Variety (Aug 1927)

iday, August SI, IMT VAUDEVOXE REVIEWS VARIETY 21 PALACE Stand-'em-up bir. Maybe due to tha weather. Maybe due to the namw. The wMithar turned out bet- ter than the nam««. Btand-'eitt-up- bls, anyway. This liere now I.enore Ulrlc; her >Bam» useidi to be Ulrlch and she a chorine, after which ulie laadad Luana in a No. 7 "lUid of PWMdiM" company, after which site «mU a letttt to Dave Belasco, after which she starred in a flop called "The Heart of Wetonn." after Which she had a run of suci e.sses. But that Btill doesn't iii ikc lier a vaudevilla act Out on the billboanls it reads great—"Licnoro Ulric iby arrange- ment with David Belasco) in The Woirs Cub,' written and staged by Willard Maolc." Couldn't be bad? Terrible. Mi.ss I'lric legits ail over the Palace stage, throws that hoarse tolo* willy-nilly hither and yon, and H HatSk 'wrote nifty lines not>ody knows It. No one hears her. The lighting is atrocious—<iark, dim, gray, "artistic." Vaudeville wants to see and to bo seen. No call for this sort of sotto voce indirect lUtunination. Miss Ulrlc should be M«a even f)i aha can't be heard. This house chaifges %t.iO top. Cus- tomers ahould get snnipthing for that kind of dousli. A look or a listen. Lenore gives luitlM r. She high-hats and hinh-hrows it, she grimaces, mugs, dialeits, ami uses 40 damns and 41 hells. And still she doesn't get it across. They say she knocks the circuit for thirty- five hundred of those hard-to-tict bu.-iine.sses weekly, \\ liy.' Ilow? (by arranKenient with ]);i\i<l P.clasoo.) Karyl Norman closeil the hrst part. There is a babe that knows bis vaudeville. "Lady Do" didn't ; do so forte. But he knows his "Lady Do Two-a-day." Knocked It in with two boys at two j)ianos, and how! Some old songs, a few new ones, the hit of his, ill-fated show, all 'thrown together into u charming. ' hdldtng, tight and surefire vaudo ensemble, expertly put together and skillfully put across. Vaudeville is a trade. Some of the greatest le- gitimate stars don't know what it's ail abo'ut. Karyl does And 80 does Frank Fay. Plainly speaking, Frank Is getting to be a bit of a pain in the neck to this reporter, who sets the I'alaee :is- signmont so often, I'nder^iKiUMl has boosted and plus.Ljed tliis I'ay again and again, ag.iinst his wish and better judgment. Hut what can ho ; do with a red-head like that? Tha fellow has it—not so much "It," but it—he has that thlhg. He has what it takes to make mon- keys out of a flock of tired New ■yorkers. They have him closing the show now—no less. A single. A single who is on, and on and scarce- ly ever off. And he closes. The only closing act, doggone It, that doaan't lose one sucker. Including the un- tlersigned. Doggone. H* gugs. he clowns. Sometimes he is inaudible. Maybe static. But '. titer latlKh. Even when they can't 'i haar, they think he must be funny. Maybs just as well they don't hear everything. But they laugh—loudly, boisterously. What they laugh at this break-In vandeville scribe doesn't know. But he knows laughs when he hears them. And he thus revorta them. Fay has a girl with him. And what a kid. She dresses all out of fa-shion. Her skirts are too long. Her hair is too long. The whole act is too long. But what a girl! Where la Zleggy. Where are all those stylish managers? The kid is clever —ahe's hot. This poor scrivener has Kiven her a dozen notices. Doesn't anybody read "Variety" or, what has Pay got on her? Ilow can be hold her? What Is her name, for crj-ing out loud? He doesn't even bill her. This may make her hard to handle. All riSbt. She should be. If Lenore tJlrle Is a headliner, she should be hard to handle. She Is vaudcvillc- Plus. She has all it takes. She dances like a sephyr, she has a nilna of comedy, she has grace, per- aoaaJlty. verve and sex. She's a l>**r. Let her stay under Fay's management. or Ut her blow. JVank made her. Now nobody can stop