Variety (Apr 1927)

' 'it 26 VARIETY FILM VITAPHONE (COLONY, NEW YORK) New York, April 16. land," had a vcrlm running to the wings on each side of the screen be- hind which danced eight girls. One of those odes to spring. Pretty The Vltaphone program for this enough and brief, four m^^ week comprises: Overture. "Or- Following the silhouette •tandout pheus" (J. Offenbach). Vltaphone came the weekly running Symphony Orchestra; The Admirals ut«f rather long ^roadj^y. U (naval quiartet). in three numbers; had four clips from Fox. three from Eddie Conrad and Marion Eddy, International and one from boUj Jimedy and song^^M^ KInogranis Pathe split T^homL in iff iKlliS ii^m "i h?^ *»^»*>" Interna- PacliaccL** I tionai. Summarising this Vita bill, it ti a „ Whence ;ln a Cabaret (Pi^^^^^^ 50-50 split between vaudeville and hlons) trailed by the WTOgram leader, the classics, the apparent inference which ^^^^^ ^. ^.^^/^v that the Vita makini hava appor- ^Saturday •"ernoon at three o clock tloned It accordingly tor ilSer they were waiting for ^ Taude or picture houses. stairs and tn the halcony with the The VlSi oi^^ wnoothly U>ge« ^^;^^**"^-^"^:il'/"^?/K,«^^^^^ •specially on the subdued, quieter ^fn^y having the same trouble the Wednesday, April 20» 1927 tones, and several of Herman HeK . , .... i i .< » -o..* Iw'Tmuslckers acquitted themoelves »J8 "exc^usixe .f!?!*?^ **,^^!.^ coditably on the closeups. Several the Roxy are 1.100 seaU in the mez- ' of the • boys" looked a litUe blurry at each. M. <MBi acme of the shooting, but the a n a ma^s f Ifltislccal part passed muster. ' PAlO\nl!LIUrl I The Admirals stuck close to the! s^mt^t \*^m»^\ of the camera range; madet C*I»W YORK) few gyrations and sang three num- j New York, April 18. t>ers collectively; in fact, none* of A finely rounded out bill at the the moil essayed a solo part« going Paramount for this week. It held In for harmony and getting results, colorful Easter atmosphere and This quartet proved any excellent I scenes this afternoon, with the fick for the Vita; a nice appearing Baster portion called *'A Mural unit and with voices that please. Painting," staged by Prank Cambria, The singers were decked out in one of the best lighted, posed and nifty naval uniforms of the ad- executed short bits any picture mlral's rang. The songs were (a) stage ever has held. The lighting **Yankee Hose" (b) I'll Always Re- In this was superb. First noticed on member You" and (c) "Hello, the pooed (living pictures) mural Swanee.** The first and the last paintings In frames, symbolic by brought their voices to the fore ef- themselves in resemblances, the •actively. I finale was a heavenly sc^ne of the Eddie Conrad occupied most of I Star of Bethlehem, brightly golden the Vita section allotted to him and aloft In the centre of the stage, and Miss Eddy. He reeled off his but a short dlitiutioe above the monologlstic patter wherein he gets grouped mnntls on ths StsceTp flat the English upside down and uack- surface. ward, causing laughter, but not sus- With angels In diagonal aUgnment talned during the whole turn. Con- from the star as an apex, a most rad downed at the piano and then beautiful sunlight shading came Miss Eddy appeafSd. She sang and through to envelop them, and this , her voice was never heard to bet- with the different lighting just be- ter advanUge. Where the Vita neath made a handsome picture. It seems strangest In its conduct Is was the personlflcatUm St this when a singer turns her head or Easter time. hack to the audience; Miss Eddy Voices were among; the groups of for a moment has one turn, which. 1 Biblical personages In costume down however, did not fease her TOCal I below. While the ethereal bit register on the instrument. I seemed shorter than the time re- The best bet on this Vita layout quired to .tell of it, a profound Im- was John Charles Thomas In his presslon was made and left. House •Pagllaccl.** He was dressed as applauded vociferously and must Tenia.- In nondescript garb, and have recognized the effort of the While his makeup adheres to ancient 4 star finale for such a brief moment •crlpt. one tries to picture how Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Crawford were Thomas would look in formal d^ss others who gava tiia period a recall •f today. Much of the time the with their organ r«cltal. for their • aamera made it appear as though joint playing today was a recital, his eyes were closed completely. But Mr. Crawford at the console proper all that mattered Uttle whea hl^ and his wife at another In the centre aBagnlflcent Toloe was In play. ' of the stage_down front They Im- V Ita consumed 33 minutes and pressively pMyed "Jerusalem" inter- Paramount went up against In fill- picture around an hour. Jlorlh