Variety (Apr 1928)

40 VARIETY FILM Wedhesday, April 4, 1928 PALLADIUM (LONDON) Lrondpn, March 19. OfTlcial opening was scheduled for 8:30, but at that, hour the second featm-Q picture,. "The Rush Hour," was hfilf through. The show ended at 11:20, Sit Walter Gibbons follow- ing it with a supper party to cele- brate, at the. Kit-Kat Club; This ppehing is the first definite attempt here to emulate, the Broad- wrty piciui-e.sitage shows, -Maybe it will work out . smoother in a while, the opening, riight of what is vir-. tually a now theatre being hot quite a fair test 'of its future rimning. Li, Gastleton Knight, general rtian- ager of the Capitol, was .responsible fpr the presentation, but needs more program variation to shako out a flrst-clas-s; bill. . . .Actually, the presentation per- formanCO opened around 9 p. m. with the Pa the Pictorial, news reel, na-. ture.study of plant li.e and several trailers on the hew week's program at the Palladium and the current prograni at the Capitol... . Tabs opened, to. De Groot in eve- ning dress playing, "T^io. .Lost Chord" as a violin. solo, organ ac- companied, .be Groot stepped back to the.rising tabs arid his oirchestri,- billed as 100 perfoi'mers, but could only count 60., Orchestra rattled out "Blue Heaiven" In pretty nice style, and at close a double-deck glass illuminated platform rose on an ele- vator back-stage, bfihgirig up Teddy Brown arid his band. Another or- chestra act, fogged visually • by a blue scrim, which , didn't'affect the sound of the; saxbphories; . Then Jan and Jeariette in a sort of qualified Apache dance which thej' call "Tropical Madness," after Which ariother dance act of this nance type by Athol Tier. Both acts played for by Brown's Band.. Now: Bfowri comes right down stage, does a piece at the xylophone, accompanied, by his band, then re- turns to.the glass rostrum and plays a little more till the elevator, de- scends with him and band. As a change,. sonie more band, this time De . Groot arid . orchestra with vocal chorus doing the "1512 Overture.". That's a long piece, even for music fans. End, in whleh chorus in Russian- garb is seen through scrim as lights go full up, was repeated, and around 10 p. m. the ifeature picture (Fox), "A Girl in Every Port;" started. Nothing much seems to have been done to the house except putting In the projection room and the back- etage elevator... Usherettes and pro- gram girls wearing baggy orange pants and black velvet jackets, and crowned with Montmartre caps, are new since the vaude time, too. House full by 9 o'clock and may jplay to good business on its novelty. In turning over to" pictures this week, especially as top price Is 70 cents and bottom iO. But the pro- gram needs better balance and bet- ter "si)otting" before the house will settle down to a feature in the West End show business. from, the picture houses of a sea- son or two back. Considering the ?12,000 "nut" for the Whitemaniteis, the , Cambria unit, . "Rainbow Rhapsody," is necessarily limited, although it makes quite a ilash, everything considering, Amata Grassi, Span- ish dancer; the Tamaiilipas Trouba- dours and the Lenora IJancers (10) round it out. This unit will take the customary route , after. , this week.. ■'■ ■' " The Florerice Vidor feature, "Doomsday" (Par) is necessarily . a weak, entry foi* • obvious booking reasons; "Mission Bells," a novelty TifCany-Stahl color short subject. Was the scenic Whyfore of the or- chestral fieaturiB, conducted by Adolphe-Dumont. .. Following the newsreel, Slgmund Krumgold, at the Wurlitzer console, clicked extraordirianly well; His skill commanded. acknowledgement of generous proportions. Krumgold opened with Zamecznik's "Polly." a piiino novelty of the "Nola" school, followed by a few bars of Mary Earl's "Beautiful Ohio" as prelude to Walter Donaldson's rhythmle "My Ohio Home." Frlml's "Indian Love" and the - classic . . Tschhikowski "Marche Slave" closed In that se- quence, the Russian's, niartial, com- position pitching to a rousing climfix. ■ AVel. PARAMOUNT (Paul Whiteman—r"Rainbow ' Rhapsody" Unit) (NEW YORK) New .York, April 2. Opening a three weeks' engage- ment at the -Paramount on a lim- ited farewell Publix tour, prior to foreign engagements, Paul White- -Twfl^wa-njl—<^i;rLhpgtrg tmprPS f^ tllCm- selves forcibly as an American in stitution. Meriting fostering and fathering by amusement .moguls, because o£ its typical reneclion of the contemporary keynote, White man brings to the masses a type of music which he has been