Variety (Jul 1927)

VARIETY FILM HOUSE REVIEWS Wednesday, Ju^ 13. 1927 MOVIETONE (HARRIS) (2d review) N< w York. Jul> 0. AdvcrlisiiiK for ilio IJairiss. wluio Fox*« "7th Htavon" is curn nt Lwi' r daily, in Ix iiij.^ split about r.o-nt br- twt!i.'ii tiic It'Utuic and i ox a Muvi« - tone. A new i>r(>m;un of Mo\i' toiic suli- Jecta has hran 8ultstiiiitt.d lor tiic ftrst bill that opened wtth "Heaven." Tht so iiK luih; ihv JAmUH Vfxh roe* p- tlon in Washington and the tako-oiY the Byrd plane. Byrd'H take-off was TinrdU'd by liavinK each of ti»e party oi four i likBMe a short talk for the Movietont- ' •iifhilo staiulinp: in front of the i>lanc. iTolkner, the dewigner and builder of •Ircraft, alBO was recorded. His un- certain Kiif^lisli added to the natu- ralness, and when he finished by Btatlnif he would be an American citizen as soon as thd UkW allowed there wus applause. Current Movietone bill opens wltli J. Harold Murray sinKinj? the "Kanger" song from "Kio Rita." Chte Sale's contribution, "They're Comin>r to Got Me," seonns easily the most successful effort at humor ar- complished to date by any of the talking? pictures. It really qualifie.s as a dandy short comedy. The vo- cal part combined with Intelllgrent pantomimic work ropristors many smiles and some laughs. Sale im- personates an escaped lunatic who acts as relief pastor of a little church. Lindbergh and Byrd Indicate the political and propa.iranda possibili- ties of Movietone, Sale the enter- tainment potentialities. For news reel purpo.sof? Fox-Case clearly has the edge through auto- matic synchronlration on one ma- chine that pbotf»ffrnplm and reofuds outdoors and with no studio restric- tions to limit its employments. ORIENTAL (CHICAGO) Clueago, July 6. 'Just a year ago in these parts eame> a d«h>ge of crepe hanging opinions, predicting collaT>so of pol- icy, Bliort life of the singular stage attmetiOB and numerous other forms of argumentive applesauce, all for the presumed benelit of I'aul Ash, th* Oriental theatre, and its spon- sors. That was about a month after the house opened. The weeping Willies started to wait for the flop. For some reason It didn't. When tlie Oriental and AJrti seemed to be rounding out a year together, apparently with no ill effects, the verbal embalmers •topped predicting and started ask- ing. "What's holding theia UP?" was the vital question. The wi«kly cross is the standing tetort. Today, In its second year, the Ori- •atal is the monumental home of the newest in presentations—stage bands. It is the current model for picture hou.so entertainment and en- tertainers and happens to possess the kingpin of stage band conduc- tors, Ash. after whom the policy has been named. The eternal "who mado who" is here revived for purposes of dis- cussion. True. Balaban & Katz "made" Ash in Chicago with high- geared exploitation, but Ash, in turn, "made" the Oriental. He didn't need the spot and proved it when, coming from tiie west coast witli a new angle of an unoriginal idea, he jammed McVIckers to Its rafters. Where otliers had failed, tlio Ash perspective immediately caught on. If the Oriental weren't built for Ash, it nli^^ht well have been. A beautiful theatre in a natural loca- tion It would be making money, no doubt, without him, but it is making xnore with him. This sounds like an eulogy to ; Alh, and It may be, for he rales one. * After almost two years he still ■tahds as the most powerful In- dividual mapnet in Chicago and the surest and most consistent drawing Card the middle west has ever known. Drawing the same faces Week after week, he has done more to popularize local picture houses than any one man, place, ov* nt, or thing. That infertsts picture nicn and should inU rest vatuleville. Which onct» had Aah burled in an orchestra pit. Once in a film house, .\sh wns for- tunately given a free hand. lie has played that hand with ai>ility, an ability almost impossible to define. He can't sing and he can't dance, but neither can Billy Sunday. As to Ash's draw, it is ahnigltty. The name alone will pull, without the body. For Instance, A.^sh is this week away on vacation, lie did not appear and his absence was an- nounced .at the window. S^till they bought. You could tell by the looks on their faces that it was Ash s h a u s e owd the y -Mnnv itr « v «n if Ik wasn't there. Beautiful thoughts, and true Al Kvalo conducted and the show Was of the Oriental's usual excellent grade. Kvale, first sixist, is a fav All members of the orchestra arc X>uring the course <^ a show Ash turns an Individual spotlitrlit on each man at least once. When the •pot goes on, the audience applauds, probably becauf^e A.'