Variety (Aug 1926)

62 VARIETY REVIEWS Wednesday, August 18, 1926 FILM HOUSE REVIEWS CHICAGO (CHICAGO) Chicago, Aug. 13. Sophisticated hamlet for presen- tation. One of tlioMO weaker Pub- lix presentations which now and then manage to slip undfr t|M rop«s /irtiom-hmir -ireM ' fiMMTMr wtiOr for a day or two and then take a neat flop with the gross unfortu- Siately tucked under mi mrm; Such Is the consequence of educating a City to expect the ultra in its pic- ture hoUM entertainment. But Balaban & Katz aren't so dumb. When one of the weak sis- ters comes tripping along it is •ither augmented to the point of submersion or submerged to the point of extinction. And so the cross keeps high. Ned Way burn's "Cupid's Holi- day" has just hit town. Ask any «M of the customers milling out of the Chicago theatr<» what is on Cor the week and he'll start talking fUbwii VM^ mt»*mlMiiM tmt MHion Irtiows A ftudy of this fur show indl- MitM OhtoMiv fr»« ducer is ftee for "headquarters In Kew York* ' Frank Cambria got to good at this prMMitaltoil stttff around town that they removed him to the east, where he could do even •more good. The next emigrant looks like Will H. Harris. "Personal Supervision" billing for the fur show goes to Frank Cam- .bria, but you can catch the Will Harris atmosphere all through the running. You can glimpse results tli« ytars of vaudevUlQ produeing ' spent by Harris and _you can see wherjB it comes in handy for a pres- •iitiittra proihieer. There is a line-up of about flfty- •dd in the fair show. Thirty-three •f th«to ini^d«l* aiid <lie r<let ^^lent. Running time, 40 miillltM. Presentatldn opens on a **(rost' ■et. a fantastically designed jewel patterns supported by screens Bight Morgan school ballet girls in ■now-white costume execute a customary bit of-ballet routine and then lead on Easter and Ilazleton, adagio team. This pair has one of tt« most graeefol and smooth •run- ning classics ever witnessed around here. Difflcult» feats are accom* plished -wltlloiit tha least apparent exertion^ CM nwrnf^Mtm^i -im hearty. ■ • . Ben^BluSk tn airei«ait*«n4 ikiufller, Worked In perfectly on the presenta- tion idea with hU "ice skating^ dane*. The Illusion he «rtetea as bo skids about the floor is a gem in its class. Blue outdoes his con- freres in accomplishments, cutting figure eights, -workincT'backward and turning corners with excleptional fldelity to the real thing. . At thin point ana at the sections ©f the fashion parade was run off, the models entering from both sides, displaying their warea^ and walking off—all in rhythm to musical ac- companiment from the pit. Several men. alaa in fVir eoftts^ BiMir akaund at Intervals and escorted aom# af the ladies off stage. MUton Watien, locally popular romantic tenor, entered before vel- vet drops and started on a pop number. Just before Its eonehiaiein the curtains parted on a golf course drop and four of the Morgan girls, in golf-Jazz costume, worked a fast t>it of chorus routine. Then another parade of the models in more coats, drops with another song, and then a - palatial Interior sot, full stage, was revealed. The elRht ^lorpan girls, in eccentric Russian costume, start- ad things eft With some niiseeilan- eous Russian stuff. Incidentally, the Morgan girls never did show up as •nytlilng much, displaying contfid- erahle poor timing and a general perplexity as to what It was aU Hbout Master and Hazleton made an- other uppearancer this time in for- mal clothes for a ballroom dance. Very good. At the conclusion of the Ea.Mter-Hazleton number there was a darb of a dance for Ben Blue to Work some real comedy, but it was badly muffed. In har^^y evenlnp: clothes and escorting a girl partner, he mad* an entrance identical to that of tho prcvlou.«! couple, and Worked a burlesque on their ball- room routine. Instead of laughter, only snickers. The girl who worked. With Blue gave him no co-operation In his comedy attempts, (fueering him completely at timee. and the |)urlesque flopped. The last section eft the fashion parade followed. Descending high staircases from either side the pirls trooped out on a special rimway hiillf armind tlw itrcheitra Pit en," feature, not generally liked. Nor was Waybum's. The fur show was staged under auspices of the Associated Fur In- dustries of Chicago. Bttsineaa waa capacity, with a line outslda the nifiit the reviewer was present. > »al. y STATE > (BOSTON) Boston, Aug. 17.