ROXV (NEW YORK) lirsw fork, April 16. A big show and a good one this week, but without Vltaphone. .The first Fox picture to play the house, "Ankles Preferred." is in and will get its share of laughs, while the surrounding program Should Im- press on both-^tta mmm td n s shirttltop and pace. ' A nasty hooking Is understood to be responsible for Sam Lanin and his Ipana Troubadours on the stage during the main presentation. Lanin's outfit Is a 12-pIece band, •xdusive of his own baton waving, %nd is fhmlHar to most ail radio dial hounds. On a platform at the back of the set, the Lanln bunch play the atage •*floor show,*^ Hrhleh ran flKit and won healthy returns. Probably the most picturesque Int^lude was a sllhovetts that had the figures In front of a white cur- tain flooded by red lights. This was a dancing number holding a light comedy vein In that the shopping husband frolics with two misses untU his wife rotlMM. Wa|l aiseutsd and lighted, tha hflliii a>iwn4 n from the start. It was inmsdlatsit hshind an aocentric contribution by "Gamby," tilled "A Javanese Lily Bowl." The thsatrs*s premier danseuse held the stage alone for this number, pretty enough, but fell short of. the applause given the succeeding Item, justify- ing the running order. The three house organists opened Up by doing Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue*" which railed for no mean dli^play of technical skill but didn't seem to get all it deserved. Heavy blue lights kept the interlude al- most in darkness and didn't help. £«aster Week was saluted by a spectacle that had the largo house chorus on the stage singing "Unfold Ye Portals." from "Redemption," to the accompaniment of the tremen- dous orchestra. This led into Rapee conducting "Tannhauser," the chorus returnii)g for an insert into the overture. With well OTSr 100 men In the orchestra there doesn't seem to be douht that the house is under- lighting Its pit crew. Tho average film theatregoer Is not used to see- ing such a large body of men at work, and there Is a natural curios- ity and interest In seeing this unit carry out its a.sslgnment It may be because the house Is as yet not fully equipped as to lights, but It should be attended to. And for no other reason than that when masked by insufllcient light tho house Is losing the full sales value af thin niammoth musiral crew. A short sosBlfi^. "▲ JTalrj Fors- mingled with "The Holy City," a most happy choice for the occasion. Early a short scenic film, unpro- l^amed, was run in, either for con- fbnlence or to lengthen out the bill, although the latter seemed unneces- sary. The show Including the lively likeable Dix picture. "Knockout Rellly," ran a trifle over two hours. Opening was the Irving Talbot di- rected orchestra with "Tschaikowsky Melodies" for Its comparatively light complement. This orchestra sounds as though using a dimmer on Its strings and offsetting that by the brasses, though possibly the strings were purposely subdued. House liked tho ovarturSk judfins fkvm a|^- plause. Following was the John Murray Anderson Pnbllx unit stage produc- tion for this week. "The Sampler" (Presentations), mounted In Mr. Andorson's host style and holding more than the usual Anderson mod- icum of comedy. That comedy held up the unit and furnished the real entertainment, causing the turn to become something mors than a sight. Programing for the unit Is more elaborate In detail than war- ranted. Billing has nsTsr yst de- ceived anyone. Paramount News held about an •▼en break on hews and latorest^ng stuff, with its clips from but a couple of the news reelers. Do Paramount and MetrO^Gtoldwyn-Mayer believe that the paucity of newsy n^ws in the weeklies a sufficient cause to bring out their own news weeklies? Or Is the publicity angle the actual rea- son? Pretty soon from the looks news camsramsB will be running over each other in the rush to get anywhere. Someone had better make a hook-up with a daily and offer a prize to the flrst person who phones in about anything happen- ing. If you can't phone, wire. Next week at the Paramount, Eddie Cantor In "Special Delivery" on the screen; "Boyhood Days'* (no producer announced), on stage, with the vMInnevltch H^monica Band fsatnred. lima. or wild shifting of positions In the seats when the Met band, with Pea- body to the fore, went into "The Doll Dance.