^li ordered the spot. Given the^ spot more than into poi»ularity. Willi siix or baton, he IS a clown Ills clowning is nuully funny, but tliey seem to like it here, more than they p^s. ii>ly would elsewhere. In sj>ile of Uiat Kvale has i>o.ssil»ihties. He might bian< h out with his own band. A (■iiTiK .ii.in condiH tni- \\(uihl b« nov<-l. and r.ovelties art- alwa\s a<n ptahle. In the Hla.u'e show, with Kvale and tlu- iiaiui. w. ;t siii^h lo<.uly familiar acts as l.y.iia Harris. Millon U'.tt- Hon and Wallace and Cappo. Added to these wjmo the liss.-r known Colette Sisters anti KWuore Char- iere. In ran B4 minuies and was lal.eh'd ••Coofy (Jolfers." Tlie title was approi)riate and just what Ori- ental audiences like. They get what tin y like, another reason wiiy. they buy. An opening band number wa,s corkin^^ and Watson followed to lead the talent. Watson is prac- tically permanent at the house and also a fav.. csi)oeia11y with the flaps. Fairly good looking and with a pleasing voice. The Colettes then proceeded to stop the show and take two en- cores, as do all acts, good or bad. at the Oriental. The exception here is that the girls are good. Cuteness is their strongest sales point, while tliev sins- and dance with jazzy dex- terity. A neat little sister team and very much better than the average. Elinore Charlcre was announced as an Ash "discovery." That guar- anteed Miss Charlcre, despite that she sings but ordinarily. A "piny up" number with Kvale set her in strong and she looks good tor tWo weeks of hold over. Lydia Harris was a wow. She has her own style of singing a rag. That her style,is smart and peppy. A curtain speech insures success for any time she replays the Orien- tal. She told the audience what a great guy Paul Ash is, what a na- tional movement he has started and what a lucky audience they are to have him, him.self, and in person. After that, she can show hei' j)ieture only at this houiie and never miss. Miss Harris has been iKMcabouts in picture houses for quite some time. She is from vawi^ So are Wallace and Cappo, daTu ers. Omit- ting talk and allowing for shrink- age, the boys are the same ae for- merly. They are fast steppers, speed counting more than anything else, and were liked Immeiieely. Henri Keates, orfrnnist. again had the customers singing vociferously without the aid of slidei or IhUBic and took his usual encore. He is probably the only picture house plugging organist in fh# "COQIltry doing those two thln«jrs. IVb. the house and the audience. Picture, "The World at Her Feet" (Par.), meant very little as to draw, as Is the fate of all films at the Oriental. House was packed. What Babe Ruth Is to baseball. Paul Ash is to presentations in Chi cago. And don't the flaps know It? And belltve it?. Tf«, Indeedy. •■ Loop, Oriental garb and displaying feath- ered embellishmenis. On back plat- form of moving stage are trio of contort ioin.^ts l wist in^:. Tjuward concluwion of nuniber Helen Yorke. coloratuta soprano, comes thri)UKh with exceipts from operatic ana, giving dianee for lier to show range of voice. TImt stuff not so great for Miss. York-', who can get by muili better witii the ballad or semi-pop eomposUions. Whittinan outfit then let loos<> of "When the Day la Dono'.an<l Clap Hands." after which Vanda Huff (Mrs. Paul Whiteman) comes through with her stepping routine of Oriental-Indian mixture, which the buyi rs liked. A trio of youthful entertainera with the baby pianos come forth, get rid of song and comedy, aided by a trombone trio and couple of alleged farce comics to close the stage portion. Whiteman, then in pit. leads the mob in the grand finale, while tableau on back stage brings to light Ali Baba and his complement of wives comfortably posed around the harem. This is Most efTective stage picture, for which Frank Cambria is entitled to take the bow. A little more animation in these presentations might prove as proper relief from musical entertainment. This unit took up just 89 minutes of the running time. Closing show was "Modern Commandments," Paramount production, starring Es- ther Rjilston. augmenting a good all-around show, enabling the house to creditably satisfy those who pay that Itrcent tap. Ung, ROXY the main floor aisles constantly. Wht ri the curtain rang up for the sta^f show, fh»y were clinibin,!.; liif.her and din t lialt. l^on Ciianey on the screen in * Mr. Wu" had a lot to do with all this journe.\ iiur. i\)Wan and the band opened the frolic With the "lAght Cavalry Over- ture," by Supi)e. the boyS being nat- tily garbed in navigation uniforms. The Helectiiin was well dorie and re- ceived approcialde retuins. 