Variety (Aug 1927)

Wednesday, August 10, 1927 REVIEWS . hard ti."e tr>In« to get th« audl- with lilm. He told some Btorles !r,?S The bunch away ahead of him. 7hen he kidded the members of the .liv^Mtra and finally Uie auilience. SSfSelatter not so liberal with ap- 5"a'iM and the old-timer llattened *"HarUn Chriatle followed with one «f his own popular numbers, and jS.'i^tomer. yeUed for more. This Entertainer Is buUdlngr hlmeelf • bis JonS and win be hard to fol- low if he ever leavee. The flash of the bill, Four CloT- m'lr Girls in a neat club jugsUng was well received, the girls Mttin? lots of pep into their work ind never missiug a club duiins the ""witeou and Godfrey had a novelty turn with danclns. "•Inglng." some Sirobatic. and lot» of hooey but *nrtelnK from the applause It clicked Sid satisfied. Miss Whitney came back for a neat tap dance and then •kTband swung Into snappy Anale. "The roor Nut" is an amusing aim tale of college life, closely fol- lowln« the stage play, and fltteil nicely witli the stage bill preceding. Areel of Wable* for th« chaser, com- CAPITOL (NEW YORK) New Tork, Aug. T. I«d by » oorklng light comedy on tUTilenen, -Adam and Evil" (M-G- 5) the Capitol U following conven- tional lines to the extent the house orchestra Is demonstrating enough ability, to sufflclent satisfaction, to take a bow at the second afternoon show with a pretty and brief toe dance by Jane Overtone following, wttk the usual ballet, about 40 peo- ^10, neatly executed and eaay to the mg for 15 minutes. The house gar* its new reel 10 nlantea and split the honors all ■round without the most recent of these disciples, Paramount, breaking in. Pathe slipped through for two BhotB, as did International and Kinograms. Fox hit thrice, prob- ably topping for Interest on its quick summary of the Cooliilso political career si>onsored by the I'rcsidcnt's announcement that he will not seek (••election. Sylvia Miller and William Robyn vocally duetted auccessfully just after Miss OTerton danced, with the Cody-Pringle celluloid farce closing to MOBdant and obvtoiw mMTia«nt. SHERIDAN (CHICAGO) Cbieago, Aug. E. SiMrtdaa ia probably Chicago's %mt WBunple of what a popular di- Notor and master of ceremonie* ou do fbr a picture house. Verne Buck has done wonders for that house. The Sheridan, once taking Uie count, ia now playing to oaiKiclty. There is one thing larking aiiii^ng the patrons —a sociable fooling. Edmond Fitch's numbers at the or- gan demonstrate this. His playing la okay, and the screen gags for tempting the audience to sing have Improved, but yet there ia no song response. Right now this feeling seems to be the onljr wet blanket in tile house. nie Verne Budc lAioky Club, a tig to encourage the homelike at- laoephere and get steady patrons, la being formed. The audience Is Juwed to join this and have some ym. At some specined performance during each week the members will ■•••Ilowed to give some of their own ■one* and dances on the stage. This should work, hooause Buck ia popu- lar with the women. ■Ti^'L* " people take to it, jnll help Fitch and bring the song response. It may even run the Weekly gross higher than expected. iT show now given la •MUy worth the money. Tho pTM- entatlon lasted 44 minutes and held jne crowd. Pathe news reel and a 5'5'5j*.''*<'*tire, "la Zat So?" (Fox) aatlMed tor the screen showing and 2?tt"*i? "how wltneMod Sheridan theatre y»t. STRAND (NEW YORK) _ , „ _^ New York, Aug. «. JfW Voorheea and his orchestra ?~»Py the atage for fully half an "our With satisfactory r< sult.s. *nen enters Cy Landry and ties up we hon.s« in two minutes. ihe billing Is upside down. Voor- "eea rnxy bo a favorite with those Who know hira, but aa entertain- ment value Landry la Ur greater «>d in the featur* As an orchertf* olEtrlng tha Voor- band ia not excaptlonally «rong. This Is due mostly to tlie poor 3<"*lty orchestrations through TOCh sound values are lost. Wlth- ™ one or two exceptions selections «fc SJ""" * change In routine ■nonid give this group a chance to bJ! appropriate style. MchoU and bis Five Pennies •re featured. Betuma only fair, Innfl^^ the exception of T»ri!i'™ 'ttraietlon, -The Stolen woe, not very strong, with Vor- being relied on to raise the •roeRcs. ■Caprlccio Itallen." featuring Mile. *«Mii*»S!