** the them^ number of Jack Partington's stage show of the same name. Whoever figured on the layout for this presentation appeared to be out of step. From first to last the show lags, falling to get a nottosable riss out of the customers, except for a few faint giggles and handclapplng. Partington's staging shows up In undeniable effect, while Louis Ber- koff's line dance arrangement Is not bad, though by no means anything new. but these two things alone do not compose entertainment, as pic- ture houss prsasntatlons ga these days. * Bobble Thomson, neat little girl with a trim figure In a black, ab- breviated costums, is rather reluc- tantly announced by Peabody. and proceeds Into her dance routine, consisting mainly of high gicking. backed up by 10 of the Met girls, though do little. A comedy number by the band, employing two of the boys In bits, started off okay and could have been built up to much better effect, but was allowf^ to die. The ener- getic Eddie's antics in this thing didn't mean a thing. The only legit laugh-getters in the whole show were Steele and Wlnslow. comedy roller-skating act, and good. Con- sidering that nothing of merltable mention had occurred previous to this act, their presence and bur- lesue skating was graciously ac- cepted, and with relief. A serious-appearing, perhaps not inartistic vlollnlste. announced as Mile. Fallot, had a tough time of It and didn't fit here at all. with a break more likely for her In vaude- ville. Eddie Maglll. the regular house plugger. put over "A Lane in Spain.** followed by the girls.in a Spanish number. Lighting and scrim ^ect was well done here. Peabody in three banjo solos. In- cluding •'Bluo Skies,** *'The Doll Dance" and Tchalkowsky's 181S Overture, failed to convince, with no retuma In the Berlin number a miniature screen Js mrsd Informing how two of the classic musicians would have played this, with Eddie demonstrating, apd last his own version. The operator got things mixed for a while, much to the evi- dent discomfort of the player. In the Tchalkowsky cflassic both the organ and orchestra lent old. with credit going to tha boyv In the band for great support. Althoagh Pea- body manipulated his instrument with apparent skill in this dimettU number. It had no place In the pro- gram« with the chances of a hot blue avQbsir bsHig more appreci- ated. Now In her third week, Gogo, University Southern California coed. i.s*again seen with Frank Jenks. the band trombonist, in a comedy num- ber that failed to click as It did the flrst week, when Peabody took pains to build both up, which he didn't do here. He may have figured Jenks had too much of an edge op him already and should be held down. If this was Peabody's angle, then he succeeded admirably, even to the extent of curbing a possible encore, besides forgetting, as It were, to announce cither's name. In the finale, the band Is on the elevated stage, with the gjrls in a doll pose underneath. Coming out, they do a doll routine In unison that is nothing unusual, although well executed. A radium flash finish brings down the curtain. "Fashions for Women." feature, with Pathe news and Sennett com- edy, Itailth's Pony.** added. ones have appeared at his side and he's whipped them all vooidly. "Baseball Scandals** (Prossnta- tlons) included Eddie Hill, Muriel Kaye, Ous Mulcahy, Maxlna Ham- ilton, eight Gould Dancers and tha 16-piece Fisher band. Hill gagged all through the presentation In a very blah manner but closed the show and saved himself with his comedy songs. On the last attempt he copped the highest honors of the performance, though Mulcahy BMldo It tough by preceding. •*Orchids and Ermine,** nowa around town aplenty and by now too stale to rate as a draw, the feature picture. "The French Ri- viera," short travelog, filled In. Lately the Harding has consist- ently registered the best neighbor- hood matinse business in town; METROPOLITAN (■08T0N) Boston, April 19. Metropolitan was cosmopolitanic last night, when the new policy of Jazzed up programs went Into effect as the initiation of the theatre's carnival season. At a time when most theatres In town are prepar- ing for the annual summer's let-up in patronage tho Met Is going strong after ticket sales, and with a grati- fying measure of success so far. Eddie Cantor started the works off with a bang In his owt film, "Special Delivery." starring Eddie, of course. As a scenarist the ca- vorter proves in his new picture that he needs apologize to none of them. In addition to the usual public presentation the Me t initiated a feature In Gene Bodemlch and his jass orchestra and the tap-dancing team of Clifford and Healy. Rode- mlch and the band are billed as the "Met Merrymakers.