her. The kid is there. She IS the spirit of vaudeville. And so is Fay. That's that. That boy clicks It off as perhaps no man ever did before. Some of his bromides are .iwfcil Some of hla egotistical ohsei vations and asides are atrocious. Hut why argue With a success? The chumps think he's Immense. So he must be. A in a good spot. Still she appears sore. She plays giiano and she obbligatos very sitpiano. She wears a white ffown all sil\e[ed up with bteel beads or near-p(-arls. Vet she doesn't want to play. .Slle w.inis to play the piano, but she doesn't want to play -with i^an. Is that nice? She's nice. But she's disappointed in—well, .something. Maybe she re.><enl8 the N. V. A. Maybe she's just a pianiate awd singing has spoiled her. She should smile now and then. Slie has such a pretty pan. Smile, Dorothy. It's a good act. It gets over. Forget the grouch. Willie Mauss draws the prelude lo the program—a "deatli-wheel' bike rider. Very keen. The Davys (two) deuce It with slick Juggling. She and Carroll go No. S. numer- ous troupe, with dances, pretty gals and climax—knockout at this cita- del of many busted vaudeville dreams. Harry Mayo and Basil Lynn, canny old pei furiners. with uncopyrighted «ags and Mayo's pipes, knock it edgeways—best act they ever had. and they've hod everybody's. Lenore tJlric busts up the second part—until Tay gets on. And with that she-kid he pulls it back again to normal and beyond. No mugg that Fay. Playing in stock at the Palace calls for something more than natural red hair. And that fresh guy has that something more. Wiiat? iMit. STATE (Vaude-Pct>) • Without a thought to the Palace lay-out up the ttre(t. excepting that it has a whale of a "Jmme" in Lenore I'lric toplining, it's a question wliethtr its cousin down Main street, at a fourth the ad- mission, has an inferior show or one loss well ha la need. In truth, it wasn't so loo;-' :^^o that Barljette and Joe Browning were K-A standards and Hurt Karle has Kelthed and Orphetmied it a- plenty with his blrl band. So what price vaudeville? Not forgetting the feature, "Annie Laurie" (Oish), which had a run as .1 $2 picttire at the Kmbassy, Opening is the Clo Tou Wong Troupe, followed by Rule Brothers and Tenney (New Acts), Ben .Marks and ?']tliel are an imsubtle comedy team in 'one " with Yid humor and soprano straight. Marks is a Loew favorite and has been repeating at the State a number of times, click- ing each time, despite the short In- tervals. Barbette is the K. K;iy Goetx "Im- portation" who had to go atooad to get a rep and some coin, although this reporter first lamped him at tlie Harlem Opera House In 1919 and In a Now Act review ventured that Barbette as a fem,ile imperson- ating wire, rings and trapeze per- former was a big time surety. The then b. t. probably wanted to pay Barbette off In laughs and so he came back via Rurope and had 'em hungry at »1,100 a wc(k wlien he WHS bargain at that amount for three Weeks and couldn't get a tum- ble from the bookers. Joe Browning's timely sermon was In the choice groove next to shut. It's virtually the same spiel Brow/ling did for the Vitaphone. but seemingly has lost none of its kick, permitting for considerable latitude and Inclusion of topical points, Tha Burt Earle and Qirls act (now simply .spelled Bert Karl) is, •as ever, a versatile musicii inter- lude. It is perfect for any variety platform, vauda or picture houses. Abel. 86TH ST. marvel. }|la voice is terrible. His delivery is piep„steroiis. His selt- assuranee is rasping. Hot he sells It. And they buv it. Wli.. knows atiylhh-•'> Who can tell? Kay is a ••lot. So he it. .So is it. Wliat are i you going to do about it? There it r is. Take It or leave it. You have " Jo I'avu IL Fui lllHl'p it is! t-onny'.' Very! But there It is Allan Prior sings tenor sioigs to open the s. . ,,nd part. He has with him n blori.i,.. billed as Dorothy Janice. She looks angrv. She Is cute, hut she looks abused. She ■ r?g''tcr.