* Irene Franklin's farewell: week ;)rlor to sailiiig for Europe wag more than a draw; it was a riot There hare been a lot of female singles sent to Boston to boost the ;ro88 at this Loew house in its duel with the Publix Metropolitan. In- cluding Bee Palmer, Grace La Rue ind Frances White, but it remained for Irene Franklin to turn the. trick and prove that Boston is not hand- cuffed. . No longer a comedienne, but AorklnK as a real comic, she hoked them and mugged the back of the house into laughter, and when she !>ulled her "Chester, the Cowboy trom Liggett's." she knocked the Hoiise for a goal and had to wait for the howls to quiet down. Part of the publicity campaign Included a tleup with the Boston "Traveler" for a red-headed beauty ::onte8t, the winner to be used as one of Miss Franklin's gtrls in her next season's "Red Head Revue." The State Jumped the town by announcing the opening of the fall .<3eason last night rather than Labor Day, at which time Gilda Gray has been held in reserve for the Publix reason. The State will spring Lon Chaney's "on the Road to Mandalay" for Labor Day week backed up by the return of Philips-Spitalny as Tuest conductor. The balance of the State bill this week Is entirely pictures, with a show running within three minutes of three hours and featuring "The Walts Dream,*' a picture that won enthusiastic press notices. The short reelers included a motley group of stuff, inelttding a news reel, a Ben- nett comedy, aivJUpine skiing les- son, Felix cai^on, Ko-Ko Song car- toon, "Daisy Bell,'* that won ^ real hand, and a screen sni^jWdiot con- taining a misspelled title and a flash of Marion Davies that she might well bring civil suit on, as it shows her in the worst lighting yet seen in Intimate gllmpsea mt Hollywood. Roy Frazee at the organ was billed in a heavy bit^ "Zampa," by Aer^M, highly technical' but lack- ing In showmanship. A4I in all, Loew's opened its fall season With a crash with one of the best bills from a popular gtaildpOiat in the laet 12 months. The Ifissaehcusetts Ayenve Im provemcnt Association, which opens Boston's new White Way on Labor Day. is a great break Iioew's State, as the house Is a member and has tied up the opening by the city in conjunction with the celebration of Marcus I^ocw's 20th anniversary and the return to Boston of Spltalny. The news weekly was particularly interesting with International's spe- cial on the Mexican religious trou- ble. Ran about seven minutes. The second OTerture (not so pro- gramed) was conducted by Don Al- bert, permanent leader. '"The Re- turn From My Vacation" was the title, and was a medley of hits from New York shows, includitig "Valen- cia,** l^a Foolin'.** and "Black Bot- tom,** among others. Word-slides used during this were made par- ticularly pleasing by a striped color effect projected on the screen at the same time. The audience gave Albert a royal walcoma with Its ap- plause. Lillian Bernard and Flo Harris, **tlM fiemala Van and Sehenck.** held the next spot The girls put their songs over well, especially scoring With IBo^s Tour Old Lady.** They wero recalled for an encore and a bow. £leven minutes, in "one." The Iioew's State Sportiight." showing! pictures of Dempsey and Tunney in training, was a timely bit. Hade up of some International newsreel shots and some clips from a slow-motion Pathe review, with new titles, the reel proved inter- esting. The Spltafny band was the fourth musical unit of the bill. Two solo- sts with the aggregation, Charley i^alvert, tenor ,and Denny Looney, dancer, scored individual hits, with Looney's footwork garnering him the biggest register of all. Lightnig and scenic effects were employed as a background for several orches- tral numbers, a line of trucks con- taining "soldiers" moving slowly across a war scene for a.pleasing ouch In the rendition of "My Dream of the Big Parade." The band is silhcvatted behind a grated drop for the whole of its opening num- ber. The fence should have been lifted long before, for a view of the musicians is better than one of a curtain, pretty as It may be. Spltalny has a flne band, and it takes rank near the top of those this city has heard. The hand at the finish may have been big enough for a recall but none was taken. The M-G-M "Mandalay" feature closed the program. Off at a quar- ter paat ntna^ JI afl a i . Adolphe Dumont and lii.