Variety (Jun 1927)

Wednesdayi June 1, l^Tf FILM HOUSE REVIEWS "VARIETY MQVIETONE (MAimit. NIW YORK) * N«w York. May SI. MoViatdna it preceding audience •Saranth Heaven" (Fox), at the Harria, twice dally for 26 minutes. ThlB Is the Fox-Caae talking pic- ture, flrat flaahad on tha public at tha Rosy a ccupla of weeks ago. Split Ave ways, into what may be termed three stage "names" and two news avanta, tbia initial presenta- tion of a Movietone program reveals that the Vox contrivance's basic ap- peal Uaa m lu ralatton to tha'naws reel. For those who hadn't seen Movie- tone tha flash of a platoon of Wast Pointers doing the manual of arms and marching to the post band was quits a kick. But nothing compared to the Lindbergh takeoff, used to oiose. Outside of the timeliness of thla avent. the roar of tha motor when it starts and the following mechanical stutterlngs and stam- nerlngs as the engine begins to drag its load thrilled everybody in the house, the same as it did at the Boxy. Both tha West Point and Lindbergh sequences were originally shown at the latter theatra. The sandwiched threa numbers at the Harris are Raquel Meller, Ben Ber- nie's orchestra and CSartmda Law- rence. With both Da Foraat and Vita- phone having takan tha "edge** off of the novelty of talking pictures, the duplicating of actual happenings possessing **n9Wtf* Intaraat la un- questionably Movietone's punch. Those witneaslnff attested to that. On tha othar hand, of tha legitimate performers Gertrude Lawrence aaamed to register tha best on voice, appearance and material. The Eng- lish girl is on the side of the fllra with her comedy lyrical numbet which sha flrat Introduced hare It Chariot's Revue. As picked up by the Fox-Case double tripod device har voice is wall niffh parfaet with tonal Inflections, mannerisms and ffMturea screening aa desired. A vary antartalninff faor mlnutaa, thla Miss Lawrence. Raquel Meller Is given a setting for her one number plus something of a prolog and epilog for atmos- phere. Put together this spoils five minutes of what was probably painstaking work. Inclusive of closeups while singing, but which leaves the audience rather indiffer- ent. The well-known Spanish song- atress delivers In her native tongue and easily pantomimes the lyric. However, there doesn't appear to be any special cause, except po.ssibly on her name, for Mile. Meller to be termed a talk-fllm high liprht. Bare of the surrounding production ef- forts tendered, tha foreign artiste might have gotten ovar avan less Impressively. Bernle's band Is something else again. Movietone apparently has a aoft spot in Its mechanics for in- . strumcntal recordings. Both of thla maestro's renditions amplify clearly and to results. Tha flrst Is a pop number and the second a special orchestration of a classic. Also, the •fcbby Bemla la given i, chanca to verbally gag a little, opening up with "Good afternoon, ladies and lantlemen. or fa thla an evening per- formance?" The musical unit of 14 tops the other "acts" on running time in taking eight mlnutaa. Tha West Point depiction runs six, and there Is about two minutes of the start of Lindbergh'a hop. Bemla is between Mile. Meller and Miss Law- rence, and of the three took second honors, first appreciation balnff ten- dered tho British performer. A sidelight on this Movietone demonstration la tha general snnoothness of makaup. something other vocal Alms have lacked. The one Infraction of this rule is Bamie, too highly powdered to look natural The camera has done an excellent Job In the cases of both women. Movietone is to linger at the Ilar- Tla as long as "Seventh Heaven," and may change its program every •O often. This Is the flrst Instance of the Fox-Case Instrument reveal tog what It can do Indoors. It {troves that it is applicable to either nterlors or exteriors with, as pre- viou.sly stated, the principal appeal coming through the ability of the device to "cover" current events and deliver them by sight and aound. stage personalities are In- Claental. The news thing and cost of Installation, planned to eventual- ly equal the price of a modem pro- Jactlon machine, will sell Movietone. orchestra accompaniment for "Heaven," an organ having been installed for the run. with the con- sole on the stage but screened from JJgnt. A $1.65 exlsta aa tha box- top.