Variety (Feb 1927)

VARIETY PALACE (8t. Vaucl«) rienty of lieavy sUliing. milking and padding stretchad tlito allow to 11: SO Monday night It waMi't wotnh It. , Jimmy Savo, Pat Honninff, Will Oakland, all going overtime, and a lengthy and ubviuuMly Mntlmentai ovation for Vera Gordon, with Aow- ff«, speech, bava, eortAlM flMore, Contributed. Savo, hilling UiB Blow motion, but leaving It oot iWotethor, encored with a frap-fhootlng bit to ballad accompaniment, and vfiiM money- bits that oeamed a hd fa g a llopetl- tlon throughoTit to point gasrs were interlarded. In all, he did a great 9-rainute act in 2S minutes. Masrt>« "Slow Motion" in the program mat- ter meant his teohnioiia Tl^Uior t^an his material. A reallsr fliia ▼avd^vUle artist. Savo should have a burr put under him and told to speed up or chop. Ha aawa at 10i4t mMT Mt lit 11:05 with a lengthy closer to come; it was rather cnial to Countess Sonia, who fotlowitfi^ He couldn't quite make amends by popping in several tton^ to httlp that turn got laughs, .'^i^v:'^.-■''/Vv-v ' •r Miia'a MMHag, tabloid "Chauve- Seurls," with the titled blonde as the Baliefflne, waa ultra-continen- tal. The oomody to lifoad hoke of the mid-Ehiropean music hall order. :nia df'*'^*"g to notlilDg to cable hotoa About A fla^ aet bruUlly spotted, furthermore handicapped by the long sbow-and Savo's dila- tary tMlea tthaad, ft mMM -«Bd •onUtaB^ pick up any gait. Vera Grordon (New Acts), In an* othar heart-breaker by Sdgar Allen WoaK,- pnm§»6 and went to a feeble speech after a eanister of roMp^ bi feeble, but pfrstoUnt, ap- plMse. JthB Shrit apprte|atto|i after the curtain was honest and enough; but friends hammered at it until tt«^>Wiaiim^* MsiMb. HlMif^ it all seemed to have reached an annistioe, heaps of flowars came down tha atoto. TInb Mr* «iiMer ttBtil Miss Ck>rdon made a speech. Will Oakland (New Acts) and his band from bis reaUurant, greeted hjNu-tUy after lo«r ysars* vaudavtna absence, having meianwhlle popu- Utss to too long for any male single sir sartb, axoept Harry lAOdsr; 20 would baYe btm «iio«s|^iNr llCiU. and be waa Uksd m li .vms. ; Pat Kenning, a youngster who is" Buster West's only rival, except tbat ha trtato fbo hard and too long and too c^ten to be funny, l^t him- self die out instead of going off on #'«vw. One gag aftsr aaallMr, the brand r«ld months ago on the iarssn In "Topics" had to be picksd w^'wam Mtt do«ni. pHmad and trsA per routine. So versatile and gifted an entertainsr sbould hare sip, pep ■ad awa3P--aBd toaTo 'em gasping and bagging. He is a great produc- tion bet, whera ba WttI b« keld down sod sped up. - " IMilkelty, repeating hto now fa- miliar "The Chump" with the snappy little Pefpy Hop^ and the STATE (V«ude-Pct«) A good vaude bill ai the Btajte this week. Attendance not up to staiidajd Monday. Probably an- other indication that the leatore picture is the main draw at this New York ace of the Loew circuit The present in the screen divtoion, "Twinkletoep," weak sister here from a draw angle unlsss improv- ing later in the week. ' Six acts, .sufficiently diversified and all cocking—Mome heavier than others. Gautior'.s Toy Shop opened and got away to a neat finish through the well-trained animate Buckley, Calvert and Ingram, male harmony rathskeller trio, went oyer wen in the deiieO. Irtoll com- edy number and another novelty song registered best. A good act jpor this spotting. Winn if Baldwin, doing a new single, followed and cleaned up with her song dhaftiotsrlMtloftii <New Acts). ' SaranofTs Revue, next, scored in class and comedy. The. revue to preisented in the manner of song scenes. Vic Grady, tenor, handles the vocalizing adequately, with both of his numbers embelltehed ty scenic settings and production