«< orclie.«»- tra played continuously. For the fo.shlon paradefl they had medleys of rhythmic popular numbers, played excellently. Their special music was also very good. Irtornntlonal ne\»*s rool and Pathe Huhleots penarated the two pvcsen- talious. "i'ou Never Know Wom- MdLUON DOLLAR <LOS ANQELE8) I Los Angeles, Aug. 14. Gilda Gray is back in Los An geles, this time as the stage ac- cdmpaniment to her first Famous Players feature. "Aloma of the South Seas." As a picture house at- traction there is no getting away from the fact tlvit Miss Gray is In a cisaft' by herself. Sho is presenting her own company of Samoans and dancing girls in ^ presentation titled "A South Sea Idylr" featuring prince Lei Lanl. A pretentious and well staged of fering, with the only criticism from the large crowds being that the act Is too short. The act runs but a trifle over seven minutes. The opening reveals Prince Le Lani .and a dozen of his Samoans in a native dance, after which Ave of the troupe engage in a knife dance that is a novelty. Going to full stage, six dancing girls offer a plensln^ routine and then Gild.! comes forth. For the flnalo she is joined by the girls for a fast ending. Gilda and her company will be the attraction at the Millioii Dollar for three weeks. STATE (ST. LOUIS) St. Louis, Aug. 12. It was necessary to push one's way out of the State at 8 o'clock last Sunday night. The crowd was a whopper and spread out every- where. When the reporter finally hit the sidewalk, a line half a block long waft waiting to buy tickets. The show as a Avhole. is one of tho best in week.s, with the.Chaijey iripItalny'.M Victor band co-featured and other units equally good. Spltalny, as guestv conductor TseliaiU<»\vsUrM "Caprice Ital ien" ffir overture. The usual houpe orchestra of 18 was increaneil to 31 with tho nddillon of Spltalny s hand. An rp^ore wasi "\V;U»as)i IMuos"— ancient, perliajKs, bvu so hull . ,, rendition of the Tannhauser over- ture. As a climax, a sextette, comprising two each of th^ trum- pets, French horns and trombones. arose and, with the organ, blared forth the beautiful flnale. The or- chestra, it Is announced, will be 3uilt up as more of a feature and the music heavily advertised. Following came an Intematfbnal newsreel, ordinary, but given neai orchestral accompaniment. Next was Kerenoff and Marie, dancers, who did a novelty dance interpreta- tion of "The Cat and the Canary," :he mnn atti«ed as a black cat and the g.'rl a yellow canary. An ar- tistic, but simple, setting was pro- vided for *Ms brief and pleisirg acrob.nti'i din;:e number EMdie Dundstedter. organist, then held his "community sing." A Felix at cartoon WM the biU'a-weakest number. 1 Mitchell Brothers, singing banjo- sta. followed and did splendidly. For the wind-up there was the feature, "Nell Gwyn." HARDING " temeAao) Chicago. Aug. 13. The alternating of Art Kahn and stage band between the Senate and Harding aUaws for a variety of stage entertainment. If grosses aren't misleading the West Slders relish it. This week Walter Pontidii. tenor, and Tad Neman's Tunesmiths (Presentationa) are talcing care of the stage portion. Pontius offers two numbers: "Song of Songs" and "when Iriidk Byes Are Smiling." The flrst gave him little opportun- ity, but .he lingered on. the high notes in tiia shamrock bit wHh ease and clarity. Before drapes lii tux coats and white trousers. Well liked. Ed Meikel's organ 8016 is always a highlight in a Harding program. Meikel has formed an Organ Club Ejoch of his programs opens with a call to order and is followed by a list of members who have requested a certain song. As the theme of his meeting this week Meikel had a thermometer thrown on the screen and explained that the louder the customers sang the higher the ther mometer was to «o. Their duty was to make It hit the to9 and ring a gong. This Is quite