Variety (Feb 1927)

Wednesday, Ftbrutry t, IWT NEW ACTS THIS WEEK VARIETY MMB. NAZIMOVA and CO. (4) A'Waman of the Earth" (Sktleh) IS'Mins.; Full (8p«cl«l) PaUc« (8t. Vauda.) Naximova baa m walloping dra- stic playlet In this, written by JBdgar Allan Woolf. The latter has paraphrased the Biblical legend of the Magdalen and aet hti atory In Ik Roamanlan village. Nazlmova has ample opportunity and handlea her assignment admirably. Abah. gypsy girl (Nailmova) Is drivan by the mob into the Teatry of Father Petru. The mob sus- pects her of having murdered the priaat'a younger brother. The un- tlmelr death haa left a widow and two children. Through gentle han- dling of th^ girl the priest not only gets a confession but evidence that the murder waa Justiflable, when the slrl recites the story of her aeduction and casting off by the murdered brother. Nasimova haa aeldom had a bet ter opportunity. She brings her Inimitable fire and intense emo tlonal acting to Ita highest peak at the climax, when saved from the atone-throwing mob and converted to worship the Christian God. Rt>bert Conneaa waa splendid as the priest. Isabel tiiU and Olaf Shavian in minor rplfii roiinded out the support. Ah Intenae, gripping playlet #hich holds throughout and should serve Kazimova for quite a while. Un disputed triumph for the star on thia hill Monday nigllf. BROWN and BAfetON <D Comedy and Song 17 Mins.; On* and Twa (Hpiaial) G. O. H. (V.P) Opena with acene In Atmm 8erv* ice7Bureaii» general ticlcet agency, l>ored-looking clerk, with implied touch of sophistication lingering itnd&t Itia iidaa» tatkiiBf into phone. "Can I get you ticketf to whAtala? Can a duck swim?" Tall, aiim girl walks . in and the ^lark triaa to* aell her tieketa to •Vinrwhere, luridly describing bull- flghta In Spain, ocean trips, Ber- muda, bootlegging and subjects ittiiilMr 4licN>nneete4 fHth the aiatler on hand, getting laughi with tfettrery and mixed wordage. Girl then tries to make him in between l^hdiio ^la. Oika iptMitomer calls up for room ai» hath. •"Shower, sir?" queries Brown. •What, a tub? Right you are, Mr. iCarrbn." Ti-i*>8 to put over comic nation- ality dances for finish with queer mai^e-up, but doesn't burlesque onoiigh to aink In at the O. O. H. A couple of very short songs are workod in between things, the team keeping their vocal ali>ililies well JttBdet cover, which la aa it iihanid •he. ■ , ■ Brown aa a funny prop laugh that ought to register. Pair did Hrell In third. ART HENRY and CO. (1) "A Rehearsal" (Camady and Muale) 13 Mins.; One Hippodrome. (V-P) Art Haary la a comedian aome- what on the Bert Wheeler order. That means he's a comic that knows his stuff and aells it. He did man- age to do juat that at the Hip Monday night. Working with a girl whose voice is one of those voices you'd love to choke, Henry goes out and landa like a millton dol- lars. The two come on the stage quar- reling over the act. It is supposed to be the early morning rehearsal. The boy is trying to convince the girl that she is asking: too big a share in the act, they are to be 50- 50, and then he proceeda to hog the act. He dances and dances well, pulls some cross-fire stuff and gets away with it Doaa 4 bit of hurleaaue violin playing and follows it with a little straight playing that lands The girl works principally in the talk and then doea a hit of tap dancing at the finish. It's good what there Is of it, but the boy is the act and looks as though he cculd make the grade somewhere in an orchestra pit doing ane of those Paul Ash thlnga. 