build up. Eileen De Cee is featUMd danc€Mr with the act. and dssarvsdly so for her remarkable aarobatic dancing, both in solo work and with Leon Ma uricfe. Act to lavtohly. mounted, coatuBMd In good 'Vnte and has a elsvsr asgtst of j pals. Care, Lynn, witk hto serlss pt imal impressions, a)so went big, next to closer. lotenningUog chat*, ter helped for 'oothedy. The Jack Powell Sfejttet. featuring Jack as a clown in **cork" made an unusually fsst eloss r . The QutJIt.to a brass combination featurinjg Pow- ell's comedy antics on the drums, which gives, the lattar avary oppor- tunity to prove he knows -his sticks. Powell's untiring clowning, all In pantomime, registers the a6t tn thSt division as well as In the music sectioTk Sure Are for vaudeville or picture houses. Versalflg bunch of diaps w^Q l^rovs It. a, . STH AVE (Vsude-Pots) One of the halves when the 6th Ave. was not so fancy. If the pic- ture, "Lunatic at Large.** was funny enough to stand off the vaude. the 5th Ave.* these three days is lucky Nothing started fast and nothing showed anything brighter than the house lights. A couple of the turns matfa titom tough and a coupto inAde them snicker, with two others also there, to compose tho necessary Six acts tOr^tlM MB snth a plctuss.;y»si^ ably the organ got in on it. too. Opening wjere the Harlequins, not seen, followed by Mashan and New- man, a mixed two-act with the girl yrlttel- within * Mask and js half af ths Broadway. The siiow played up and down, and one didn't oare much how it happened, either way. The Vagges opened briskly with their bag- punching stuff. Three spades. Dancing Cyclones,, hoofed (New Acts). Frank Stafford with a bird Imita- tion routine In a woodland set, ab^ttM t)t a dog, midget lind a woman, treyed and wsra of 4IOtgh'- borhood house spsod. Frai* V^iroii to a atary-taller. Nonchalant, easy and muchly at home, his overoonfldence makes it tough going for a while. He as- sumes the superior attitude of giv- ing 'em plenty of opportunity to gmsp hto point. Farron ad libs to that effect, and the mass psy<^olo- gy respondis for Xear of being Judged dumb, although chat oqa gag lu par- ticular was no show-stopper. The best thing in Fanon s act was the "Vo-D^w^^Do" dmy; a pop ¥a- laase. Charles Withers' opry house act waa surer Areas 9 Vor>. I Silly . and ^Isa, Newell followed and scored, The pa^.i ai>d present styles oif courtship gave .It a i^ood starl. "• ' Kola and flTylvm €%. have aa fMr best the^ • personality planiste. 'al* though, it'a- a dftnaing act. Site "aelto" a hsybaaffd apastolty very Padcrewski out of George Gershwin. A good bit wa s tl^OhoniggVg jpaint on the ^nrsa-Q[io(ariar vsng^l'i * kid gloves agj^lnst ft darkened stage, sotting off her f3UAffW%y tsahnique In .tip>wtn9 waaaar.' "^k^.;. ■ HIPPODROME --.(Vaude-Wots) . 'Business soinewhm betwosn ao- so and «i9t ^ghlts at tha tnppi^ Ifoadsy^- ■■ •• awMit ahowtf'has a weak Uni- versal picture for the stand in "Taxi! Taxi I" Just a light comedy subject witho.ut possibilities of building or billing. The show Is of the same order, made up of elements that speak alo^iiOAtly af atWiny rather than showmanship. FOr a headliner they are using Hardeen, spotted to <dofe the show This is a typical case of selecting features without respect to enter tainment merit but for what can be squeezed out for loud advertising. Hardeen's act is a second •I'at^ magic turn. It has no substance ,or expert showmanship, and its iase sas« wall hsta as ^ did with tha 7d. or more burlesqua afaiows that carried it as standard .,.