1'his number is by no means easy to play and there are not many picture house coniliinations tluit couhi have l)lay4'd it the way tl»ese boys did. The Skatellas were Introduced by Cowan with a bi.g sendoff. They did a lot and were ^8kocl*.for more. The act is class and contains a good deal of tiie- setisatiotial skating with- out becoming overworked, lloutines here are set for high speed and are sure fire. JbYancia White, demure, with a pleasant vocal organ not too strong but still easy to listen to, was gra- ciously accepted by the heat-bur- dened crowd and did two numbers. The other act liked was The Three Le Grohs, from vaude. Turn stand- ard here, with the big boy marking them up high on hit o^ttitprlion work. Cowan worked with a miniature piano on the stage and called for re- quest numbers. This idea should prove of value when he gets rolling. He can sing songs and knows liow to sell 'em. This boy has something to offer and specializing in one par- ticular direction will help him. Of the bathing girls, the prize winner, *'MIss Southern California" was the only one to display talent. The latter consisting of some dance steps in the form of a black bottom, Charleston, etc. The girl is a looker but will never start anyHiinup other- wise. The gals parading aroimd In what they will wear in future years ,bccn a lino beliind the organ ending up all blooey. Sijpi)ori iiir,' short rtehrs good, news reel, rather .soup\ nlcolor,'a Qrantland Itiee, a and iho Ko.och all having hearty laughs. All in all, one of the best and were Ti'cl,. tupicf some ill of Beiten, July It^ PARAMOUNT (NEW YORK) * New York. July 10. Indications ore th;it Paul White- man will wind up his six-week stay l-'riday in a blaze of glory. Sunday aftcrnotm. on the third or supper .show, the maestro of jazz had them standiniT deep in tiie lol>by and lined lialf a block around the side street waiting to get in. It was Whiteman himself who was responsible for tiie draw, as the folks who clogged up every bit of space to hear and see just clam- or*^'d for more and more and did not want l^aul to get away so f«ast after the grand finale, when he led his outfit and the house orc-nestra with a heavy composition. But as it was Sunday and a two-liour show schedule, Paul had to bow wff and let tlw show go on. With the house orchestra used for the finale, they did not play any lengthy tune for the opening of the fracas. "Voting America," pro- gramed as Unit 2 and desoiibed a? a Pensonality -Revue, hea.led by Hose Colgan and containing all of the winners of the Publix Notional Opportunity Contest of Vm, d» I not go on. No mention w;ls m.'.de one way or another for,,tlie omis- sion. So far as the cajh buyers were concerned, no one paid any atlenti(»n to the ovei.-^io'ht of the manar.c >M« lit in this direction. I'aramoimt News, running v'ight minutes, had five Kinogr.nns and (.ne International sliot. Tiic- Kino grams disclosed lh.it rrc-ivlcnt Coolidge, togged tip in his Western togs, has one of tiiosr Will Rogers comedy walks, and smiles, too. Jesse Crawford had six minutes at the organ and untnu-deufd two heavy and one jx.p number. That boy sure must b<' the "cock of tlu walk ' the way they go for his stuff li' i <\ N'(; (!.iii1>t if Ii<< were to put iiii a tw.i liour rctituJ they v.f.ii|d go :or iiis .'^fuPf in the same Way. 'J'he and farfW(>ll unit was Whilenjans, etitilkd "Ali Jiaba" and described as an OHental fan- tasy, (^urlain arose tlie fakir and his cn w doing their garlded chant In front of scrim and White- man making his entran<e in tr<.p- Ical gnrh. Scrim go<« up and re- veals the Whiteman crowd all In Oriental dress doing their .wfuff nn- (New York) New York, July f. Roxy's symphony orchestra shows rapid advancement. Choice of dasiieeil inuslcal offerings more in { handed a kick to some of the males line with the tastes of picture house For a spec finale, the tableau In audiences is one step upward, the background disclosed ultra-ad- "Capricclo Espagnol,'» this week's vanced state of wearing apparel for overture, is a welcome change from the girls to ctune, with the balliing the heavy musical diet heretofore, gals bunched In groups and effec •*Binged," Fox production, is the tlvely set o<t with proper lighting screen attraction this w^ll^. 