- - auL PARAMOUNT (NEW YORK) New York, May 28. " dullness were a crime somebody ^■"Jjulil Ko up the river for this lay- A cartoon comedy and a few minutes of tho Amaut Brothers In the prinrii)al presentation are all that rtlieves a two-and-a-half-hour atretrh of shear tedlousness. with fbp Horeen holding plenty of amotional agony for the actors and •ha audience, the case called for "•^niothlng light and dainty and hu- morous—above all laughs—in the ■tage entertainment. Instead, a •Wjr pasty thing called "Wintar Nights," was offered an already dyspaptla. **Winter Nights'* (Presentations) Is a frost. Turtle-paced and about sm Imaginative as a miiilary usher, it has the Arnaut Brothers and nothing else. An uncredited imita- tion of li}dna Covey by Clyde Cot- tam contained avarything In Miss Covey's rouliha, oxcept the artistry. Three secondary presentations. The overture melted into a patriotic tableau with a quartet of doughboys singing against a background of barbed wire and trenches. A Red Cross nurse comes Into the picture, arms extended for tha Stara and Stripes tinalo. The Jesse Crawford organ concert contained a bit of beautiful acenery with the Ryan Sisters singing rather inaudibly. Another of James A. Fitzpatrick's Famous Music Masters Series, "Charles Gounod," dealing entirely with that composer's prin- cipal Work, **Faiiat,*' rather than with his life, offered the production department a chance to stage the prison aoana from **Fauat" aa an epilog to the picture. Sudworth Frazier, Emma Noe, and Ivan Stec- chahko sang Faust, Marguerite and the devil. A grand symbolic tri- umph of the angels over the power of avil rang tha curtain down to coad applauaak •*A Million Bid," starring Dolores Costello, is the tirst Warner Broth- ara pictura to maka tha Paramount In tha nawa real Lindbergh ran number one feature for the second week. Various personages were quotad with MuaaoUnl making the only flrst-class pronouno amu t on the Paris hop. There were six items from Inter- national and flva from Kinograma. One of the Klnogram shots vas of tha opening; of a new roller coaster In an amusamant park. With sum- mer coming on, why advartiaa Coney laland? llKht on the program in the manner! to Mark Pascoe's trombona play in which the Jaaimanlans wera de- ing. It was a standout. As tha in^ livered. Two numbers by these 21 dividuals did their little bit, Kauf- instrumentalists ended in a pop! man spotted them with a small selection orchestrated over tha atova hand spot, a la Paul Whitaman. until It became quite warm. A sec- Stage settings were a repaat OB a ond chorus on this melody saw a | previous presentation, curtain behind a scrim go up on a raised platform, at the roar of the stage band, with dull red lighting silhouetting a feminine chorus of eight, who pranced to the dance rhythm over the heads of the musi- cians. Following their contribution the girls struck a silhouette "pic- ture." held it, and a dancing chor\is of 16 skipped on, fronted by Char- Thla houaa ahould be renamed the "PiooadUly Circus." METROPQUTAN Los Angeles, May 26. A fair program at th Metropol- , , ^ . „ ^ , itan, with Clara Bow ttl "Rough lotte Ayres and Oeorgie Tapps. for House Koslo" (Par) feature. Pathe a brief stepping. AH while the same ^ews carried Mississippi flood tune was going on. scenes that got marked attention, it® SJi!, "^^'^e^^"^ Also, in color. "Geysers of the Yel- th^ nV^^n ^nlorT v'Tn .''"k iowstono." effectivo color schemes the Russian singers banked on eaeh | ^j^^^ Fables Pictures, "Dig- side of the opening, it totaled 67 people on tha stage when the flnale was reached. Lively and well pre- sented. Drew lieavy applause, de- spite placed at the finish of an elon- gated stage sequence. Vitaphone is back in the Rox« after an absence of four or five weeks. It blasted in during the ap- propriate Decoration Day overture, which started with the Introduction to Herbert's "American Fantaiiy," a memorial to the late composer as well, and was Lincoln Caswell doing ging for Gold," other short subject On the stage was "Met's" Pet Revue.