«jiuij;Mnent The straight man haa a strong yan tor dramatic utterance, but is a good stUeignan. His sob boiiad with the hMk yeom recitation was hto big moment, and he gave It a hug. The comic doea an old akay foUowiag tha «siMl Hbssi Oikss tha ladlsa. etc. They liked tha turn, too, and It'a safa aaywhsta la Intarmediats Viola and Partner opened with ball Jumping. If s a man and woman oombo. Both insist on gag- ging and neither can or should. Since the emancipation of the dumb acts, even the wire Walking turn which closed the show broke into conversation. The blind-folded Jump into a barrel and a somersault out waa the featura trick. An attampt at a surprise opening, with the man introducing the girl as a fajnoua •lUgar^ footed .90 onO. Tb^ wars Waiting for th6 acrobatics; Blrdla l&it^qr. deuced with her Imtt4t!6i)fi of - musff^l Insthnaanta. It's a sure-fire. Her ocarfna* #aw and pixsicatb violin'ImltatlaiP wsp« thft best.: The^ Ufeakest was tha straight violin Imie. The act to sSPK ' ^ ^&n^'^ aad entertaining 3rowning and Bracken, two black-face comics, cross-fired . and gstgged. ^e matertol, i^ spots, to of minstrel extraction-.^ but well sold. They were tor no danger at any time. Jeanne Fuller and Co. (New Acts) closed the flrst half. It's a classy flash dancing act with a load of produotion whl<di ^iHda^t ha ia«Mi|for the ancors* on the roof. Richard Weber (New Acts), an- other ctoss turn. opsiM^ aftsr tater- mlsslon. Weber is a male singer with a girl acooippanist. He took one of the hits. J>DweU and Philll woman wire aftlftS, c then^ well for the feat. Sr^tfff^ flBsd >ut 'V. man and ed and held ttlcture, a boxes. Con, NEW ACTS (Continued froita page 21) playing, but It was aT)undantly ev!« debt that the turn has tl^e founda^ tion ipihd t'fha suha(ai»^ for fea^r^ ifig. The six people are all young and personable, particularly the two young men. Browning can handle diaiogua hi a siunMi^Htflttuaua way and sMnes^as a sdk-of Master ik ceremonies for the routine. He can also dance. Marql Margpt is a neat dancer.and handler of light.iptiun« hers, while tha three Wilson' gketm^ who have been an act in themselves for several years, contribute dances and song numbers neatly. Vera do* ing a aigfatly toa danea and -tha other two girls doing a khld M 8|f Hopkins step for laughs. Toung Leff to a, fplendid natural 4iuic«r; aa' prooidalBg « fuvanlla StepiKT as has appeared about lately, and he will get better as ha 9Sta ^ong. Browning is well tratnsA iiiMI--bK<^wy hi hi*'/ithpping, hut tlA ki& is a dancer Independetlt ; Of training*. Browning interpolates a bit^of >to f%th«c:i> «(P^lpg» Jf«tUng skliitl^ offolld aandSa Thto hit «m do even better in. houses - of mere c : than the Aisarloan. Tha Wila son girto* Rube nunfb^ to'framed foif pihess whare th^ Ifke knock- about. ^ The finish Is a whooping black bottom ensemble irorking up. to a fast and notey tMlO. ind sure flr« rt AUDUBON (Vaude-Pets) The picture at Vontm Audubon didn't mean much. This was brought out when the originally booked fea-» ture. "Tha Better Way." independ- ent, was cancelled at the last mln- w„ , being shown at the. at the^lppodrome air'a feature isil «a™o tlmo' at the Palace, a small the wide publicity attending the >novie house near the Audubon. An recent passing of Houdlni and hto «l«venth hour booking brought in bequeathal of hto propertied to hto brother Stolen Pleasurea" (Qoluahto). So after all th^ big business Monday The Houdlni handcuffs were night must have been due entirely spread all ever the 9fp Mhby, hut to Vincent Lopes and hto orehastra. In thfe exhibition on the stage Har- A funny thing happened with the d^en used pniy one of the aimitlest | hooking by Bill Iftorrto of Lopes into a Fox house. On aooount of Xopea having played opposlsh to Ix>ew's and aiiQSt transparent aacdpes, (Em- ploying only the trunk escape, with th€i handcuffing an incidental. That's I and especially at tha