<i Indignation—or Indiges- (Vaude-Pcls) A good 50 cents worth. Quite a bit of the value was fur- nished by Glenn Tryon in "Painting the Town," his initial effort as a six-reel comedian for Universal. A new combination took the hit .-unong the acts. Marjorte 'White (Thelma and Margie White) and Ed Tierncy (Tierney and Donnelly) are the p.iir (New Aetsj. Instead of coming on fourth, as pro- gramed, they hrld ne.\t-to-<:losing and ran riot in tJie siiot. Marjorie. still In kid cloths, does most of the miscellaneous comedy while her partner forsakes a straight role to get laughs for himself at intervals. Dave Seed and Ralph Austin held high as iisnal, but were butted out a little by the new team. The two best bits are still going strong: .Seed attempting to ie< ite tniil bi-ing in- terrupted by his palmer's i-ni otlr- agemcnt to success, .ind Seed's pe- culiar spelling of trults. The idea h,is been swiped rK'ht and left but remains the forte. were the opening woodon soldier number and the closing dance in a conception of Hades. A sliortened version of Harry Delf's "raniily Upst.iirs," titiwl "Any l''amily,' went over wll. Tha sketch shows how the wife of a street car motorman almost ruins her daughter's matrimonial chances by impi-essing the girl's boy friend with the luxuries to which the girl is supposed to be accustomed. Nicely acted. Betty and Jerry Brown (New Acts) are hampering a clever and novel littlo act by homely methods of t.ilking to tlie audience. They sing and talk, 'I'om .'ind Hetty VS'afers. opening. 1. id iiiitliin^; new in wire walking but aicomplished a sullicient recep- tion with standard stuff. This new theatre waa '^t about flUed downstairs Thuradair night AMERICAN (Vaude-Pcts) .■Slrirtly an American bill, ad- dressed to Sth avenue, and If you were an alien and didn't like it, it's none of your business. Strong on harmony and with plenty of vigor- ous comedy, another nama for roughhouse. Featured was Frank Terry. telMed^ ^« bllU in the form of dlal..B r>ik as "author of 1.000 songs and some picture scenarios." He did two of the thousand, both heavy , on pon- derous recitatfon. incidentals which were out of order in such a bill, and wer,' a verit.alde riot, going even l>etter than Terry's neat comedy single witli whicii he <»r>eiied quietly. Tills item and three girls, Wilson Sisters anil Washburn, who seemed to be regular members of the inti- mate circle, w«r* tlie 'bi( appiauie getters. The girl trio stopped the show and brought on one of those demonstrations, genuine and heart- felt, and dear to the hearts of the stage beneticiaries but working ti hardship on the following tiii'ii. The riot of the girls came about througli so simple a device as a blaek bottom as the eliniax of rather a quiet rou- tine of song harmonizing. The girls are a jolly trie and ideservcd all the return they got^ xrhteh was plenty. Outside ot tbs*>itvo and "Uroad - way ButtajrAIM," aoIlK and dance revue (New Acts), the show was just a dead level of medium sriitill time iii.'iterial (tuning and going to tlie s.atisfaetion of the clients, but leaving no dis'tinet imprt-sHion. MiLkUH Duo, m.'Ln and wom.'in nov- elty perch turn, didn't get niueli of ;i deal on tho roof. The woman's work on a high horizontal bar bal- anced by the man was so high It got out of range of th* white spotlight and was lost. The 4et (or may be it was the house) dpim the'act no good In giving U dttU, ttotad lishts throughout. I'ltis and Preston use the same routine of pop numbers and med- leys as done by ITlis and White and rettiin tiie brown make-up. .lust a couple of straight men singers with notiiing to gi\'© tlieni cli.araeter. lirisk series of numbers, all deliv- ered with more determination than technliiue. Their posltlveness in makfilC t|Mlr comedy points in lyrics amounud. to sttibbornness. Good enough selectloli, but no color in de- livering songs. Kvans and Pearl are a vaudeville type. ITnctuouH fat comedian with singing woman as foil. Workman- like in style. They know .ludiences of the American iiinil and work to them onergetictlly. Woman has an .'igree.ible voice and is capiUil feeder. Her second change into black and red doesn't do her Justice. Graceful costuminx would help her vastly. Wilson Sisters and 'Wkshburn broke into the proceedings at this point, still-ted by one of the Wilson girls' handling of a male Impersona- tion !ind climaxed with Miss Wash- bum's Id.