rosenblatt la the biggest draw tbla Publlx house has yet seen. A world of publicity was given the bearded tenor by all the local papers on copy sent out by Jeff Lazarus based on the cantor having f;one Into vaudeville for the sole (Continued oa pfge i4> . . . (ST. VAUDE) A reasonable bill In the main link of the Keith chain this week. That Is to say, the performance consumed a con\entlonal length of time in- stead of threatening to zo Into the next day, and there was a goodly share of laughs around, mamly due to volunteers foiling with Frank Fay, the Palace's interlocutor. Judith Anderson was the "name" on the bill in a dramatic sketch (New Acts), while the remaining turns offered sufllclent versatility to keep the program on the fairway. Business? Good, though short of capacity. Half of the Orpheum Circuit and a third of the Palace building book- ing execs were on hand to flash Jo- seph Santley's "London, Paris and New York" (New Acts). The pic- ture Interests were also represented liy the head of one of Broadway's main film emporiums. Plenty of at- tention for one act, but the act had previously been turned down by the vaudeville booking men, went into a cafe (Rendezvous) as a floor hIiow and finally reached vriud«'ville. Hence the accentuated curiosity. Also the Santley turn consummates two acts In one, as a team of male dancers (Bud and Jack Pearson) belonging to it "doubles" No. 2. And blg-tlme vaudeville will two- for-one anybody to death, including Leblang, across a route sheet. That two-for-one thing may be the hufila upon which this Santley act Anally became routed. If it Is. It's a cinch bet for the picture houses as It stands plus the man- ^ner in which the large film theatres would treat it ari throw in a co\iple of extra specialists. In fact, a New York picture house man designed the setting^, and'they look it, for the act has a world of appearance. As previously mentioned, the Pearson boys twice draw program mention—once on their own and again being featured in the flash act In deuclng it the male team adhere mainly to hoofing, following a conventional routine to dancing applause while using the "II Trova- tore" hit, as done In the "Music Box." for a finish. Eight minutes here, and passable in the spot. Boyd and Wallin opened, the man's furious twlrr on a rope catching definite appreciation in clbslng out. Seed and Austin blasted Into the levity with Fay after doing their own act which ran up a good-sized groaa. Helen Mason now assists, and was suflTlclently slghtl yto make a couple of Fay's ad lib remarks understandable. The act proper Is very much as of yore, Atistln still parrying Seed's foolishness for best results. This pair were on and off all evening, almost between every act and counted in each Instance. Bert Errol rounded out the first half, kidding himself In his female Im; jrsonations. Mr. Errol has changed little If anything In his material, despite he seems to have narrowed the scope of his masculine gestures while in feminine garb. The brusque mannerisms against the gowned figure are always good for a snicker If not more, and as now routining the Impression In that more of this by-play would be ac- ceptable. Three songs and an en- core consummated his total when showing third. The second portion of the evening held the Judith Anderson sketch, preceded by Carl McCullough. who, plus his crossfire with Fay, lingered 22 minutes. McCullough continues to use his telephone bit, and It's as good as ever. A veteran, this piece of business, but as done by McCul- lough as good aa anything of Its kind around. In fad, McCullough looks the dapper Juvenile, and Is fully capable of taking care of him- self within the limits of the twice- daily houses. He continues to prove that, and has fidopted the Elsie Janls Idea of picking out a song and doing "impressions" of other pooplo singing It This goes all tho way from Warfleld to Jolson. but It must be said that his mimicking of T.au- der still leaves the slate clean as to there never having been a good Imi- tation of the Srotrhman. And that Includes both the Misses Janls and Ina Claire. Fay, personally, was next to c}on- *nR—something of a tribute, in the face of his third rons<>cutlve week at this theatre. He has revlvod his card trick skit for this week, ac- companied by his familiar "plants," both of whom drew a reception n's they crossed the troucrh. Seed also Introduced another boy from tho audience, who offered "r<»lleplnte" efr<»mInatoly and scored. Fay equaled the McCulloutch sojourn of 23 mlnutcH and lost only two people oflf the lower floor. The cfimedlan Is apparently "over" here ns a per- manent fixture, each of |iN on- trances being the signal for scnt- terod apT)lause. The aforementioned nlnrlnir of •V?ollegIato- killed the PnlnMi Trl..