Strand, New •typiccJ sideshow tnethod—imposing York, three or four times, besides €uid impressive promise In the bally- the K-A Palace, the Morris office playing the piano and "thayodng man I boo and nothing on view inside the never gave a thought of submitting kidding about playHiv «< That describes the turn, exeepting that Meehan danced.. From a New ^gate. For the rest the bill has one good standard act — Four Readings, who' Act notlee foor years a«A, tha ©oupjel ntoke a nice opfeher ^Sauvalh^ haa few changes since last time and the time before .that. He didn't have tha J(rtih lAiir te iWt, h«t am Sjliped the element. He has the ttiost intalUgent lyrica in all vaude- ville, th^ bsat axeliMhra vtoMtoa and the finest orchestrfiltlons—and tbat sounds like a tall order, but it's been llllad. Oradtl^-flagsra diid Hart. Whiting and Egan. Milton Schwartswald and Jesse Grear— rathsr fnrposing staff for ana vaudeville act. Miss Hope is bet- ter (at least for Skelly's purposes) than any partner he ever had in that capacity, his more famous ones not excepted. The act Is amusing, solid fun and bang-up vaudeville. **Raiintad,** a btodder-*iM»hlaBi1ts burlesque on mystery plays, was wretchedly performed. Its neces- sary tenslMi Was oontlniiously broken by undertone playing and timing. The props worked all right and the gorilla looked and acted the part. The "plant" flntoh went over for a yell, literally, showing that the Palace Isn't anv more so- phisticated than tha Fordham. Ed Ford, a pleasant fellow, with hto remarkably educated little ter- rier, <*Whlt<qr/* deiiead for a Hhe Interlude In "one" and got away strong. He has toughs and kindly thrilla. Hlii #oiitlii# to tiglit and the pup works like a clock. Joe Fanton, an extraordinary aertol holil-Jumpcr. lifter and stunter, strutted pretty broadly, but If he takes a lot of pride in his work, he Is not entirely without Justification; he is as good as the greatest, and he knoekad down a worth-recording bk. In the elossr, ths Countess would do well to elide mo«t of her gags. Xhay ara lengthy, _ muaty and npt for her; laast of all at that time of night. Her opening, wooden sol- dier number, is excellent, but draggy, and seemed enormously so, coming at that hour and aft»r an amaziii^^ly drawn-out bllL At such Junctures, If not always, she might >«v throw the stuff In htgh and let it step along. She lost more than half the house Monday before she got half through har prograqi, Laip* Kharun. single piano solotot ih Hindoo native oostume. was No. 2 Dead spot here to a mild way to describe hto U mUnutss, although there wigui applajisa. Om thing I about tii»^^,jPfc^ l i i d> ' I 'tttr -;■ ftoifo | easily. Joa Toung aad CO. aire two men and a woman, who have nothing a«7tf^o.^'a'nTn«JJ^r?!?r«J!T^^I especially dtetlnguishing about and sang. It s the George Mayo whcr|;^jjj^ ^ 4^,,^ ^^^d the girl helps to make the act look must have been vacationing and didn't have time to secure much new matiHat Or any fresh idea whOn re- turning to Broadway, as that's the street tha 5th Ave. landed upon. Before F. F. Prootsr^eo ntf na a asi to rent offices in the building through a sign on the box office window. Mayo and Bahha ^wasd alsAg was with Bfnny Lieo^ard when Benny had to aeC In vaudevtlka be- fore seeking burlesque for a rest. The other George is Bobbe in a tux. They did ntof^ onoagh. After them came Elliott Dexter and Co. (New Acts), with the covered up support a sroliBg- woiiMii af rod hair, made necessary by the story of the play let, "Gentlemen Prefer 7" The four and flva^peopto Okotshsa will die when they see this one getting away with two. and it is apt. to get away through Dextsr, tha Well-known and well-dres.sed Broadway leading man of yore, more latterly