-ick bottom. Enjoyable act, relished by tho customers. Harry Hayden and Co. call their sketch "Take My Advice " this week, but it's substantially the same as "The Love (iame," which Hayden wrote. Old theme of henpecked husband urged to strike out for emancipation by: ea iH Iba l ll^t friend. Here played In Wtra%llt talking sketch with some qtil# ^- Ii i|m0r ^1 Hayilen tiiniBel, but with UttM hel from his assistants. Terry started with ,a typical music hall serio-comic routine and then went into story songs of his own writing, peddled with much dramatic effect. (Joes in for heavy senti- mental themes, such as song version of blind beggar's story, which, he announced, was the subject of a pic- ture called "Darkened Windows." Another waa "Mr. Booze." done in .a song-driim.i with elaborate acting. Vour Kporter thought tlie comedy oiienin^' w.i.s host, but tlic audicnco voted lor tlx* song dramas. Oscar Martin Trio iiavo a el-issy gymiia-st .c f-xhibit. in parlor si-t drcss-Huitid man calls on j-irl m e\f'ning uown. They are in iritini.'\fe Icte-a-tate when boy brother Ijiitts in from behind settee. Caller ebid- mglv tosses boy imp about. Brief STH AVE. tVaude- PctI The only lime during tlie week when the wliolo staS ol Variety may l)o Mewed collectively la on Monday night between the hours of eleven and one, when the whole mob lomes in. one by one, from the f.ir corners of Maiiiiatlan to sot down in ini- perishable print reports on the va- rious vau'deville bills current for tln' ■week or the llrst half. A lot of nasty cracks have been . made aboilt the looks and dis|>o«i- tiiins ot tha. Vbt1i»t|' stall. And probably on Monday nights after those viiudevilip bills the mugs look and feel as badly us they ever do. Tile yoimger generation ot re- \ iewers is iiai tieulai'ly solemn .'ilong toward the wee b-uir.s of Tie'sdriy morning, l'\»r the young, t geiu'ra- tion takes itself pretty s -rioii.sly and is concerned almut what goes into the paper. The weekly problem that is furrowing the youthful brows is Ilow to write up a commonplace vaudeville show so that tho review doesn't sound ex ietly lik- every re- view since I'.Uit ba^ sotind.Ml One (if tlie bT'it,-hlest of the cutis Inaugurated a sNsti-m of reporting Countess Sonia's "Revue Satlrl eon" had some tough breaks. The | .ctory foundation is laid In few sec- Countess' Fren'h aeeenf, delightful ! end'! and turn is siT.ilght vperi ilty in Home plaees. got tli" r.'iz7 liere. | ilien ifir r. N'l.illy laid out and and the second nunibir In tlie act no\il in luatirial, M'n iiive jier- turnerl out l« he i'tl "l" !';!!"- s'lee- ficti.-.n of .h ri.li.ille stvie In li ilune- tion. Not e\ ni,iL;nj;ji entiy g'-s- turing ncrohats can st:irt an exit exodus like opera in the closing spot. Tho.« who !Mii k it out were entertained conbidC3t'''y satirical revue. The i«^t has three men and two wqroeit, yqrkini; Jn ing .'vnd rr^'Tind tTTmbfinc. Uty !,*»- in^' espr/'i.'illy elean cut in hi,^ enn- tortion. Iiiinbling and Af.'roliatic daiK'.ne. ';ji'I ' h.'ingew to tii/hts for simple balancing fi-ats, and gets into fast rough «nd tumble flnlsh. play- ing piano while two men toss off ing a chance remark overheiird in the audience the bright youngster would proceed to review the audi- ence Instead of the bill. This was a novelty, but obviously It kept the copy retiderw busy OOiT«Otln|r punc- tuation when the eMai>-itteeration tooli it lij). And, to make it tougher, ".