^' Wt aelectad tor STATE, N. Y. (Continued from p;ige J7) $tat» bills and their prototypes, of which this week's is representative At the FoUes Bergere, at the Zleg'old Roof of sainted memories, at the American Music Hall of sa- cred recollections, it wouldn't h.ivo lived to close. Hilt In this day and generation, when the movie is billed over the acts and when faniily-tiuic Is composed of ails tilling in or boil- ing to arrive, it served ajj a Broad- way vaudeville show. In truth, it blotted out all lines of old-time de- marcation, for there wasn't a sin- gle act on the bill that hasn't served the blsgest of the big circuits. One of them has clianged Its name—the IJonal Sisters. These gals were the Gasch .Sisters, bal- ancers, u two-act of standing on top-notch bills. Probably nobody in the house recognized the Gascli girls but this reviewer; nevertheless the routine went over in stellar fashion. Fay and Milllkcn deuced. This team had better not play the Delmar time. A blackface (white man) and a white girl as partners—anything more uncalled-for? The act didn't do, despite fast footwork and hot stepping. This toain-up is out of order and distorts possible values attainable. The man does a I^m CarrlUo "Ford" effect with a piano- stool that is good—always was. But the "'sympathy" has been shot, and nothing, no matter bow surefire, can save It. The man must stay white or this pair must stay No. Z on small time. Marie Stoddard, hearty she-single of vaudc repute, followed. Marie has a fear of the Loew houses. Sl:o (,Ui\-3 •"down" to them. She doesn't know that the Loew patrons are the origi- nal vaudeville-goers, that the Loew system made vaudeville, and that she made lierself in vaudeville, and that she should stay as she made herself. Shading her material to low-brow appetites drops her a strata or two beneath her hearers. That will never get her over. The mechanics, clerks and liouscwives these da\ s are smart. They know plenty. They want artists to show and teach, not to b.T.by them. Not so with Ilughie Clark. He gave it to 'cm a la VVlilteman. Here Is an avolrdupopular boy who has a yen for humor and credits his audi- ence with the same business, and, despita absence of sex-apiieal, daintineaa and hero attributes, this comic, singer, musician, entertainer, hit it. They wanted more of him— and there was plenty of him to st.art with. Here is a big-time jicrformcr who knows his Loew time. Ho has a liot band, gives variety and speed, and knocks oft 12 minutes of vaude- ville fit for any house n arsr above, never below. Itilo (there ia a question mark after his brief name) next to dosed and goaled 'em. His whistling Imlta tlons and effects, impersonations of bird and beast, hit midriff. He, also, didn't change a trill or note. He is wise enough to get a good act and leave it that way. The man is an entertainer. He got laughs, sur- prise, applause. He "stood up," and justified his booking, his billing and his salary. Ha^o ok e ncor es galore and could have forced a few more, but didn't. Ijester I>ane and Co. flash-turn, closed, holding the house In solid, even those who had seen the picture ("Twelve Miles Out") lefter the tirst sight. Seven people wlio know their vaudeville "Hoyle." Altogether a first-rate i^late bill, which would have t>een perfect if some of the "artists" hadn't been smart enough to accommodate their rarified gifts to the moronic exigen- cies of popular-priced patrons. But if they don't want to play Loew time as they're hired to, they ahould lay off Ih aummer. ZmU, six aet.-§ wus "Haunted." a (u>st< i> ^k. toiji playing a repeat with tlie I'liliiig alleging it carrying a BroaUu.iy cast." No argument. They should have this akit turned into a purt of a one-reeler and aave everybody. Of the 'seven men In the two final turns three were the S Sailors and ilie other four were the Itltz 4. There '• almost a stag audience at the Bth Ave. How they must enjoy seeing Tuoii! Besldea \%as ' iiolled Stockings," a moving picture wholly depenilonl upon its title, for the pietuie itseU doesn't sliow a single rolled stock- ing. But tiiat titJc and the rain drove Uie men in Monday evening Of course "l-'ables" was there, un- L>ther K-A split. Oi>enlng were Ix)r- imer and Hudson, comedy cycling turn (New Acts). No. 2 Small and Mays, two col- ored men, who sing and dance, with one playing a guitar. One sings better than the other, and the other dances better, while one doesn't play at all, although he talks the most Yet the other talks too as tlie str:iiglit. As a colored combo what they do and can do should keep them on the lower time Young fellows they should go after the talk thing more strongly, liavlng examples before them in other colored turns who are getting the most money by talking, except- ing Sisale and Blake. Just talk and talk, two solo songs and the doubh dance, with the single dances for the encore. Th.at leaves the musi- cal instruments