Variety (Mar 1927)

VARIETY Wednesday, March 1«, 1927 VARIETY'S CHICAGO OFFICE HAL HALPERIN in Charge State-Lake Theatre BHg., Suite 520 Ceutral 0644-4401 CHICAGO Profeaslonala have th. free um of Variety's Chicago Offiea for information. Mall may b. addr««aad eara Varlaty. 8t«t. Lake .'he- atre Bidg.. Chisago. It will b. h.ld aubjaet to call, forwardacT or advart : aad in Variety'. As has been the case with other and lesser notables ot legit whose efforts to draw sheckels on a three- act play In Chi have proven flops, Lowell Sherman has followed In his own wake with a fling at vaude- ville. Very recently he was the star In "A Woman Disputed," which could do little more than draw tickets with holes to the Olympic. Unquestionably he la an actor with a following. His relapse -at the Olympic must be attributed to something other than himself, for he's proving his pecuniary worth at the Palace. And this with Incon- sequential exploitation belp from the theatre. The centennial of vaudeville, cele- brated Intermittently throughout this year, is represented In lta final week with a review In pictures at all vaudeville theatres. This pic- ture is shoved in at the Palace dur- ing intermission when almost every- body la out In the lobby, ao lta message, if any, is lost. There la a good bill here this week. Besides Sherman's satisfac- tory appearance In a suitable sketch whittled down from "Lawful Lar- ceny," there is Nick Lucas. This fellow Is a favorite in Chi, and his return was good for plenty of hand music after each of his master- pieces In song. He was spotted fourth, and made more out of the position than has been made here for some time. A broken string on his best guitar made him somewhat nervous at the start, but he settled down and proceeded to own the talk between acts so he wouldn't close the show at supper time like he did last week. In his regular finale spot he chalked up a second hit, and the town is ready to greet him fortissimo when and If he makes a return. The master of cere- monies Idea got over with a bang here as worked by Fay. Opening the second half waa an act which stopped the show cold and easily got the loudest applause returns on the bill—Mosconi Broa. and Company. The boya are sup- ported by the O'Hara Slaters, har- monists and (Miss) Gay Nell, who pats delightfully in a black bottom number. Miss Nell Is also an ex- cellent buck and w.lng worker. The Mosconi boys paralyzed the house with some original forms of graceful ankle work, and cinched proceedings with tricky dance creation, the "Gigolo." Billy House, the fat friend, came on third with "resolutions." doc- tored version of one of the old re- Frank Fay, In hla second week as master of ceremonies, cut down the When in Chicago Visit These HiU Wed. and Sat. HARRIS Presenta 3AM H. CRADLE SNATCHERS With MARY BOLAND A. H. HOODS' Niahtl/ at «:M HULLrni Baau 4 Wka In Adeence A. H. HOODS Prea.aU FLORENCE REED IN THE DBAMATIC SENSATION "THE SHANGHAI GESTURE" By JOHN COLTON ■tajjaj by OOTHRIB MeCLINTIC ERLANGER matins™ i.nuiMuui Wednesday A Saturday CHARLES DILLINGHAM Preaaata BEATRICE LILLIE ft^TSStr "OH PLEASE!" CHARLES WINNINGER WOODS WARNER BROS. Proaeat JOHN BARRYMORE "WHEN AJV1AN LOVES" DOLORES W 'cOSTELLO AND YTTAPHONIC PRESENTATIONS BLACKSTONE WILLIAM COURTENAY in "NIGHT HAWK" Br BOLAND OLIVER Staced by AH Tin it HURLKT Tha Sensational Sex Play with ISABELLE LOWE ere th* In the noon. Gordon and Gate, were lone mixed comedy t show, unusual for the Majestic. Seldom are there less than three or four mixed turns In shows here. Gordon clowns around and la funny at times, but only at times. They forced an encore, doing a bit of satire for It, and fared better with that than with the act proper. Vice versa on 50 per cent, of the material In each part wouldn't hurt, though the pair seem to think otherwise, for the customers get the encore whether they want It or not. Harry Walman and his Debu- tantes, nine-piece, female orchestra and Walman, had It almost simple with an audience already softened up by previous punishment. On music this one rates better than most feminine bands heard around, although about the usual on looks. One of the girls la a competent toe dancer besides n aaxophonist. Great Lester next to close with SELWYN Mat. Than. A Sat. ALBBRT LEWIS Preeenta THE OKBAT MTSTBRT PLAT THE DONOVAN AFFAIR By OWEN DAVIS ORIGINAL CAST, FULTON THEA , N T Phoebe Pouter. Eleanor Woodruff. Robert Hudson. Nilea Welch. Miriam Doyle. Dodson Mitchell, l'aul Harvey and others CORRESPONDENCE All matter in CORRESPONDENCE refers te currant otherwise indicated. Tha cities under Correepondenca in thia iaaua) of Varlaty are as follows and on pagea: BALTIMORE BRONX a...ea*aee.*ee< BUFFALO CHICAGO CINCINNATI .: 53 .. 51 ..51 .. 60 .. 