** with E«ddie Peahody; In all the show ran close to two hours. Attendance Thursday afternoon bet- ter than usual, though not ovar- enthused audience. I'resentatlon sober in attitude and too alow. Ttia *>0Ttta** was divided in three sections: jazz, military and classic. Latter announced by Pea- hody as '*spaata«ftilar.** fn tha flrat part Evans and Weaver, colored dancer. Devlin warbles a ballad well, ahd Miss Ohlson is an effactlva soprano in the Memorial Day spe- cialty, and aUo in tlie Lindbergh stereopticon flash. Harry W. dull, managing direc- tor, and George Pantzer, production manager, who are credited for tha staining, dressed tlie motif nicely with a grandstiind drop, Marty Beck, band leader, in introducing tlie .spiM^ali.st.s, eruployt'd approprlata lingo, sueh as "Miss Spt'cr will nialca her .second hit of the day, etc." Zelnm O'IS'oal stopped the show cold with her luturl.stio rag version of "Sam. the Accordion Man," nor could they pet en<)up;h of Penner's comedy. lie seemed to amuse the bandmen and tha others on the stage equally as much, apparently interpolating and ad libbing as ho went along. In connection with Baseball Week, fllm shots of tlie local prep school teams were projected as a strictly local draw, this causing the show to run overboard and probably ac- counting for the organist, James F. Thomas' organist specialty to ha omitted, along with tha ovartura* ROXY (NKW fORK) Lincoln's Gettysburg address. The hoofers, tapped through some fast house acoustics picked up the tonal h*putlnaa that wara Jtiit fair anough Inflections easily, and who is there to get over, but not for anything to argue on tha authanticity of Cas- big. Tha band opened with flva of well's interpretation of tha famad the boya eaaillng up an tha alavatad speech? Nevertheless, Caswell Platform and taking their -places seemed to lack dramatic power, but with tha rest. A ^air to mlddlin' may have given phpposely a ra-1 number by all was the Initial Iflatru- pressed oration before the camera, mental led by Peabody. Two boys "Thera Is No Death," suns by Har- with ukea and harmony voices ap old Van Duaea, backed by an nn- pearad an tha alavatlon next, putting pretentious "drop" of France's bat- { across one number without a recall tlefleld cematerlM, on which played There la nothing these lada have a cloud affact, tarmlnatad thla three- that can*t ba found in a varlaty of item Vita program opener. I other turns. International, Pathe an(^ Fox all Gogo, University of Southern hit thrlea on tha^awa aventa. liots California co-ed, playing around the of aviation stuff, with Klnogram's Publlx houses here, came on an- tagglng on the rear for two shots— I nouncad to go into a comedy num- one of Lindbergh'a mothar and the bar wMi Frank Janks, trombonist celebration in the flyer's home town | in the band. This pair hava been Naw York, May 29. One of those weeks that stamps itself as too much show. Some 13 minutes over tho two-hour dead- line, with but one hour and 17 min- utes of that on the screen, including a four-minute Vitaphone insert. That left 56 minutes divided be- tween the stage presentation feat- ure, an antl-climax to that by the Jazzmanlans, a short organ recital and a patriotic overture which led Into a tableau. Plenty of color, action and enter- tainment for the b. o. price. But that was the trouble—too much. "Cradle