'i Fr?d. HilBKIlf aiid ILAOK Dialog and Plana ; 10 Mins.; One A^demy, Chicago ileeorda fhdleate that Johnny B^ck, song writer, last appeared in vaudeville with Joe Lewis, Bill Htbert, the new partner, is using a {littrefaiit line of comedy. He is a Veteran in the business. Opens with Black at the piano plfying a classic. Hebert slips on V hreaka into a buck and wing, ty look from Bladk aattdi him of^ nnd tho buaih|fi ia repeated aeVeral times. aNalog follows concerning the pancakes BUiafc'a mothMr uaed to m%ke. Their toughness is capital- iaW. Black is then made known «li tte* composer of "Dardanella," Wlflcli he i>lay8. Mo^e gagir foUIW. anid turn closes witV l^ehef^ da^g aoikie good tapping. J... CMARLIE HILL (2) 8«ng8 and Talk -.X-' ''"V .';.c ... . lOKMins.; One Broadway (V P) Charlie Hill accunipanies liiniself at a piano and doesn't register as being new to vaudeville. Although only billing: himself, there Is a wo- man and another male in the cast, the latter doing a sap stagehand. The representative of the weaker sex doesn't tak« a too active part, but thia house seemingly cared for thi vaudeville voice of the sup- poled stage hireling when warbling seaii-bnlladf^. Ilill K»'ts most f»f his h<',i\.\- W(»rk —In wiUi a deacriplivc LiuLiiig. ui where popular tonga come from. Woi ke<i out In a comedy vein, it en- tertuine.i to some decree hnt \he •ttendance only really gave in to the falMetto ainglng. Uni <ii,i IS minutea and a few 00- ■econd laps could advantageously J« cut. .Spotted No. 3: applause »»^vy. Sid. FRANCES HART and*Qijrla (5) Songa and Dancing ■ \r 18 Mine.; One and ^iiH (paalaiy Broadway (V-P) A four-girl chorus Is a pretty weak personnel upon which to base something that hinta M baiiig a flash act Audiencea accuatomed to the major film house ballet corps and other heavily populated acts of •tfto typa are 'hound id inako com- parisons and this act can only suf- fer thereby. The only remedy seems to be either more girls or keep the prtBia i it girwkp but af fan ataga. Frances Hart's main forte is evi- dently toe work, albeit she also throws in a few taps for good meaaure. TheraHii ilio adma aing- ing, which constitutes another vul- nerable point. Costume changes are not brilliant, despite a military numbar which cloBea. The choristers do nicely by them- selves. If the routines are not es- pecially diiflcult, , still, they go through them In aadanea ahd look capable of handling more intricate steps. One or two get J«»oae for short specialties. . ' ^ A quiet and waak lN»ltig« **llaah'' for the intermediates. The act would look better if concentrated by the set and should certainly be h«ld aloatr to tha apron. f<A CAMERON, HOWARD A CO. (2) Comedy-Variety 21 Mins.; One and Full •taf* Loew'a State (V-P) Comediaii af thb Four Camerons Is featured in thia turn. Howard is a straight man, and the company holds two girls, who break up the routhi^ of Camardil and Howard with apeclaltiea. Cameron is a natural comedian of the acrobatic school. He rolls up a- high and oonalatent average of laughs. Hla acrobatics are screamingly funny, and, in addi- tion, ha can handle dialog. His monk imitation la aa funny as any- thing avor mtMiplad in that line. He also does a comical bit with a rope, followed by a rope-skipping stunt while lying on his back. Howard la an efBeiant foil, and turns in the inevitable ballad with recitation. The girls also click nicely, but Cameron is the dominant featura, UCHMt Hito tba aure-flre and unusual classification. This chap has everything, and would be a riot In a musical com- edy, pro|»erly surroundaft. He's a "natural" for the scouts and will bear watching. He tied the show in knots here next to closing, and Will duplicate In Mtkf theatre, re- ,: i |> i|ii » i a ■ af "Pipllcy. ron. BILLY and BLBA NBWBLL Singing and Dancing 15 Mins.; One and Three (Special) Palace (St V.) Thia eouple certainty aat their stuff before coming in and are playing it smoothly. The numbers are specials credited to Sam Carle- ton and George Bennett All la a comedy vein. Opening number Is "As It Was and As Is," contrasting courtship of the 80*a with the preaent nnodo, worked for top comedy values and landed the couple pretty. The Spanish number later with the man introducing, guitar accompaniment for the harmonizing also planted neatly carried the couple off to a good score. It