** and will ap- pear each week as a side dish to the usual diet of flash presentation and movies. John Murray Anderson's usual bit of brilliant mummery was presented in the form of "Maijry*g Oardsn." Vapid but pleasing. Harold Ramsay, recently Import- ed from the Rivoll, New York, struck the keynote of the new policy by playing Qoorgo Gtorshwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" on the theatre's organ. Evelyn Hoey, prima donna, Injeetod tha assds4 hit of Alabama atmosphere Wilh A .Mr at MUs melodies. ; And the boot office dtsksd merrily on. Holy Ti'eek did not affect the draw of 8ousa*s band, last week shows being both nearly capacity with a large percentage an out-of- town poll of tha oft iMka. il lM been many a month since the huge Met. has heard such bcar.ty ap plauso as the old boy gat on his "Stars and Stripes Forever," and this hearty 8tufi[ is what this Publlz house haa assdsd avor alabs It opened. The Publlz has been a bit cold and aloof In Ita Boston pr sisi lt a» tlons, and the deadly monotony of the machine-made units cpmblned with a recent spldsmic of poor pic* tures boosted Loew's .State busi- ness not only appreciably, buvseri whole news reel, with the exception of one brief cUp from Puthe, show- ing a Berlin chimney sweep. An "Our Gang" cchnedy from the Hal Roach list was the best screen bit of the evening. It had to do with the campaign of the kids against tlis village dog catchers who hunt their pet pups. There is a dandy touch of sentiment In this little story when they all but smother Farina's canine pal In tho gas tank, a bit that vustly shaq^ens the comedy of the picture )y contrast. JlasJk METROPOUTAN (L08 ANQlLBt) I^oa Angeles, April 14. The same mob tluit aaw-a-tum- away business here two wsoks ago. the day Kddie Peabody opened, found stalls aplenty this afternoon. Even the military ushers were more or less "at ease." The general spirit prevalent among the matinee audi- ence was that of relaxed lassitude. It looked CLs though they, for the most part at least, had just dropped in to kill time. Instead of coming In with the expertnnry of sitting through an enthusiastic and enter- taining psrformance. Thers wai aa svldeat oommotioa ^ STRAND HARDING (CHICAGO) Chicago, April 14. ihaald haTa, booked a strong'er stage show to go with a change of policy. ^ The Harding. Instead of forming a trio with the Senate and Belmont theatres, now forms a duo with the Sonhts. Tho Belmont dropped this week, going into a combination pol- icy In attempt to locate business. If there Is any In its neighborhood. With the three houses co-operat- ing and rotating a trio of stage bands, customers wsra given a new show and faces every week for three-week stretches. Now that the Belmont is out. the two remaining stage bands win rotats in tha two^ remaining theatres. How patrons will accept this after their higher education will be de- termined shortly. Not that they will have a legitimate squawk, though, for with the bands switch Ing weekly It Is unlikely that they will become tiresome. Mark Fisher and Art Kahn are the remaining bandsmen. Eddie Perry, the third, htm dapartsd for other parts. Fisher headed the show here, titled "BasebaU Scandals." Mark Fisher hasn't arrived as yet. A lot of people think he has and he is probably Included among them But F'isher has the stuff that should rate him higher nationally than he now rates locally. He has the gentle knack of conducting an orchestra properly, has sullk:ient stage pres ence and, above all, a real singing voice. On the latter he's a stand out. Few musicians can step out and out-sIng any singer In their In dividual showa Whether it has been somewhere. The pictures have no the policy to eliminate too-good special klck^just snaps of the caged (NEW YORK) For a gala Easter Week offering the program at the Capitol doesn't work-out happily. For a startsr ths feature picture, "Lovers" (Metro Goldwyn). made from the stage play, •*The World and His Wife," la Mt a particularly lively affair. The presentation features are ambitious, but do not impress as brilliant effects. Two items were a choral arrangement of "Ave Maria," from "Cavalleria Rustlcana," with an ensemble headed by Cella Turrill and Marjorle Harcum. Here was a number that might have been made impressive In dim lightlnj: effects with a darkened stage fornfull dis- play of tho ecclesiastical stained glass window which made the back- ground. Instead fairly full lights were used. But the subdued lighting of the ballet spectacle, called "The Sea," did not work out. To that part of the audience beyond mid-way of the house^ the spectacle was lost for the most part in the dim lighting, made necessary for the projection of swimming fifth an the gauze drop and such like details to carry out tho under-sea Illusion. The ballet manetnrers were all but obscured and at a distance the kick of the adagio dance by Malinoff and Gray was Injured. . The other number was a presen- tation group of six brasses playing the sextette from "Lucia," the musl cians being from the regular sym phony orchestra. Special numbers by selocted musicians from tha or chestra always haya tha foroa af flll-lns. i'ne*BA6n