*> (New Acta) openlnir. ns th'y w^-r-,] the flame number. P.nt fbc .ttoI nt drew acclnfm and the bond f., i, ' balance from a pprlnpboard r i .. a saUsCacl<jr^. fioUh.... . ^k^if. - (Vaude-Pcts) Harry Rose and "Brown of Har- vard" In the lights this week. "Brown" is a picture and ilo.se la back in vaudeville after picttire houae dates. A full house, even to the last row in the balcony, which la somewhere between a block nnd a mile from the »tage. But even a huge theatre as this Is seemingly simple to fill when . a highly entertaining set of vaude- ville acts and an excellent picture is on the bill of fare. Simple as a puzzle—when you know how to do It The Six Rockets, girl tumblers, who closed the show at the Palace some months ago, opened Monday night. An audience unusually re- sponsive for a continuous policy house received the sextet well. They open with some tame but Interest- ing work on ladders and -follow with amazing tumbling. The latter busi- ness Is great stuff, in view oil the tumblers being of the feminine. Aaron and Kelly, two colored boys, are of the llrst order. For some reason they have continued to miss big time. Big time or any other time they could go on in the same next-to-openinj; ixtsition and score just as heavily. They harmonizo well In an opening song and go into .some wow-deserving dancing. Kelly, tho smaller of the two. Is unusually graceful, and Aaron, In a solo, showed some fast and slow time stepping as good as can be seen for some distance around. Masoffi and Gwynn, man and wom- an, in their blackface and high yal- ler turn, followed and scored, as did Billy Taylor, caught several weeks ago at the American, and his com- pany of four girla Harry Rose, "The Broadway Jes- ter," was* greeted with applause by the crowd. He went Into his fast material nicely and kidded his way Into an opening, which he held for the balance of 22 minutea Mr. Rose is using practically the same ma- terial when at the State last over a year ago. Monday night he seemed^ work more easily and get It over better than on the last stand. With some topical gags and a new rccltfttlon with props, he scored le- gitimately and heavily. Some talk ia show business manner, aomeinm^ about Irving Tatea alttlng in front, so he'd better be good, or aomethlns like that and song entitled "I'm Go- ing South, by Earl Carroll," reached the Broadway boya, who must have been sitting high in tnolr seats, for the same passed over the rest .of the audience. A yelled-for en- core waa given and they wanted more. Chaa. Aham (New Acts), with a company of eight ended the vaude- ville portion. 5TH AVE. (Vaude-Pets) With the Harry Langdon full film comedy, "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp," as the flicker attraction, an aver- age six-act bill haa been routined, of which the topllner, Glenn and lllchards Co., is a New Act closing the show. Opening waa Bee Jung, also under Now Acta Laura Ormsbee, aongstress, haa Hal Findley at the piano. Hers Is an average songalog, Findley olfi- clatlng almost In the capacity of equal partner, also doing a "baby" .song for which he claims author- ship. If memory serves hla name la not credited therefore along tin pan alley.. Senna and Dean are a mixed team where the comedy la derived from the gal trying to "make" the boy friend whom she has presented with candy, taken to a show, eto» The reverse English on the situation makes for the comedy. The get- away Is the familiar uke doggerel double. Joseph K. Watson has a punchy Ilebe monolog, but why that aong gibberish for the encoreaT Adlcr, Well and Herman, from the cab- arets, showed how an honest-to- ^osh rathskeller trio should do pop songs. They are energetic if not ultra polite workers, whamming their stuff over for a bang-up score. The (jlcnn and Richards act dosed. Business fair. AbeL 81tt ST. (VAUDE-PCT8) Very good five-act bill preceded the film section. Presumably most If not all tho acts were fresh here. Attendance Monday night was a bit better than half capacity Uown- .^talrs. The h^'adllne act concluded the vaudeville and proved the Htand- out turn. It was (Jeorjre "W'tl.st and Hay Stanton in "A I-itrlr- Rhyme nnd L^'.ss llr>asnn," a n vivo played Sy seven pcojilo nnd credited to I'.illy K. lis. Tho act opened it tho ral.'ico during the winter. Vv'» i.st :ind .*^trmton arc now featured n'.-M' the 11flf». Til** \\'< ist and .Stanton revue ..l.H l.nrl'-sfpiy, but It Is played r.iu"h !.'ii<r f'i:.n fliMt. A cn.se In [,,■>» : II,.' fiII t 111'oo bit wl»h th«