was the song ma- terial and axpart handling that made this act. Grabbed off a hit No. 4 Monda night. Neat act for either vaude- ville or plctura hottaat; BARNETT and CLARK (t) Comedy and Song 16 Mins.; One Q. O. H. (V-P) Tramp comedian with llaah woman partner. Enter to thunderous crash of band Instruments trying to make himself heard abov) tlie din. Weara threadbare frock coat, delapidated top hat, and compara- tively npw troupers, about a yard wide, with loud checks. Girl follows in little boy blue ooe- tume, registering extreme shyness with a touch of the awkward. Re- sponds to daddy's coaxing to tell tha people about her Uttla eat. Barnett carriea a little cane and plays for an imitation trainer coax- ing a trained animal to perform. Full of comic grliaf when the "seven-year-old'^ Calia to come tlTough and fakes great aatiafac- tion when all is well. Although finishing to war.. ap plause Barnett faila to cash in be- tween changes. Apparently used to this state of affaire, ho appeara from behind the eurtaln tor m mo- ment to flash a sign: "No whistling or stamping. Applaud with hands only." Miss Clark retuma in abort white costume for finish, singing while Barnett picks hla nalla with a huge file. BOBBY O'NCIL and Co. (7) Comedy Skit 24 Mins.; One and Full (Special) Broadway (V-P) Lightweight skit ^necessitating four girls :ind two hoys to play it. The liirls double as luMrcssfs an«l stenog.s, hut the uwu do not sti'i» out of first character. Bobby O'Nell, around fur a long time, works easily ami <1oesnt force hiinself across tho lit;hts. 1 It- appears to get all there is to be had out of the material at hand, which shines h«M o and pales llu-i o. llr»u-o it's pretty nuj« li of an in-antl-uiil playlet. A brief prolog in "one" places O'Neil as a home-town boy who haa dodged work while the pal has the village sewed up financially. To prove a point, the money man gives O'Neil a job of raising coin for n proposed factory by making love to the daughters of the wealthy resi- dents. Thia leada to another drop and a trio of apertures, with O Neil going: through a similar routine as he plays for each girl. The flnale la in full itage, an office aet. where the lover gets bawled out by tho town debs but finishes by marrying the poor but respectable village maid. The dialog d»)osn*t listen as boinp heavy enoush to justify the time the act is running. A theme melody is carried thrCugh, eventually for laughs, but its feathery fare that some houses will accept and others won't. No apeclal dreaalng or production concerned, although what there is of the latter Is adequate. O'Neil, of course, takes full responsibility, handlea himaelf welU and if indif- ferent results appeaae him this skit should do. B*d. EDNA MAE AND GIRLS (5) Dances IS Mine.; Three (Special) G. O. H. (V-P) Five gills go through an oidinnry chorus routine as an opener, fol- lowing flash of rainbow-colored drop. Four return In crimson Chinese costumes arul kick about indiscriminately to the accompani- ment of Chlngaling strains. Miss Mae follows for a series of sundry Jmnps. twirls and a too walk, fin- ishing to practirally no applause. Three girls next in old-fashioned "MISS INNOCENCE" (4) Comedy, Songs, Dancea 20 Mins.; Two (Spaalal Set) G. O. H. (V-P) Featuring a very petite miss who scorea heavily with an apparently unaffected ehlldlah aoprano in ordi- nary tattle and In vocal selections Material is based on short-story form plot wherein the young man who la calling on the older alater is not hold in high favor by the parents. The little girl naively tells all she hears. Moat of the talk la atock mate- rial, such as "I'd like to be your father for just ten minutes." Re- ply: "Wait until I ask mother and see If I can flx it." An old Irish father Is much over- drawn, speaking in an exaggerated brogue, long out of use. For a happy ending the old man reela off an Irish jig to green music, appre- ciated mostly on account of