-veral Of the olhee s i>et words have re- cently been outlawed on account of too mueh ntirainc> Var instance, it Is ho\r'flle(tal in a"Vari;ety review to say that an actor depicted an Italian. Depict Is out. having been badly worsted In an uneven battle. Or portray .and vehicle, among Otllt I'S. The .'ludience :it tlie I'iftll .■\v.'nue Monday night b,'li:iv,d (ir'tty well. They got most of .In k Hunny's dry asides and a 'group in a box seemed to "get" him partlCttlarhr Wfll when, making an announcement for the m.anagement. he said the bill for next week- would be every bit as good as the bills ;it the Palace The tiudienee ac, .-pti-d Pearl Re- uay and Co, i Mew .Aets» g,-neroiisly. but not enthusiasti ally. Ono bois- terous patron laughted rawly at a rather high waist band worn for a Spanish dance by Lester Sheehan. It did make htm aeem pa^tarly short walsted, but was not that funny to the snlier portion of the aildlenee. .Miss Kegay returns to vaudeville aftt-r an .absence of four years with "Hose-Mane" and "The Desert Song." Red Donahue and Pals (New Acts) opened. This Is the old comedy mule stunt modernized for a lot of lattghs. The Dlsle Four, individu- ally heavy trouper*. sIppM fccross for an easy hit in No. S. Bob Car- ney and .Tean. following, were a (hiss twosome working in 1927 tempo for a sizeable si orn in the giggle ilepartment. "Revels ot 1927" proved a conven- tional flash < New Acts) with the year not meanlns • thinir. It can probably play oi^ any average bill. "The Bush Lett««*l^ (Warners) entertained those of tha «»IStomerK that remained. BROADWAY (Vaude-Pcts) With lli<- exeeptlon of a couple of unknowns the tiill waa pulmed off smootlily. most of the customers sitting through in an unconcerned mood. Little excitement in the rear when the bigger half ot llayos and Cody (New Acts) hit the high notes from an nn|£». hltberto considered an Improper assault on the ear- drums, but the gal righted herself soon after and th« 200 vaode pa- trons resumed their woll earned ri'St. Frank Van Hoven londs th" line- up. Wlien at the Hip recently Frank told the, mob he considered It .a lucky hrea!: from the I'alti/'e routine. If he didn't mtike 'em -*t tha Hip he haif thtXM or four n*re chances. But he seemed entirely disgusted with the Broadway. Rushing through the empty aisles In the typical Van Tlovian manner, he muttered a loud ylji of thrvnks to those "rue obliging people who stayed at liotiie .'ind loft lots of seats empty so actors f'ould walk through without trouble." He added another new bit of business when he turned out a couple of lights on tho outer aisle saying. "Tliey get the poor actors to !Li:cefit 11 cut in salary and then th' V burti up the tirofits " The s'uff, wi'li till' s'un-liring. w',ke i^e housi'. Van lioven fi'it i-anking e\"i y t Itin-' liy x wide TTni);iti, l''ui'tn.'in and I';v,-ins, deiif^«,rs, workerfl h.'trd with sever.'il novelty numbers of unpopular tune and theme. This man and woman team had little dilllculty with straight material, loud appreciation follow ing each of these efforts. Itob the ,ier r,f riii'Sl of its v,"iIuo I>y living lo plMi; Mnlike,tM,^ comedy soriLrs, Wilt'in and WcIkt, ronhofTy tJf liurli'.que, 'A-i re aieither couple with •3 i,iisi>l.-tcerl f . r,se of humor. Talked th' m.selvcs hoars<> without raising a laugh and then Wilton went Into tho "ventriloquist" numiber towards p 'led'to'be' K.uTy iii.itorinly ,ind b !h er.v need alien' i.>n. Pasil Lewis and Co. .!. Iiver",l a ■ luiek dancing routine but failed to rouse enthusiasm Ihrougli i.u-k of ,i cllmaxcr. The two girls do som.' excellent twirling and eccentric liootlng, niitler and Parker (Now Acts) re- cited 17 niinulos' worth and walked olT cold. The girl had appearance and delivery but notliing to deliver. Opening with .a Juggling r.mtine Raymond Pike. .No. 1. .swiini; round into acrobatics where he found him- self at home. The cross stage run somersault, hands behind his ha<4c, is .a sure l>ot. Paddy Cliff and Orchestra offered ordinary neighborhood house jaai playing. 