a difficult trick to pulW Meikel had to so select his songs that the rise of the thermom cter after each number would be ac curata. Ila did it iMMectty. The customers literally shouted the last number. As a conclusion Meikel worked 'a gag with a tecat sonp pluggcr, pointing him out as the person who had sung the loudest and ipreaenting him with a ihftm- moth cigar. Jack Perry, the plug ger, then sang a number. (Other organist note great gag.) E}me8t Wiley, leading a pit or- chestra of 26, presented the reliable "II Guarany" as an overture. Played exceptionally weU Md rated a heavy hand. "Ella Cinders" the feature. The local ••Chicago Daily News Screen Service" had three shots in the news reel, while International took tha real _ " One of" Fitspatrick's songs of na tlons was also presented by the or chestra. The film theme* was worked weakly, but the orchestra held up its end of the idea. Business great. ^ol. STATE (MINNEAPOLIS) Minneapolis, Aug. 12. Simultaneously inaugurating th local Greater Movie Season and the new advanced prices X60c> aU-o.vei- the house), the State. F. & H's prize house, offered a bang-up show It justified the admission scale boost, but set so 8pe«Mly a pace the bouse may have dUIlculty in follow ing It. Tho house orchestra, nuf,menteil froin IT) t{» 20 pi- <m's starteil rn- terlainment with a mcriloiiuu^i STRAND (NEW YORK) New York, Aug. 15. No special hurrah about Greater Movie Season at Simday's flrst main show. In fact, the initial de luxe performance of the day ushered itself in with the news weekly. which meant the elimination of the overture, "Herbert Hits." The open- ing orchestra selection being pasned up, the show ran about 15 minutes shy of the regulation two-hour period. The feature picture, "Tho Amateur Gentleman," consumed 79 minutaa. For the weekly "Frolic'* there were two added started in Oeno Austin, who has become a Victor record artist, and Allan Prior, tenor, who has been in various Shubert musicals and is said to be a former amateur heavyweight bozlilg champ of Australia. Prior has a substan- tial voice, possessing "fireworks** for the celluloid theatres when ha climbs to a high register. Singing "The Garden of My Heart." he drew a reception upon entrancing and substantial applause when eon* eluding. Madeline MacSuigan introduced the presentation item by vlollnlng "The Beautiful Lady." whence Pauline Miller vocalized the refrain, and then Plunkett*s well-known oval Insert allowed for the house ballet to routine behind the scrim, plus Mile. Itlemova and M. Daks. Gene Austin (New Acts) trailed this episode with four songs at tho piano, and then Prior, in turn, trailed by Crossley and Smith, male dancers, and then tho. Six Tlvoll Girls, a well-like^i feature here. /a RRESENTATIONS (Extra attraeiicnM in metnrm thmair€9, hifhm mi pieturest will be carried and described in this depart^ ment for the general information of the trade*} "THE LOVES OF RICARDO" (27) Spoken Portion of Baban'b Ulin play 24 mins., full (Special) Rivoli, New York George Beban, who made a big movie hit a few years back when he first made "Sign of the Rose" for Famous, has also struck a good racket in combining his cur- rent picture productions with a stage sequence played by the same people in the picture and "set" identically with the picture setting. He did it two years ago ^nd toured the larger honses, B. S. Bettleheim going ahead and laying the ex- ploitation stuff down 80 strong that record-breaking business resulted when tha people were Informed of the novelty. Some others, notably Priscilla Dean, tried to break into this stunt. Miss Dean tried it at the Colony in New York and because her speak- ing voice and stage-acting ability didn't measure up, her act died. Beban alone now is left in the field. In "The Loves of Ricardo" It ap* pears he has turned out another serviceable film which will stand up excellently ill the de luxe libnscs when aecompanied by tha stage stuff. It is necessary to retail a portion of the picture's plot here so that a full understanding of the stage sequence may be reached. Ricardo is an Italian grocery- man and has as his charge Annetta, an Italian orphan whose parents charged Ricardo with ber ufbr'nr' ing. Bieardo