of pictures. Titles of ptotyfag h# has ap pcared in were thrown upon a slide preceding the act. There Wfis Just room enough on the sUde for tb^. bigger than it is in substance. They 'have no specialty except the straight man's sentimental ballad, and their comedy method is horse play and hokum. Most of the turn is a knockabout burlesque Apache dance, with the oemic doing the girl in grotesque makQup. **Ftoshes of Art" (New Act^^ . . . ^ Three Saitorg hla d comedy nov- elty. They do a pantomimic knock about turn, most of the falls and roughhouse having something the effect of slow-motion pictures, which heightens its comedy value Ifopes to i jm Wi Along oame Walter Meyers with a Lopes deal for l4oem and it was booked by Marvin Sohenck at |4.ddO weekly, as against the $4,500 Strand salary, with Ltopez paying two com- mtosions on that probably to Morris and Meyers. Thto all happened while the K-A office was stiU think- ing it over. Liopez will Open at Lioew's State, taking the metropol- itan time only to keep clo.se to his night club for douhling. With Lopez appeared the dancers. Miss Barry and Mr. Holland, in two numbers, while a young man ap- peared for some vocal flinging on topical numbers. Liopez was on 41 minutes at the Monday mat and 30 minutes at the nipht show, the ".spe- cial" booking permitted the Fox bookers to Jop off an act to keep the bill In form so that the audience could get out before midnight. LiOpez stays full week, announcing a change of program for Thurf?day, and promising them the Kellar Sis- ters and Brother Lynch in songs. The remainder of the show wa.s of the usual vaude variety, with songs AVALON and Co. (2) - Nbvsfty r.: 12 UTins.; Full 8^d. American (V-P) Avalon and Co., a new framing at tha old '^ttmas'^BMgner' idaai nicely staged amd worked up with shrewd showmanship^ It may be s( recognized turn working .with a new One. feature entitles the act toi recognition for originality. That is the introduction of an adagio danca neatly worked Into tha presentation. The dance comes after the commits tee has been oh the stage and has tried to lift the 100-pound girl, suc« ceeding or not, aeoordlag to tha girl's "will" or whatevsr it to that makes her unliftable. A plant for comedy adds Ynuch to the d^ohstratlon, althpugh thto is not new. Tha'ds;il<||l''t| :ib fairly effective feature on Its own. Oirl and her man paftnor.- aro.4ross^ in Orlantal eoatuma of blothi'af gold. The stops end with tho' gtol's leap from a pedestal into a catch, this constituting the finale bf the act. A gbod. applatise ,|Lnd to.ug'h win* ner at the Amarlcah.ln^ ti^e second* from-closing spot. Bash. For the finish they have a capital and patter, the latter mainly of the bit of getting thempelves tangled up gag type, finding favor. Betancourt and trying In vain to identify their and Girlie, in the opening spot, not proper legs and feet. Ordinary only dressed the stage nicely for a so it seems Bfr. IMHttgr hag hit vaudO I show for a dumb audience, both ,of table and chair balancing act of this just in time. Moss and Frya hsk and answer questions ns ever, a laugh with each and some of the questions new Their harmonising to now flM>re smoothly worked in and not so much of it, one bit sufllclng for ap encpre It merely sho#atha dlf when thera's a d« mnnd Jimmy Kemper and his orchestra besides spectolists elossd tha vaude at around 10.07 (New AcU). At least the act tills the stage with lU 14 people. Fair business and in a neighbor hood where there will be no big pic tura house going up, If that's any news for Mr. i*i o<,tor. ^fiiie* thetie elements being present. Hash. kind, but held close attention all the way* Will H. Ward and Co. Ktepped into "No. 2" and started the comedy by- play. The