the na- tionality drag in the audience. itottlng conalata of a rbaa and mauve-colored cottaga aurrounded by green lawns. drftffses with bonnets and do some more kicking. Miss Mao solos in bl.ick. with an umbrella of the same shade, with another toe walk. A change of wardrobe for every- body for the finish, when Miss Mae does a split for variation, hoing raised from the floor in that P""^' on the knees of two of the girls MANKIN Contortionist 10 Mine.; Full Stage (Special) Loew*s State (V P) Manl^m, like Ferry and several others, has chosen the Frog make- up to mask hla coiitortlonlng. He haa a pretty full stage woodland aet, and makes an effective entrance when a giant tulip unfolds its petals, showing him concealed within. Thon follows a sori^s of contor- tions on a perch wliich is mounted On a toadstool. He also does a brief bit of trapeze work and aome <If'v»'r htndlrig and twisting on tho Moor. His finish is back in the tulip. The act stopped the ahow In the openirig position here and the con- tortionist was forced to speech Compan'S favorably with the best In his line and haa a handsome [»rodu»-t ion. hh'al turn where a dumb act is modod. Con. BOB FISHER Blackface C oWtdlm — 10 Mins.; Ons Jefferson (V P) Bob Fislier's pieusant voice draw.s considerable applause, but he In- slKtK on being funny with poor ma- torlal. Kn-or<-« with song and r'»citf«- lion. doing welt on i\un. CONKLIN and HAMILTON Songa, Danoaa and Whiatling 12 Mins.; One American Roof (V-P) Thia act could stand a lot of re- viaion and atand up much stronger. Its present shape has tho man and woman doing too much singing. Their forte appears to be dancing, the girl alao whlatUng effectively. She Is youthful and cute, making several changes with the last to a masculine attire, both wearing mili- tary uniforms for a double stepping routine that clicked. In "one," however, the pair danced and they went along quietly until the girl pulled aome corking splits at the finish. It wns the way she did them that counted. Rearranged, the act would en- hance Its v»H|9 m, aaore waya than one. As it ;i«Mp ft'4M;|^ at the American. "' Mark, HALL and WILBUR Comedy 15 Mins.; One American Roof (V-P) Two men. Both In comedy make- upa. Make entry in a trunk rigged as o sailer. This oM entranoo gag done by Waterbury Bros, and Ten- ney in yesteryear but to the Amer- icanera iaamed both new and funny. Following consifleiable gag chat- ter, the men go into a song rou- tine, using a topical number but singing it a la French, Italian, Jewish and whatnot to an unques- tionable American Roof acore. A comedy act patterned after the old school but modern enough to get over in any of tiie neighl)or- hoods. Mark, PRLWATIONS •UNDER THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE'* (14) Musical Tabloid 18 Mins. Paramount, New York A Frank Cambria Fubllx unit that might have been thought of hy the st;igor ns a no;it prolog f u* th»' Tar- aniount'S curr.ut picture. "New York." It is all of that, but Mr. Cambria can send this Into any pic- ture house with any pioture. Its entertaining youth, with songs, comedy and laughs, all set within tdght of the Brooklyn Bridge, iihovo a wharf. It's n hack drop to a stage sot, inexpon.sivo. Thore's a weak hurrah finale as a steamer comes into sight, going un the I'last Uivor. That hurrah finale should be made noisior. Starting like a Ous Edwirds kid act, this turn takes several turna. There's a Florodora Soxtot, but one- sided, girls only, and that's funny enough to those who know, with the girls in character comical make- ups; then there's the old tamdon wheels to "A Bicycle Built for Two"; other olden pop numbers, besides special muaic and lyrlca by Rubey Cowan, with Mr. Cowan probably arranging all of the num- bers besides, making tiie whole a bright ensemble of light comedy with music. In speciultios the unit goes into comedy, and low stage comedy. That muat be a departure for Pub- lix. They get the comedy here and the most, extraordinarily as it may seem, from a contortionist doing a "drunk.