l^vow her anh is abou.; to propose when Steve, a rakish fellow, beats him to it, and the mar- riage is solemnized. Directly after this the stage sequence cuts In with the scene of the marriage celebration. A large crowd is on the stage at the open- ing. For spice a Charleston is per-* formed and then Beban cuts in to tell the Americans present that they shall witness a fine Italian dance, tho Tarantella. So that, with mu- sic by an orchestra of fretted in- struments, is performed excellently by Don Buffington and Natalie Super via. A'fter this various guests enter and depart. With Steve, the hus- band, already acting bad. A rich Italian banker and his wife, the Martlnellis, enter and are curtly greeted by the husband. When everybody has done Beban sits In a chair and bemoans his fate, while Annetta <Amille Milaine) comes to comfort him. He tells her that he is leaving them, that he .will turn his store over to Steve. Annetta protests, telling him In one wild shriek that sho has Just discovered she loves—him—nut Steve. Beban takes this quietly and tells her that it Is all the more reason why he nuist go. Seeing he Is de- termined tho girl dashes madly up the stairs, crying loudly. Steve then cntera from outside and darts at once for the stairway, but Beban criiis bim and begs him to bo nice to Annetta. NIcje contrast here between the simple pleadings of the Italian ehnrnrff r and the curt, wise-crack- ing retorts of Steve. After turning oyf^, to Steye a b»nK book ahowing money deposited to his credit Bebap sadly departg. That Is the finish of the stage sequence and tho film picks tha story up from there on, 24 minutes having been spent on the stage act. The three principal players of this sequence. Beban, Miss Milaine and Monte Collins, Jr., are all effective, Beban bjfing especially adept at putting the sob stuff Into the story, while Collins never relaxes from his smart-alecky way. It is finely put on and framed right for the andl* ences. As a novelty act for the picture houses, this looks to be "there." It was cordially received at the Rivdi Sunday afternoon and went off like clockwork, fiaving played a Los An- geles week before Jumping here for the Rivoli opening. The good point about this is that the stage is filled with people for a good part of the time, and the bare novelty of the thing, all alaa dia* counted, should put it across read- ily. It looks like a nice long season for Beban and Bettleheim, even after the Publix weeks.ara used up, for turn of this kind played 52 weeks for Beban before, and it doei$n\ take a wise guesser to sea that this act will do about tha METROPOLITAN OPERA QUARTET j 20 Mins.; Full Stage Stanley, Philadelphia Metropolitan Opera Quartet In excerpts from Flotow's "Martha" in the secopd week devoted to tho classics at the Stanley. PreviouslF had a chorus of 20 from the Metro- politan. In the quartet are Charlotte Ry- an, soprano; Carolina Lazzari, mezzo-soprano; Ralph Srrole, ten* or, and Giovanni Martino, bass bar- itone. "Martha" was evidently chosen because of the "Last Rosa of Summer,** sung by Mim Ryan. While the voices are'esoeellent, the number'did not seem as popu- lar as the choral work of the pre- ceding week. The average movie audience in this city likes its music loud and lively, leaning toward Jazz, but receptive also to grand opera when It is spirited. *'Martba," with the exception of the "Overture,** has little opportunity for the cres- cendo, and the selections sung by the quartet were more Or l^ss quiet. The)y^included the Spinning Wheel quartet, the Goodnight quartet, "Last Rose" and a portion of tho Overture. Comedy by the basso, Martino, livened the "Goodnight** number. The action surrounding each selection was worked in. The result 'seemed altogether too quiet. To be successful, the over- tures in each rt tho main houses which feature Cnis form of enter- tainment must end with evtrythlng turned un full Lhist. Anything lca&- splrlted falls "dead." The Stanley overture thl.«r week was eomporsed of sol'^rtlons from Friml, arranged by fc?idney I^owcn- stein, conductor, and incUuled "Fire.'!v," "L Ain. ,;:< Toujonrn L'Ar- mr.m ''Vo^ral ond K inir." \ <?Ufe " and • Roae>ALi.v i e.'! H af f n. ^