in the dressing room. Colvin and "Wood, mixed two-act. talk and talk, also sing. Same turn formation somewhat different In material since Last reviewed uhdcr Variety's New Acts, but no great talent advance from the first ac- count. Man still wears smock nnd straw hat. Oirl fair as a looker. Start is with auction of eltccts found In the theatre. I-'irst is a bag containing a iiaby's milk Ixittlo .ind "six largo handkerchiefs," that a wise look goes with. I*iter on ex- plosion business while attempting to auction ff a mdio set, with the auctioneer decreasing the number of cylinders by one at each explo- sion. Isn't there anything funny in radio for vaudeville? This act In- termediate time also. Their own fault one might say and with a guesa that too much home made stuff doesn't work out well for any one but an expert home-mader. flood houaa Monday evening, .^peaking of tha atMndaaee, not the theatre. Finr. and cLt.ss of big timers, but need in.iterlal. Zastro and Vhlte, two youtlifu; and nifty male steppers Oai'l;ed by VARIETY greased too swiftly for pcrfeot hi alth, the loose ends have been yiieily tightened up while a moro iiservatlvo policy of expansion la a sextet Of clever danenig ;;i. Is. did adopted in certain quarters nicely with a dancing fla.'.h. c.o.^.i g i. : i^^a .wif, the first half. The boys a.0 the .«t, | F'" considered too swlfc with the girls figuring Mtllc mere CapiU for Films than excess except from a dressing • The per capita expenditure In the value. Some will argue that tlie T'nlleil States on motion pictures girls' routines are helpful, 'out they ! is approxiniat 1; JlO !>or annum—^ showiM nothing that hasn't Le.-n I i,,ss tl-.an three cents a week. Prop- .lono by c\ery Hash act g ii g tbe|prly h:uidled, like the automobila rouiuls, n'he lto> sarethi re. however, .ami ...huuld L'e grabbed up to.* pro- ilii.-ti..n. lUi.s, Uos,i]ii, se^ng.strc.^s, in "one." .and with l.Muse orriie.t r i. clicked f.airly \\tll opening the inlermissit.'H in a collection of vocals that went over for value, but could have gone better with more concern about rou- tining. The dialect number on ''Horses" for closer nearly earned her the raspberry, but she was too smart to remain for It. "What I'rice Auntie," interpreted by iin unbilled man and two WTnu ii. pro\ed an in-^ipi<I concoction that should ha\c a liar.l time making tlie t'liaui.iU'iU.is, ir foil tiat with evi-n this soft audience. Just as well, for the trio that their names are with- held from the billing. Charles Olcott, doing his usual planolog, was the main cheer-up kid. Three Annis, male equilibrists, closed with some hand-to-hand bal- ancing and pyramid atuff worthy of mention. Lon ClMUiey In "Tha Uak*»wn" (M-d.-MK'- 5TH AVE. (Vaude-Pets) It looked prrity bad on the boards outside', tiio vauJo and pictures Mr. I'roctor was tossing over tlie foots the first lialf. Up to V.SO it had played no better than It looked. After tliat hour aa there were seven boys to still show in tha final two turns the Judgment can go either way. About the most Interesting por- tion of the entire prosrrain was the i'athc News ileel. In a Ivcith-Alhee liou.'-o you usually see all I'athe turns out and nothing but, with the simple explanation the K-A people arc said to be heavy with I'athe stock, even before the merger. The Pathe reel sent forth views of pos- sible Republican presidential nom- inees next summer. They com- menced with Coolldge and wound up with Hoover. In between were several Including Lowdcn. The only men to receive a single bit of applause were Charles K, Hughes and Il. rhert Hoovrr. with not anv too mtich noise for rlilier. That Is not forgetting Mr. CoolldiT>- who stood alongside his wife, wi;h both apparently applauding some- body or something. Their applau.se. however, did not suggest to the si l ent andiehdg ft WtU I H Bf It. ^-hir-thelr re»Hn* Following were some training shots of Gene Tunney. Though Tunney did not start a riot, the np- plaiiRo for him alone exceeded all of that given for the nominee.";. .So Broadway and 'iilb street may be Drmorratle. ' -Jm tlM wIMIa^f «M «Mi4* bm at AMERICAN ROOF (Vaude & Pets) With the gopher audience more ferocious than usual and the pitter patter tattoo with the rainy down- pour ovtslda Monday night keeping better tempo than aoma M tha aong- blrds carded, it was a great evening Cor the dumb acts and silent drama. Absence of tear Jerkers and sob b.allads in the few song routines at- tempted made the rtiughnecka an<l their girl friends blase au<litors. and h.andcufTed must of the evening. A few husky specials to whip the noisy mob Into