54 CLEVELAND 53 DALLA8 M DENVER 51 DETROIT 51 INDIANAPOLIS 50 KAN8AS CITY 52 LOS ANGELES 52 LOUISVILLE 51 MILWAUKEE 54 MINNEAPOLIS 51 MONTREAL 63 NEW ENGLAND 64 NEW ORLEANS 53 OAKLAND 62 OKLAHOMA CITY 62 OMAHA 62 PITTSBURGH 61 SAN FRANC18CO 62 SEATTLE 53 SYRACU8E 64 WASHINGTON 63 show. The Utter, with quite a rep from Loop showings, might be credited with part of the draw. John Stamford has resigned as manager of station WBBM and will be replaced by Preston Gravea. Stamford will return to New York to play In legit, which was his field before Joining the radio station. "Lucky Sambo." at the LaSalle, will give midnight performances every Saturday. With "Ned McCobb'a Daughter" cloaing the end of this week, the Princess la slated for Indefinite darkness. Charles Zemater, formerly asso- ciated with John Bentley, haa opened an agency for himself. Tlvoll. Michigan City, will here- after play vaude on Sunday only, dropping Saturday. Straight pic- tures balance of week. Star, Muncle. Ind., will revert to week-end vaude and pictures after 20 weeks of playing Rex stock. Elmer Jerome, formerly manager of the Orpheum, Decatur, 111., has bought the theatre he managed. He continues Ass'n vaude and pictures. liables, and did very well with it. Billy likes the tender frails more than his marital companion, throws a party during her absence; she walks In on him unexpectedly, and he proceeds to alibi everything oft. House makes the most of it and went off to a good, cordial hand. He's a breath of tabloid in a house of opera singers, and the gents fall for him unanimously. Billy and Elsa Newell In an act by Bennett and Carlton, were In next-to-closing. A snappy act with intelligent comedy material built for the best there Is. Went over easily. In second position Herma and Juan Reyes, boy at the piano and girl at the fiddle, presented a concert program to good enough returns. The show was opened by Four Aces and a Queen, excellent flying act which In Its own way was equal In quality to anything on the bill. The Queen is that In looks. Business just about capacity Sun- Loop. the most entertaining unit of the program. LeBter remains topnoteh among American ventriloquists, proving It without a doubt here on his material and In the manner in which he was received. Hanlon Bros., In a novelty clown offering, closed. Business uninspiring. The first 100 years are the This being Centennial Week in variety theatres, the Majestic offers a bill of questionable vaudeville that should throw a lot of trade over to the picture houses. Sylvester and Wlrth opened. Young, clean-looking and working, and not bad acrobats. The under man should register more exertion in the sure-lire hand-over-hand trick. It looked too easy as done here, though It really is a difficult piece of business. Gifford and Gresham. two man songs and hoke. grounded out, but almost came In safe on strength of a burlesque ventriloquist bit. Nevertheless, they were out by a mile, now that spring Is here. Thomas P. Jackson has a per- fectly normal sketch, as sketches go today. The wise-cracking old guy Is there; also the stehog, who saves the akay's b. r. and maneuvers into the family by way of a long lost son. Two are on the stage In sup- port of Jackson and two others are referred to but not seen, making a company of five in the Kut Kahl's way of adding. It Kut adds the same way he subtracts. Rody Jordan, In blackface, pulled a mild hit out of fourth spot He had them laughing throughout, and in return they offered the flrat bit of audible applause of the after RESERVATIONS The FROLICS THB MOST UFA I TIKI t. CAPB IN THE WORLD il Bast Jld Street (opposite "W atatlon). Chlcaca, Tha RendeiTous of the Theatrical Slara c,vic v&nnsdi: wi--- riM ♦♦«♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦.> FASHION DECREES FOR ARTI8TS Guilmont A Peter* Permanent Wave "Herbo" Oil Steam ProeeiM Complete Artistic Beauty Service GUILMONT & PETERS More punch to the four acts now booked as one show Into the Con- gress by the Gus Sun-Billy Dia- mond office than In four bills of th? kind formerly booked Into the same house by the association. Still plenty of hoke, nevertheless, but not as much as before. They used to spread It on and rub It in. Now they just spread It. The for- mer's effect at the gate was In- evitable; the Congress was faring poorly. Business Is now picking up. It took Ike Rose's Midgets to pack the house for the first time in months, and the troupe was playing a full week In a split week house. That was two weeks ago. Attend- ance on the rainy Friday night of last week unusually good. Sherman. Van and Hyman, who, in a five-act bill might deuce, opened. Three men, comedy sing- ing. Burlesque female Impersona- tion by one Is funny and good for laughs, even though drawn out. Ah San and Joe, second, showed something new In how clever are these Chinese and gathered In the hit of the bill. Ah San Is a girl, toe and acrobatic dancer, and good, and Joe Is a man, violinist, and almost an all around performer. A string quartet accompanies. The girl Is a sweet stepper, exhibiting some very strong toe stuff. Cart- wheels and