Snatchers" (Fox) trotted itself out on tha sheet as a comedy program leader of power supple- mented by a 14-minuto news reel that let in Patha for an aviation sequence which traced the struggle to fly since the time of the Wright brothers, and, of couraa, winding up with Lindbergh. E«xcerpts from tho Victor Herbert operetta, **Sweethaarta," wera atagred in two parts, running 16 and 14 minutes, respectively. Following this tha Ruasian Choir did thraa and the Jazzmanlans seven, making 40 minutes between the weekly and the fllm feature. The "Sweetheart" extract holds an abundance of things to com- mend it. It approaches being "Gladys Rice Week," for this song- stress sings the former Christie MacDonald role, and excellently. Able to handle herself capably and plus a sweet voice that's exceeding- ly easy on the ear, this girl has never appeared to better advantage. Duets by Miss Rice and Douglas Stanbury carried a distinct vocal appeal, with Miss Rice standing in relief because of Stanbury's tenden- cy to overact his role. Both were prominent and ran all through the extravaganza* And Frank Moulan returns to Broadway's fllm row for his comedy, "Pilgrims of Love.'* from tha same show. Moulan did this for Koxy at tho Capitol some years ago. Whenever tho boys go back far enough for material they invariably dig up Moulan, as he must be a candidate for tho Street's oraclo on all thlntjs Herbert or GUbert-SulU- van. Did nicely with the octet number, too. An attempt to carry a thread of tho plot through the presetnation seemed to be a mistake. Dialog sounded lost In this amphitheatre, while Moulan's attempt for laughs by ironing varloua bits of under- garments as a laundry nuiiJ was an Indifferent contribution. His Spitting of water over one piece of apT>'irel before using the Iron cer- tainly had no place on this stage, and got what It deserved—nothing. Oamberelll led the wooden shoe number, prettily dressed In white material that was stiff. A chorus of 12 was In blue behind, executing an ordinary routine, overshadowed bjF-iha^ setting. _ KnfeniM's were prettily dressed, colored and heavily peopled. The old gag of "pea.sants on the village green" served as the flrst act scene, whence 'Vrlrket on the Hearth" happened beff»ro the usual fireplace, later covered by the chorus to lead in a "two" set of a presumed ball- room. Three minutes of the "Volga Boat- man" bv the Rupslan Choir preceded what becama tha production high' upon hearing that "We** had ar- rived. Standing 'em up at 4:15 Sunday afternoon, with much laughter dur- ing Ikil MTMl fMtitfiri iojoum. PICCADILLY (CHICAGO) Chicago, May 2S. When tha Sehoanatadta daeMa to cut matinee stage shows, it might not be such a bad idea to let the public In on It. People paid Monday matinee to see a de luxe show. In- quiry by phone, befora antaringt, brought tha raapttfiaa Hiat thara would bo a stage show. Upon en- tering, tho doorman was aaked again. Ha replied that ha 4I<I not know. When told to ask the man- ager, ha aald thara wasn't any man- ager." • Here Is a Ilne-up of the flrst do luxe show Monilay night. It speaks for Itself. • Feature picture ("The Claw," with Norman Kerry and Claira Wind- sor), flnlshed, and then a 'fablaa** shown. The newsreel followed with accompaniment by tha pit orches- tra. The members of this naw or- chestra seemed to be total strangers to each other. Nothing quite so sour had bean heard befora In a theatre. Than a scenic picture followed the nawarael with tha organist Play- ing Ita aeeompanlmatit. flvdaanly the scenic was cut short and trail- ers announced Joseph Alexander at tha organ. Tha brsanlat want Into his solo without stopping. After the organist has flnished^^^ore trailers, announ6ln'i^ tha ptatura ttft the last half. Here, by tha way. Is a novel ar- rangement, nia auiga ahowto tun a full week, but the pictures are changed twice weekly. During the showlnff of tho traJlera, tho organ- ist kept playing. Suddenly, the stage band started to play tho open- ing. Organist stoppadi astf #8ndered what It's al labout A stage hand yelled. "Not now.