4ust a IntefOftttoftial aewsreel short sub programmer. | ject !nie newsreel has evidently been given a permanent 20-minutc spot on the program, the Interest recent- ly tttimulated through the fliers warranting this move. International led with live shots out of twelve. Shots of President Coolidge step- ping about ginge rly in a p.tir of new Last night capacity at both chaps presented him by the Boy shows, despite sticky weather com- Scoute on his 65th birthday drew bination of Lon Chancy In "The Un a strong laugh. Another followed , „ , , when Mrs. Coolidge was shown hur- known and the announced farewell rylng away as the President's newly week of Phil Spitalny apparently acquired pony became frisky. able to offset the temperature. The hit of the presentation pro- Program announced in a full page gram was a little offering entitled spread the solemn claim that the air "The Glow Worm" wherein Roxy in the tlieatre "is no less pure than proves that lights, properly used, the wine-like air that sweeps over can nuse an ovation. mountains tops and fragrant Scene is laid in a forest as ver- meadows." It may have been as dant and as natural as any primeval pure, but it certainly did not pick forest. Small lights, representing up the fragrance of the average fireflies fla.s-h on the grass and in the meadow prior to passing the SSat ^''-lit'rina, plays to which this reporter happened to as a frightened maid In the woods, be bravely, and also literally stick dancing about gracefully. More ing. lights appear and Gam by draws Boston loves that boy Spitalny f''n^•/°"^*"^®"^„?' ^T^®,""*®^"®^ worships Lon Chaiiey. Both ballet dancers. The brilliancy of were greeted coTaitiny%hin th^r the colors is an excellent foil for Lames flashed on the screen Th^ ?J^.!^!i^ f »?ow-^hite costume. The Chaney picture not only was the big """"f^'- <?a<'h|draw, but it tensely until al. ensemble then joins m carrying a lamp with half the stage lighting and darkening during the most the very end when the big applause of the evenmg. Abat-jour," preceding the "Glow Worm." also drew spontane- ous approval. In this scene there is a gigantic lamp of blue and red as the lead'Up had Indicated. Sr)italny came back fairly strong after last Week's rather noisy pro- gram, having shown real showman- ship in building up Little Nina Three figures seem pasted on "the 1 i^lllll^iiS ffnJS^^iiHHwlitJ^'^^^a''w ^^"^ exterior of the lamp, not unlike pat- ?fvrni to «^nt t^"^; ^^^^^^^^ terns on chinaware. The three fig- UZTfrn .V'^ i"^"" uree go into an Egyptian dance r^^^^"^"^ number after two encores number is^ypuan aance^n^ several bows, the audience A feature of the dance offerings r',?^'^'^ ''''^ \^^'^ proceed and was the presentataion of the fninnet. ^^"^^ Numerous versions of this ancient ?® ijttle comedy "dancer, she did a der the direction of Henry Hu.shc. big fellow men, kvale was spotted ' Stage Alls with bunch of girls In court dance of the kings of France haye been presented on the stage and in films. The dance master at the Roxy has produced the nUin'ber with astounding exactness. Program over two hours. LOEW S STATE (Lot Angeles) Los Angeles, July 8. Panchon and Marco's "Id^a^' this week features Miss Southern Cali- fornia and the 20 winners of the L. A. 'Bxaminer'-Venice Bathing Beauty I'agoant. The idea starting (»ff in specialty form, is turned into a flash parade of girls, wardrobe, color and eff< ct and winds up In a bizarre tab'.e.nj f,,r the finale. From a production standpoint this presen- tation d<>s»-rveH creditable mention, inasmuch an most of the girl.s prob- ably never were on any stage before this. Pr< ceding the beauty revue are the Skatellas, Francia White and the Tliree J^' rirohs. l>ynn Cowan, hou.se barul dire< t or, and the band proper are the remaining features .and justify their presence on the stage. Fimehon and Marco appear to hav«^' fi'urni the pulne ol tiie iii( tun* going nitd) in this town. The <liv( r- Rified arrangement of progrnm al- ternating a." tii' V do < :\( h Wf< k. is simple black bottom that flnally •luieted tho 4,000-capacity hou.se. Spitalny's other ace was this un- spoiled lad named Steve Weinger. who is planted in his orchestra with a reedless sax and who sings the wailing type of number in a most unprofessional manner to wild ap- plause. They are billing him as having "that voice with the tear in it," the word "tear" incidentally is supposed to rhyme with "beer" and not with "hair." Spitalny, In his orchestra routine, used two trick effects, one a flock of ships at sea and the other two electric forges for an anvil duct, both registering. His most effective number was his final encore entitled "Nola and the Boys," in which most of his team were .allowed to do one novelty or trick chorus in voice or instrument, the bip horn gettin* the best laugh and the strongest ap plause. It was supposed to be Spitalny's f;Lr»'w< ll week, this come-on untiui s- tionably being responsible for part of the lienvy business. He will prob- ably play two or more additional wcoKH to noister u<> more Weak f<»a- the season at the State. lAbbey. FORUM <iL08 ANQELE8) Loa Angeles, July 9. ' An otiierwise <lull evt-ning ut the l'\jrum is avoided by ti»e Stage dl- verlissemiMit and the musical pre* lude given in conjunction witi) the'' fa-crecn showing of John Uairympre in "When a Man Loves."