line for a couple of weeks might help In regulating deportment. ^Ith numerous opposition, including the few annoyances mentioned, the .show labored through, with the acts doing the best they could but show- ing to poor advantage in this any- thing but conducive setting, A noisy bunch occupying the ad- jacent box shaped up liko Klmira gr.adu.atos. They paid littio atten- tion to the performance, 'i'lio anru- mentatlve chatter of the boys lost all attention In the rear to dialog. Admonition for quiet upon part of the near-bys was possibly frustrated through fear of cannonading. Before the deucer had trotted forth, and with this reporter trying his level best to pay attention In- stead of grabbing the act, he over- hciird from a youth barely 13 a boast to hia boy friends that he had been In moro Jails than any of them and was willing to lay odds on tliis. At thl.t Juncture one of tt.c boys suggested adjourning to a ntar-by booze Joint after getting lh« exact time the feature picture went on from the usher. AU seemlni<ly I>Jn Chaney fans, since tha latter, in "The Unknown," Was ttaa sliver screen special. After a noisy departure overjrthlng w.as Jake (not Lubin) for the re- mainder of the show. "Unknown" would happen whas booiara re- turned. Al Gordon's comedy dogs opened with the usual canine routine, with Al englnerlng them through their paces and working them in a tread- mill fln.-ile, not new, but evidently hitting heavy with the outfronters Itu-ssell and Farrell, mixed team, followed on with the conventional singing deuce, the boy at the piano and the girl handling most of tti" w^u-ijlin;--. Iloth .are talenied bevon l their pr. srnt stuff. If the rirl woulil only tie hen^' lf inslr-arl of stru-'gling for comedy with Laugh-proof Uiate- rlal it would l>c great for both. As urowd save the troublesome element. CanllR and Walaa (both good English towns), next, with a hokcy line, got a slow start but finished strong. Just why this couple wastes their endeavors upon such weak and hopelCHS material Is another one for boydt .Tb^Vvy t{ia makhigs LINCOLN SQ. (Vaude-Pets) It wa^r^t the rain, nor the heat nor tlic humidity nor tlie audi, nee nor anyone of many tilings that might have been blamed on the vaude show Monday ni.L;ht. It was Just a small time bill—the kind of a show at this hou.se j-ear in and year out. An ill. song slide would just about take the whole sho\\ back to the very first days that the I.,oew offices started out to play sh'.ws there. :'•' Funny thing about that outburst of the heavens right at show time, ("loneially It drives people Into the show shotis, but. Judging from the empty seats downstairs. It didn't drive a single soul in. And a brand of old stylo vaude w.as on p'lr.ide, yet ttio .aiull'Tice which seemed more youthlul as a whole than at any of the other downtown Tx>ew shops got some kicks out of it. Judging from the way they whistled and yelled. For some it may lun* baatt tfealr first vaudeville show. Genaro Girls opened with aero- batics and contortio'nistic feats. The sisters, Marie and Tomnh, havo barely chan.Ted even an eye twitch of their act since they started show- ing the present stunts. The "girls" woikfd about seven minutes with the doo getting more on their en- core stuff In "one" than they did on what they had done previously In bends and acrobatics. Bill Casey stepped on. He seems to land mora .•a««tlv«ly witii hia sonits than anything else. His t.ilk is the kind one could think up In a taxi on the way to the theatre. liill steps on the popular song stuff to returns nnd what else matters In the combo houses? Ren.ard nnd West went fairly w(-ll. hut did not get the I.aiigiis obtained in other Loew lifiiises. The girl s(-enie(1 to b*. suffering from the heat or indifference and one ctuld barely make t»ut what she was sing- ing about In the ballad. 'When changing to tlM recitUtTO tom her words were lost soon aftar vaaalng the footlights. The aat iitaBa to need a finish. Cardd and Noll are from the old school of vaudevllllans, yet In a nei!;hborhood like Lincoln Square their grand opera finish got them as much ns anything lm;tglnable. And that they are vets Is hacked up by Variety's New Acts file, which had them covered back In 1913. .That shows that pop priced vaude hasn't made any changes resembling a miracle. Padd CllfC and band closed the show. Paddy, before putting this outfit together, was a hoofer, as he specializes in this phase of stage work, althnurh he didn't do so bad- ly on .a vocal fling. The band of 10 men Is strong on brass. Nothing unusual, but okeh for this type nf house. l<'ilm