** He ellmba to the top of a lamppost, swings slightly and does very good contorting, descend- ing and again taking a soused lean againat the poaL Ha - waa dia» tinctly well received all of the while and only the ensemble taking up the work stopped him from stop- ping the ahow. If that contortionist, perhaps Ben Dova, will make his lamppost swing go to a wide area as though to fall, he will be a walloping hit In any picture house or vaude the- atre. He can then do a single turn. A couple of mixed teams did very well. One couple used dialog and singing, while the other does a Bowery dance, anjong oth«'r things, the boy having a great laugli iiniuh for it by throwing his girl partner into the river, taking the bow alone. Another attractive bit was a young girl tap dancer, tapping unusually well on a barrel head and again upon the stage. This "Brooklyn Bildgo" skit more closely approaches the idea of what the picture house should use for stage ensemble entertainment than atjything else soon In the film places, though not so many have been seen personally. But the idea seems. to be there, the pop appeal amidst gorgeous dressing that tha theatre itself affords. Mr. Cambria can place his money at any odda that neither Kanaaa City. St. Louis or tho other sqtiawk- ing Publix towns will give him a kick-back on this one. tiime. FOUR DANCING COVAN$ Dancing ^ 12 Mins.; One Loew'a State (V-P) Colored foursome of daiioors. two hoys and two girls in an in- teresting routine of quartet and double-tap dancing. T!io hoofing includos buck. OfM on- tric. llus.sian, acrobatic buck and a Wooden .Soldier Idea, well rou- tined and novel as a tap dance. The girls open In malo altli*- similar to the men, it making an offectivo costume idea. Tor th«' soldier dance, all wore yellow snio.'ks and rarriod prop gunS. Tho act did nicoly, and looks set for an <'arly spot on any of the bills. Can. DANCING FRANKS (2) Dancing 8 Mins.; Three (Special Set) Jefferson (V P) A cfMjpIp of « Xpert danr ot s who know their stuff. W'ouNI probably do better farther down on the sf h»'duir' hr iL f f gliit e red u n miiitaU ably .\'o. 1 horo. Start oH witii adagio di>rie fustor than usual. C.ilrl comes back for toe dancing, followed by the man in a Idack patrnt lpath«'r tux, <lorb> and cane, who scores with sp»M>d\ ocrcTifrir dancing. Clini:«x with some rapid twirling. 'ONE HUNDRED YKARS AQO** (115) Prolog to "Old Ironsides" 44 Mine.; Full (apaeiat) Grauman's Egyptian, Hollyweed Sid (Irauman cut loose and staged the most magnificent and I esplendent presentation of his ca* reer in conjunction with the pre- miere of "Old Ironsides." Inst^-ad of doing one of those hip, hip, hooray, "Have you a letter from Oeorge M. Cohan" affairs, Grauman waa consorvativo . and di»^nlflod In Con- structing hi.s entertainment. For the setting he used a replica of Independence Hall, when a grand t)all was held, attended by Presi- dent John Adams, the night belora the launching of the "Constitution." The prolog started off with an overture, "Old ironsides," played by the house orchestra and led liy Constantin Bakaleinkoff, who also made the musical arrangement. Tl.ore wore 2S tnen In the pit. Ba- kaleinkoff put this avvny In great shai)e. Kdgur lOugene Kben, al tlie organ, was entitled to commenda- tion, too, for a masterful per- fortn-t ine. VN'illj tli« asbestos raised, ti»e view was of a magnificent silken curtain jtliis the strains of a large « horuM ciianting "I.on^^ Ai;<»." I'pou the rise of tlie drupe un announce- ment to the 7$ people on stage, all o o H t u nu' d in ilxa p^'r'^dj tnn<i.» ohvions that a jKtlka was to he done. \ arious < luipleH stepped un- til Interruiited by an announceinent that John Adams had arrived. The l'r<Ni(lrnt made a forrpal tall; about tlie launching of.'Anier- i< a s sea dofendor nnd then came (Continued on page iZ) i