81STST. (Vauds-Pcts) It won't be long now until Keith's Slst street Will do a tail spin Into the split week policy. In fact, next week will see the house changing hills M.uid.iy and Thursday. I'lierc is littl.- left til riiiiind one thai the Slst was ever a big lime house, althiuigh an attempt now and then with 1'. name fails to lift It out of the sloughs of despair. The business Monday night was better than usual downstairs, due perhaps to the weather. The vaude bill was nothing out of the ordinary, although Charles Itiiggles h.-ul his name in tho lights. Ruggles has a sketch that he has had in his system since 1955. When he Isn't In demand for a regular legit Job he hops Into vaude with his little comedy story ot tho drunk who was married on a spree and couldn't remember It. There are several broad tugs at comedy, the one where the marriage certmcate is tucked under the lady's garter, with Huggles and the butler mak- ing an effort to cop It. It is on the wliolo rather light, hut In Ruggles' breezy style It gets over nicely and with sufficient laughs to save It. The Opening was a bike .let, Lari- mer and Hudson, seen around here for some time, with Larimer doing .a Joe .lackson typA of tramrt lojf depending miue on trick stuff for a score. Th ' Three Abbey Sisters remain on the stage and stick to harmony wnrbiinf, tha result betar favorable, aithoufth their routine la bat ordi- fiary. After the Ruggles skH came the Runaway Four, who had things much their own way. Much of this turn seems wasted, the acrobatic tricks .at the finish seemingly In biggest favor at this house. A rough act that holds considerable stalling and lioke. but a kind of comedy byplay that In some neigh- borhoods la close on a riot an* in othera not so good. Got over here. The DeMar and I.ester act dressed the show and stage up no- ticeably. There Is one thing cer- tain. Money has been extended Ir- respective of what the dancing pre- sents. It is In the main a dancing act, although there Is a try for com- edr that barely got a ripple. A colorful turn and that alone Is much to Its advantage. Tlw ^laMBtwtf M' a whole Impressed. The feature film wai "TlM Oomi- try Doctor" (Da KltM). Atoa naual shoi^s. Labor Ttny and then the split wei'k policy. They expect it to help biz or It wouldn't be given ao much attMltiOB ift tha iwdgh h W fco * * . BIRTHS Mr. and Mrs. Clara Bryan, at their home In Peteraburs, Ind., Aug. 20, daughter. Mother i» BWi t a>ak>n- ally Nadine Ilouaa fBrirMI and Ifoitse Itevue). i.Ir. and Mrs. Saseha Platov. Aug. 12, son. Parents are dancers. Mr. and Mrs. Morris Green, daugh- ter. Father la with U Lawrence Weber, and not to be confused with Morris Green (,Ionos & Green). MARRIAGES Arthur Stone, screen actor, to Dorothy Westffiora, employed In make-up department at First Na- tional studios, in HaltytMed. Aug. 22. Ruth Harriet Louise, portrait ar- tist at M-a-M studios. Culver City. Cal.. to T,elgh Jai'obaon, Universal H<:enarist, in I-os Angeles, Aug. 1'7. Maurice Kyan. picture actor, to Hazel Brady nt San Francisco, Aug. 22. ENGAGEMENTS The Amcrlean 'i'lieji rir il Af'-rn v. Cliigago, matte the f.'llowing i"gil stock placements: Eugene K:in,-, Eunice Ulelianls, Katbryn .Uallory. Roger Quinlan, Helen Dodge, (,'ourt- ney Travers, Hob Brewer. August" Ki"gler. Adrl.'in Ellsworth. Florence Saxon, li itil"! 1(. ed. at Orpheum, Sioux I'.iM ., s... H; .V'II Kedd. fxjdti-y .VlOler Li;i.l]lo CliarleS. C. it. .Moiitcon.' ry ,\:'tl ,ir V,in .-^lyke and *ife, Ju. • ph P. Keed, I.ee Kyrso, Ceeille Un l>.i!,. ller, Charles Douglas. Van Der Va.irt, at She- boygan, Wis.; AIney Alba, Adelaide