** Band stopped and tho organist atarted again, |mg* mented by ,tl|# IpiftMva? of tlM^ iMI- dlenca. Presentation opened wtth a Mia- dowgraph scrim stunt which got a hand. Then lights up, scrim out of the way, and tho band nnmber fln- Lshed. Sam Kaufman Is still wielding the baton at this house. This boy works hard, but hia atyla la aa ec- centric It's ridiculous. Kaufman announced Hilda Major In his usual nutty manner. Hilda, as a stralf^ht violinist, is so-so, but when attempting calisthenics and playing at the same time, she's no- no. She also sang, after a fashion. Doree I^islle was her little sweet self. Hero Is a yonng woman who has appearnnce and personality plus. Her singing was a bit weak, but dahcing good, eha clicked, and how. Hazel Romaine next Sings with a "down In tha basement voice.'* Appearance okay. Then Williams and ^Ross. two- man dancing team. These chapa do a comedy d.^nce that Is fnnny, have a funny appearance, and work with a so1<»mn, aerloifa axpreaalon that's ludicrous. They wara ahcorad plenty. The entertalnera were not Includ- ed In the flnale Tt Is a "meet the bovs" stunt, with each member of the orchestra doing a little some- thing. Special attaoiloA la directed seen before and to a good deal bet ter advantage. Jenks' eustomary mugging was almost extinct, as was Miss Gogo'a pep and delivery. Evi- dently both wwa being held down. The returns for thatar atta mvoibar were weak. Military buslneas came next, with nine coryphees, credited to Louis Berkoif, starting off with inverted leg routines atop a platform in the background. Two tiers of steps on each side leading down to the stage were not utilized until the flnale. Martha Vaughn, mild soprano, was used in this section with "Dream of the Big Parade," in Red Cross out- flt. Stock war shots were flashed on the velvet curtain during the song, but failed to impress properly. Miss Vaughn can paaa with itraight .songs, but misses on tha amotional accompaniments. Tha band executed a George Primrose from the front of the house for a finish to the number. Some more military taps hy the pals, with Jack Kearney in the front, okay, Kearney stealing the number on rapld-flra atemplng. Used in solo he would have wowed. The theme number from "Rio Rita," "Following the Sun Aronttd," delivered in mediocre style by Don Carroll, a boy with nice pipes, but lacking In that aomathinf; Peabody was "at ease" througti out the show. With tho exception of parttalpatliif In a banjo nambar with two others, he did nothing much. Aside from his customary spaclalttea^ aran fha Jumping jack antics were oltiBlttg. The band did as much. A tellat iili|nber by six girts prMdad the flnale; Clothes pa- rade In springtime atmosphere. Moore and Shy, of freak stature, big antf aman, get whatever laughs there were on the bill. The relative difference In proportion between the two, coupled with some gags and mugging, weae enough to get a rise wofkM fli*&a »llltiff'ainBkir*^ appoarei ^ttt Of plaoa hi flM *pt«a- gram. BRANFORD (NCWARK, N. J.) Newark, May SO. Babe Ruth's picture, *'Babe Comes Home." Is the flicker background for tho liaseball Week celebration at this Stanley-Fabian house, which features the "Baseball Scandals" as the stage presentation. Joe Penner and Zelma O'Neal are tha two par- ticular luminaries In the stage offer- ing, the former a very funny mime who emanates from burlesque and is contracted to Jones & Green (Bo- hemians, Ina) for the next "Ureon- wlch Village Follies." Yoimg Penner's production suc- cess is asstired accor<ling to his pic- ture house Specialties, whicii are probably stop-gaps until next sea- son. Zelma O'Neal, one-half of the talented O'Neal Sisters (the other m&rricd recently) foils for Penner whon not registering on her own, and she. too, should