feature, Paramo'unt's "Nevada," ifarfc. WAYOFBlGBiZ (Ooottnued from page t) Similarly, almost all great Indus- trial concerns have outgrown the founders, dropped with the Invest- ment of outt'ide cspital and the in- vasion of outside forces. \'iewed from an econoroi<al angle the picture trndo has not yet rfnehed the saturation point.. Con- fidence of shrewd Investors Indi- cates ih.T.t much moro money is yet to be made than has been made harstnfnrr—Ttnt if » semhlanee nf Industry, this should only be con- sidered :ts a beginning, Aut-imo- bile ni.imi'icturers cinim there Is no saturation point, as has been said for the past 10 years, and that there will be no saturation pidnt until every family iti America li.aa .at le;i>t two au'.omobil s. In film entertainment the distance from saturation seems. much more probable. While the per capita expenditure on i^lctnres has grown to $1'"* and is still rising, concert expenditura has dropped from $1 to 7B cents per e.-iiiita, fr- 1 *1"0 000,000 to 180.000.- I'UO y.eirly gross receipts, and still on the ilecliiie. Outside capital is expected to force changes In,tha film Industry as In others. CbnsOIIdatlon of a certain group of automobiles undor one s.ales nnd distritoition system has Increased sales and profits enormously while cutting down consumer costs. Banking money was In :ind the dividends, plentl- folly fat. hacl to come out. The submerging of the Individuals who once started tha buainesa waa. hardly noticeiS by the public. I-'xhibltors, In ,a large measure, are lia.stenlng or forcing the consolida- tion of the Industry. In forcing mergers exhibitors etaanga tha flim business from a buyeri' Into a "sellers' market. The suT>ply of pictures Is now greater tlian the dem.and, with exhibitors oversold. In this reapaet ,tbe picture buslnaaa dirrer* from other Industries whera the siiiiply In made following ^ha .leinand and production Is stopped when the periodical market stopa, Fawar Pietaraa Through consolidation the four or five remaining firms would not have to figure much to amee that liy making 400 pictures instead of 800 thoM 'WMM . ba a great saving to exhibitors and a tremendous In- cre.ase in profits for producers. The cxJilblllng demands could be more than satisfied with 400 feature films annua^jr,:. abovt eight pictures m, week. TTnder these circumstances ex- hibitors wou; be undersold Instead of overbought, puti the Industry on * par with otbera for betMf bttslnesa results. "Wo are now like a pack of wolves," one executive stated. "We get what we eon from those we can get: it "When the film distributor hits a closed tewn, aa he often does, where all houses are owned by the same exhibitor, the latter offers )10 for a $40 picture, and the distributor must take It or get nothing, "When I hit the wide open town, with two, three or four competitive grouiia, I'd t>e a fool not to get as much aa I could for my pictures to make up for the losses In the closed territory. "A sellers' market would soon change this system. The rlo.sed town would then l>e forced to piiy a reasonable quota or be denied pictures. And not being over- bought ho would h.avo nothing to show In Ills theatre. In this way the exhibitors in the open territory could be sold film at a reasonat>ia figure through the determinatiM at a set price for certain terrttorlic'* panic ran force or stlmtilate the present powers to let go control of their holdings then It seems that such an illusion ahould benefit the money men wbo would clean ui> with the rebound W. PA. EXIflBS. DEAD AGADIST NEW OAUSES Authentic reports are made that the lnd<pendent theatre owners of W^est Pennsylvania are protesting vigorously against new clau^a's be- ing iil.aced In the Stand.ard Kxhlbl- tlon Contract by various companies, anil especially by United Artists, giving the producers the right to reject any one contract while forcing the exhibitor to play the balance. This Is where a number of contracta are signed the same d.ay. Ttie Arbitration fi'sard of Penn- K>lv,inla ia Ixdng attacked severely on thLs question. Kich.ange man- nKf^TM have tried to mnko the claim Uiat this same clause w.^a approved nf by an exhibitor committee Jointly with the Hays iirganlzatlon. As f:Lr OS can be ascertained no such clause was agree! to, le aders of various state organ ly-iti .ns hav- ing rrpeatclly argued with Hays oiri' iais t,i iiavo the rider eliminated. l ici Uetrington, secret.ary of tha We: t Pennsylvania Theatre Owners, Is Ijiveatlff.ating the matter, with • view to bring more forcible ehargeaw Whila tha film industry has pro- nmslbly backed by legal actlo^