lUMMC WU t lltlfl^ reeler, called "Bobby's Dream," a strangely dull series of animal pic- tures, put out as an •*lrls Novelty Scenic," whatever that may mean It shows a small boy playing with a toy Noah's Ark. The youngster goes to sleep and thereafter there are paraded on the screen ordinary views taken in a soological garden (NEW YORK) New York, ApHl 17. This Is the Strand's 13th anniver- sary for which week tiie program leader is "OrchWs and Ermine" (F. N.). Easter Sunday the first do luxe show played to less than half a louse, although by S o'clock tho cli«» entele started to drop In. A hidden sun broke through, about 2. so that the girls probably wanted to stay outdoors to look each other over. The stage specialty for the cur« rent week Is Emmfh Trentlnl, who lately played K-A vaudeville. No fair basis on which to Judge how tha prima donna affected the film housa mob. as there were not many pres- ent for her flrst appearance, but the Trentini name looked good on the marquee. No "shorts" on the program prob- ably because the house is using a trailer bringing back the flrst pic- ture it ever showed. "The Spoilers," besides bits of old Pickford and Chaplin releases and a flash at Ger- aldine Farrar and the latef Wallie Reld In "Carmen." Following this tha organist fiddled around on tha keys to evoke a couple of melodies that deserved to be listened to. As ho one was paying much attention it didn't get anything, but with a little concentration might have evoked much. The organists are not emphasized In this emporium. They stick to their knitting, and that*s nil any ona avsv IMars from ^ them. The boy who was- playing early Sunday afternoon sounded jss if ho could out loosa If vivsii a» im- portunity. "A Night In Bohemia" (Presenta- tions) was tho main stage attrao* tlon, evolving Into a cabaret per- formance. Previously the orchestra did the **8econd Hungarian Rkap* sody" into which a chorus otf< 1< ghrls and four men, led by Mile, mova and partner, wore lnsci:tedU There evidently was some difflculty in arranging the Introduction of the danceri because of tho tempo o¥ ttta LIS7t work, but catching a quick- ened musical pace the combination flnlshod to a «kla 4M|iitani8o ttuota. The news crents were given nine minutes divided up so. that Paths got four flashes. Fox two and la- ternationnl one. Trei^tlni's sojourn lasted 17 min- utes. Ai a matter or fhct her pianist's spoclalty seemed a bit too long, the Interest having to be re- vived upon the former opera singer's return. Opening with "Butterfly,** Trentini gave those out front some- thipg to listen to and then finished with hor standard. "Glanlnn ?.Tfr\.** Trentlnl's hlg^ register will likely panic 'em when enough come in to make her cognizant of what picture house applause can sound like when tho boys and girls turn It on. BH, songsters from Fisher's shows Is not anlmala dstsmlmd, hat gtasa »ratty good! XatsmaUoasl thkss ahaal STATE XLM ANMLSt) Los Angeles. April 11. A light yet risible and novel pres« entation this week at the State* Fanchon and Marco's Idea, "Books,** features "The San Francisco Beau<* ties,** composed of eight comely girlS well up In their routines. Of these Constance and Cl&risea are given special billing and prove worthy. Individually and collectively, all of :l the girls show versatility and abil- ity. They display best in a buck ^ number done on steps and in blaiOlt# and white outflts that look nifty. y GenO Morgan, personality chap, i who waves the baton and keeps tha I mob In good humor, no matter what T the cost, has become a statutory If not necessary flxture in this house. { This week he starts the show with * his customary clowning and gag pulling, using as a foil Chuck Csila*^ han, an indispensable aide do camp.] Chuck has been with Morgan fo^' over a month now. He Is always good for a couple of laughs on his own as well as with the bandmaster. Though the gags used hy .this pair are for the most part second-handed, yet the manner in which they put thenri over is always acceptable and clicks with the audience. - Constance and Clarissa score on the comedy valua Of their Russian dance burlesque number. The kids are clever and know the high spots of their comedy. Jackson Murray, pleasantly voiced tenor, puts over a romantic ballad while another e n s o f <li e gi f l s through a medlorre toe routine. Morgan and Callahan returns with a, card game that employs the old card-cutting gag with the axe and the five ares. Using one of the boys in the orchestra, theyi Wind up with a water bag trick that got over Vera Van, an easy-to-look-at blonde, pleases with a pop number, the rendition of which pmacks with the eastern style of delivery. Th^ ' Pyramid hoyf. comedy harmony an^' (ContlBiMd on paft S7)