half somersaults on the tips of the tootsies stand as extraor- dinary. This turn Is a n.vel one, and could be routined for straight picture house work. Neither would It go amiss as an opener In the bet- ter vaude places. Rice and Cady continue to start off like another Imitation of Weber and Fields and wind up out of the money. They managed a few laughs on broken English material, but did not do so rosey on the whole. When an agent pipes up with "Who wants a sure-flre novelty turn for closing?" he has In his mind something like Fred LaRiene and Co., though he may be mistaken on the "sure fire." Electrical "experi- mentation" Is the principal of the LnRlene act, though comedy sup- plied by six plants Is Its forte. La Rlene Is a pleasing talker and manipulates his shock parapher- nalia In experienced style, also giv- ing the plants plenty of time to tike care of the laugh end. Three of the plants, the one In comic makeup especially so. are pipes as part of the act. though La Rlene chases them hack to the or- chestra at the finish, while tho other three might be neighborhood ^s procured for a buck or a ticket. The turn was well liked as a closer here. "Sensation Seekers," the screen feature, but a subordinate Dim. "The James Costen, owner of several small theatres and head of a film booking agency, has purchased the Harper, 5223 Harper ave. A beauty contest, with the win- girl guaranteed a six-month contract with Columbia Pictures, will be sponsored at the Granada (Marks Bros.), by " head of the Capitol here. Ex-mayor Wm. Hale Thompson, candidate for re-election, la to do the final judging. Ted Leary, master of ceremonies at the Stratford for 45 weeks, has signed a 20-week contract with Schoenstadt's to act In the same ca- pacity at their new Piccadilly the- atre. He opens March 28. Leary's original contract with Cooney brothers' Stratford was for six weeks. "The Night Hawk," opening at the Blackstone on March 6, was on the cut-rate list the next day. The papers panned It unanimously. Henry Goldson, son of Harry Goldson, who owns several picture houses in Chicago, is managing Lub- liner & Trinz' new Belpark. He and his father have a quarter In- terest In the new house, which opened Saturday. Ben Serkovitch, Balaban & Kats' aoe publicity man, is In Omaha do- ing advance work for the opening of the Riviera, new Blank and Pub- tix house. Bob Mornlngstar, formerly re- viewer and newa man for the "Bill- board" office In Chicago, la doing club bookings for the W. V. M. A. A farewell luncheon was tendered Roger Murrlll, local producer, at the College Inn by agents and bookers of the association. Murrill has gone to New York. INDIANAPOLIS By EDWIN V. O'NEEL Murat—Dark. English'e—"Honor of the Fam- ily (Otis Skinner)), 1st half; "Stu- dent Prince" (return), 2d half. Keith'e—Vaudeville. Palace—Vaudeville. Mutual—Burlesque (Mutual). Circle—"An Affair of tha Follies.' Apollo—"Let It Rain." Ohio—"Casey at the Bat." Oscar Kuschner, former State Film Service owner, has succeeded Frank Heller as manager of Capitol Film ~ Harry Beneke, representative. Charles Berkell stock, has arranged for the company to open at Eng- lish's March 27. John Oliver and Milton Byron will play leads; others Include Idabelle Arnold, Larry Sul- livan, Robert St. Claire, Bern ce Marsolais, Herbert Dobbins, Mil- dred Hastings, Frank Marlowe and Director William V. Hall. Stuart Walker opens May 3 at Kelth'a. Thla will be Walker's ninth season here. George Somnes will again direct. Five Indiana schools entered the play tournament for high achoola held here under Little Theatre so- ciety auspices March 18-19. LEW WEST Now Booking Excluaivaly Tha Batter Picture Theatres in Chicago, aayai "Here's a sure tip, boys, play ROMANO real estate on the nose. Broadway for a good time, but give me Chicago for investment." Born and raised In New York and buys ROMANO'S real es- tate located In Chicago, the fastest growing city In the CARME ROMANO Real Estator to the 10 So. LaSalle St., Chicago MORRISON HOTEL CHICAGO World's tallest. ifi4 rooms sod hatha EUGENE COX SCENERY 1734 Ogden Avenue CHICAGO I-hotie BRELET >»0l BILLY ZECK IVAN FEHNOVA CREATIVE OEN1U8 of aeaaaUonsl duocers; class A private leseoni In Ballet Tee. Aerekatte sea Ceatertlea Daaelaf ARNOLD * FEHNOVA STUDIOS 0O*-a i.,„„ I Phoae: Web. Seal Booking High Clasa Stage Attractiona Te Motion Picture Th« Excluaivaly Premier Attractions, Inc. Woods Theatre Bidg. Phonal Central 8? CHICAGO SCENERY DTB SCKNBBT, VBLOtJK CURTAINS R. WE8TCOTT KING STUDIOS nil W. Van AN INNOVATION IN SHOW BUSINE88 WHEN PLATING CHICAGO — IT'S THE HOTEL LAUREL ^n Rooms with Bath and Shower WEEKLY RATES: SINCLE, $11.50; DOUBLE, $14.00 Tan minutaa by trolley to all Loop theatres. One block from Lincoln Park and Qolf Links. BRAND NEW — LUXURIOUSLY FURN18HKD — CLEAN Coffee Shop in Connection — No Charge for Room Service 1512-18 North La Salle Street Tea.ph.ae mohawk itoo Management BERNARD GLATT