be given atten- tion by th« same manngemcnt aa a vIs-a-vis for their comedian. "Baseball Scandals*' has Marty lieck's Playboys, versatile band of 11. as the musical l)a< kground, with JJernlce Speer, Joo I>ovlln. Astrld r)>ilRon, Wally Davis and FranUle Hurt in the prosentatlon. Miss Speer Is from production, recently in "Vanitiai^" and a corking tap EASTMAN - (ROCHESTER, N. Y.) Rochester. May 2f. Memories of a big musical com- edy success of a few years ago were revived at the E«astman this week with a tabloid version of "Go- ing Up." A company of SO had been drilled for the song and dance en- sembles, and there was some Idea of following the plot. The latter attempt was too patchy to maka much headway, ao that the scenea that should have clicked with com- edy merely left the audience a littla hazy. The aong nnmbera went orer welL There was the "Going Up* chorus, and such solos as 1 Want a Boy,^' *'Downf Up! Left! Rligtl** Kiss Me." "Here's to Two OfTa«f and the lively dance ansewWi^ *mckle Toe,** led by Raaa Quiglay; Solo work fell also to Philip Reep as the noveliat, Martin Vogt^ Har- old ShigletoB, ttacothy ofaiiiay. Nerval Brelos, Albert Ncwcomb and Philena Raaseggar. Tha good old mualo by tha lata Lanla A. HIraeli sounded almost new after Its long repose. Ralph Murphy was brought on frmn New Itm lb ttaga and George wiKteaii tttak aa«a ^ tlia scenery. The watk'a bin contatead aa «n« commonly good presentation of Schubert's "Ave Maria," with Kthel Codd, prUna Minaa^ tlM Rochester Opera Company, singing with Flor- ence Knope providing violin obbU- gata liM SsaCHoa & ilyafe «t organ. The £astmaa program Included the aeraaa faatnrai *^vera"; the or- chestra overture, from Ollenbach'a "Orpheus in the Underworld": **Melodies of the Southern Stately* one of the "Music Master" serlew; an "Our Cang' comedy and newa weekMr. ■ —" Not McVlCK£R'S (CiHICAQO) Chicago, May 24. Phenomenal business at this Pub* ite 0htt mM iMght ptotiwa house Is a thing of the past, since the end of the Paul regima avar a ytev aga haa tha place been subject to a steady flow of real business. There have been aoma Tory good waaka and tMi some very bad week a, and the lat- ter, unfortunately, have been in tha majdrity. ^ It's a long story, replete with va- rious and numerous poUcies, thla history of McVicker'ab Twa yeara or so ago the theatre was a small grind vaudeville place and pleasant* ly successful as that. Complete re- modeling, practically rebuilding, changed it to a picture theatre. A short spasm of straight flfina con- cluded when a California man with a rep out there, none here and a reported n e w Id e a waa placed in front of a stage band. The man was Paul Ash, and in quick time he pro- ceeded to draw more patrona thaa McVlcker's or any tlNAlpa III Chi* cago had even seen. When BaUiban ft Kats opened their Oriental in a more "naturaT* part of the Loop Ash was trans- ferred, part and parcel, meaning himself and his customers. That the Oriental should supplant Mc- Vlcker's as the big draw house waa quite the inevitable result. (Many unconflrmed rumors floated around at that time to the effect that B. A K. leased the Oriental with Ash pri- marily In mind, which wasn't such a bad Idea if right or not.) Never- theless, thla la a reauma of Ma* VIcker's. Upon Ash's departure it seeming- ly waa believed that another staga band conductor could duplicate. Henri Gcndron was engaged for the purpose but expired shortly. Then Ralph Williams was employed and did the same. Neither had hit the Asn pace as to draw, and meanwhile the bonne failed to see reinearna- tlon. A "special" fllm policy waa then adopted With John Barrymore'a "Pon Jnnn" and the town's flr;»t .shot of Vitaphone. This brought the flrst real business since Ash and ran profitably for th** flrst few weeks of a moderate run. That's the play-by-play account of the Mc- Vlcker's enmr* up to the nr<%sailt <Contlnucd on page 27) >4