vet comic had easy sled- ding, although the heart-ballady songs at the finish seemed to strike a discordant note. The Ward act scored and was followed by (Miss) Ted Leslie (New Acts) "unknown" in tho neighborhood, tfha ragtotared. Lane and Gordon are the two- man team enchaoging gags and BROADWAY (Vauds.PeU) They used to band-act you to un conHilou«ne«R at thU house; now ihey're overdoing the amateur try- out thing. That's not the least .shortcoming of tho show this week from the draw «5t and point. S^m Ingly "Sorrows of Satan" was no attraction, considering its original run at the Cohan and the extended AMERICAN ROOF (Vaoda-l^ls.T An average eight-act bill on the Roof this week, with most of the strength In the idat hUf dtia tlte presence of two ahuMdy turns In that section. 8ev«raf new. acta are In the line ^ ~ up and two class turns afso report sings, the comedy half selling his present. The comedy hit went to Joe Phillips and Co. (New Acts), No. 2 after Intermish. Joe is doing "The Osteopath," which he and George LeMaire played around. He has picked Up a big mauler to do the dentist and rough stuff, and is accentuati ng the **nance" character They ganged 'am hsrs. ! \ Following were Gordon and Pierce, another two-man comedy turn. Tha spot didn't help their oponlng, but they got going after a bit and finished in high favor. The matertol to nothing to get wise cracks to all parts of the house After Lopez, the picture, "Stolen Pleasures," s u pposed to be a straight meller, had many almost rolling out of their seato laughing. Mark. Jack Rosleigh, -for "Menace" (James E. Kenny). Bierdorf Sisters) for "Bve Bye Bonnie," at the Rita, New York. For "Below te Line," Douglas R. DumbrlUe, Allan Moore, Evelyn , Keller, Eklna Bennett. Francis M. drunk ovrr. Billy K. Wells is Lvordi, J. Francis Robcrt.son. John credited with authorship, which ex- I Adair. John Waller, Mabel Colcord, plahis the old "imaginatM' hit, Ltonat' Chalmers, Ward McAllister. Ml$8 TED LESLIE ' ' 8|;hg* In Btaekfaea 10 Mine.; One Audubon (V-P) Ted Leslie is a blonde who walks on and says she is going to do sbmet&lng a lltUa dllforaht. An4t she does, as far hg WoitoNl stwHil are concerned. At a little make-up table, spieling pattsr abodt marriage, she proeeed^ to black up. Casting aside a flani-V ing outer garment,'she steps forth as a "male," having donned a mod- em bobbed wig to aecentuate thsi make-up. s Then she gingerly sings, her voice not being half-bad and of a register that at times reminds one of Hetoas Mora, wha' uosd to blH herself ''as the female baritone.** There's a semi-ballad and a fast number, the "Headln* for Louis- ville" giving her a chance to carry out har blaOk'faoad faaporioaatlon more eflfectively. Miss Leslie entertains; her black- ing up is a novelty in a way as few women are ilo^g it today or even want ta do It, ^«Bd sha lutd nufflcient voice and manharlsina* tdf, carry on effectively.' ' At the Audubon the young woman was an emphktlo hit. Mark* . (2) a: fonow-tt|» stay at ths Rlalt^ >oth' thinly ^tepruls^; It wstt> Jtust ^M \^^^ SHIELDS and DELANEY SinginQ and Dancing « 12 Mins.; 0ns City (V.P) . : ' Shields performs in dress siiit, while tall, well-built girl changes three times. The man is a high kicker and reglstsrs with soma oe centric dancing, throwing in corkscrew somersault that catches on. Tlic pair do anotl)uer eccentric number for tha finish. With tha fadeaway In belwven' the cirrtatn. ^ Hmall talk nnd vocnl numbers leave yiem cold and have no place in this act. Ths girl la not a good flash dancer, but lends appearancs. With solos and poor chatter cut out' and another novel step or two added, the act should pull into bet* tor ehiss vaiidovllle, becauiM ShleMs can dance.