^ A new musical director, Yasciia liorowsky and tfte retui'n of Serge Oukrain- sky'i ballet with Mile. Willette Al- len and Mile. Kleanore Klaigo and the addition of Price Duulavy, Jr.", at tho organ, provide a variety ot entertainment which at tin opening last night drew fayprable commen- dation. Selections from "Madame Sherry? played by Dunlavey demonstrated tlie popularity of the youthful ex- ponent of the keys. For the over* ture Borowsky led the Forum Sym- phony orchestra through "Echoes from the Metropolitan Opera House," with a violin olibligato by the director that drew hearty ap- proval. Much of the brass has been eliminated from the orchestra. It makes for a more soothing melody effect Borowsky looks valuable to the Forum. The stage show consisted entirely of dance numbers, running 20 min« utes. Oukrainsky and Andreas Pay- ley are given program credit for creation of ^the several dance num- bers, and wftli the excei)tion of the closing number, Hollatid danc(\ done by 12 boys and girls, tlie routine was of the highly pleasing sort. On full stage with phish drapes and eye, "Nymphs at Play" was done by MIsses Aaron, Copp, Flohre and Carson. An ov.ation greeted the appearance of Mile. Kleanore Flaige and Miss Cummings. and their Girl and Doll ntimber, with Miss Flaige, the mechanical doll, went over sol- idly. "The Blue Danube" danc<; Intro- duced a novelty with Mile. Allen and four dancing girls cavorting about beneath an artificial wav% manipulated by the girls. Miss F1alg«» followed with a toe dancing solo, and Miss Allen follow itig with a dainty Grecian solo number. For a fihate the Dutch dance showed a lack of unl.son by the d.ancers and was not in keeping with the mor^ dainty numbers which preceded. Immediately preceding the Bar- rymoro picture premiere George Jessol came -on the stage to Intro* duce various stars in the audience. Following the premiere a newsre^ was added to the program. tAPITOL "V (NEW YORK) New Yt)rk, July 10. The feature^ "The Callahans an4 the Murjrliys," runs a few minutes over an iiour, leaving a lair margin of tiikie for a nicely dlversiiicd pror gram of screen fragments and pres- entation specialties. Sliow moves briskly and has good comedy values, being extraordinarily strong in this respect. Overture is from "The Merry Wives of Windsitr," cheerful num- ber nicely placed in this program, Edgar Falrchild and Ralph Grain- ger, presiding over two grand pi- anos, play a variety of light popular bits With two specialty numbers in- terpolated. Marjory llarcum, con- tralto, posed in a transparency, sings an Indian song in costUiU* and later Jane Overton, graceful as she is tall, does a jazz dance solo between the pianists and the foots* Polh brig^ht spots enhancing an en- joyable musical interlude. News weekly has the Pathe vlewt of Dukp and Duchess of York re- turning from Australia to London on a British warship; diving girls and airmen; Fox is represented with the Hawaiian fliers arriving near Honolulu and Internatlonai has Interesting freak views of the recent eclipse of the sun, taken in England. Ballet pres^tatlon next, leading to the film feature, and then to top off, a two reel comedy, one of Stern Firos.-Universal subjects in the car- toon series "I^t Georgo Do It.' This is a laugiiable slapstick hav- ing to do with the adventures of a recruit in the army, with an auto- mobile chase for the finh^h. _ . H«is. RIVIERA turo films, as part of his Boston job Rf ems to be to offset heat and poor 7»ioturefl. To the gre.-it surj.rise of every- body, Blrge Peterson, the new or- ganist, actually put across a song ping set of slides, the houfle joln- going over with the flicker fans of ing In on the choru.ses and giving this house. it a hand «t the end. Peterson Is With the barometer registering ! not f 'urrinr his melody, which around fc6 Friday ftfterno»m, theylmak's it a little rasler to follow, kept filing In the foyer and down <in the past the audience has usuallv (OMAHA) Ornahn, July 7. After two w eiks of heavy adver- llslng by in^yK's pa ix i ' . biHUumd an d finally by a parade, the HivKra started its new stage policy this week, offering an hour of entertain- nKiit after the Paul Ash style with Boyd Senter In charge. The first bill went over big throughout the week and had not n weak spot on »». Publix entertainers are backed by a l.'i-pief'e stage orchewtr.o, Tho hot spot on the bill wa.« -Ter- ris, who plays the pian-c.-accordion and dances. Best wa^^a slow »«•