primarily responsible in developing and ad vani'ing. As the czar of jazz, AVhitcriian and his super-syncopators evidence anew their claim to distinction Thei r • u n i qu e - and • /truly extrao.rdIr nary motivations of. modern themes arcv. bLilliant tribute; to, the White man tee.'hriique; ,{irid that it Is popu lai'ly rcco.i^nizo.d and appreciated is best unswored by the holjday-ish , tithV'Hit Monday night of a week thru, is holy to both of the faiths that prbdominate in tli.e metropolis ' "(liiaiifios" opened, Avith a ^distinc- tive-vocal-Irlo and sextet interlude The annouhcenient qC "Rdmona' • precipitated an exppclant audience grisi) that is a tribute either to White jnan's extraordinary Victor ■ recording or to his performance Thursday night on the podge hour Looking summery in white Florida oiitlits, with a patio background the waltz ,tl,u;me was perfectly set "Shades of. Blues."arindunced by Whiteman as a musical reminis J cence, was a pot pourrl of indigo titled themes In.cludin.g the"l{lu Danube Waltz," "Birth of the Bluos," a snatch of the "Rhapsodic in Blue,'.'the "Waltz Bluette" (with violin quintet Interlude), "Waba.sh ^^jBlues." --'Alices-Blue Gowri||^ (saxo phone septet arrangementT "aridTlw Ishing with "St. Louis .Blues" cll rnaxed by Mike Pingltore : at th banjo. In Itself .a unique indigo themed revue, it Is worthy of be coming a Whiteman trademark. In between, O'Hanlon and Zam- bunl,. comedy dance team, and Joe Penner, comedian, were individual highlights. Of the dancers, the man Is the Bobby Clark of clown step- pters, and Penner's potentialities for production have long since t)een ballyljooed by this reviewer dating CAPITOL •~ ' (CHIGAGO) ChicagOi March 26. One year ago'this theatre was making more money than any other house on ;the south side. Today it's not , making any, i| Deteriorating" stage shows, mis- cellaneous succession of . Irifierior stagebirtd leiaders, and more to be had for your'money elsewhiere. Monday' night a small group of customers huddled in the center ,sectlon of, the prettiest the5itre in town.. Overhead a series of arti- ficial clouds wafted gently across an artificial sky. Tiny stars blinked in perfect mechanical succession. Fountains spurted c y 1 i n d r i ca I streams of. water with never a wayer^ a.nd gleaming statuary stood about in unabashed nakedness born of Grecian confidence,, The picture \vas, "One\ Mad Hour," First National's version of Mme. Glyri's sex lore. It reeked and customers snorted continuous- ly. Sympathetic chuckles when the heroine sailed, oyer a cHff, after reading a sign sa;ylng the wages Of sin Is just. that. After an interval allowed for contemplation, Caesar Linden led the pit orchestra in a collection of songs having the word "moonlight" in their titles. At one point six chorines Jn long robes turned right and then left, apd kept doing, it, while another gal did the spills and things. M-G-M's "40,000 Miles With Lindbergh" was . started, but cjit even before LIndbeirsh was reached. Vltaphone recording of Earl Burt- nett's or.chestra was not In union with the plcturlzatipn^ and it also .was jerked; becaus«»-the customers were singing a rhapsody in boo. A little later Vitaphope subject tried again, , with better results. Transferring-^ from pit to stage, the orchestra whanged into "Tulip Tirne," a preseritatton set in Dutch srchics of windmills and tulips. Three acts were used—Milton Wat-- son, Eva Mandell, and Curry and -A^t'xarn^iep;*—— GRANADA (SAN FRANCISCO) , San Francisco, March 20.; - Lots of new stuff at the Granada, Including several.novelties (at least for hereabouts) that ought to pari out fairly well. First they're giving Andrea Setaro, the regular house conductor^ an opportunity to display his ability as a leader by having him . direct the opening overture in tho pit. Setaro hiJtridles the baton in muslclanly -fashion and gets everything out of the band. Next In order was a Tiffany color classic, "Souvenirs," on the screen, after which they Introduced: the singing school to* Market street, conducted by- Glen. Gbff, organist. Comedy slides first called attain-. tion to„Gofi(;'s desire to have the cus- tomers sing- the - various songs on the screen. . A number of pop airs, with the crowd slow to get started but gainlnjgf momentum.. . The racket hasn't been worked out here vci-y much, and may batch on, though it's a question with, the Granada regu> lars. Stage show is "Russian Reyels.V Jack , Partington Publix production. Partington formerly staged the Grariada shows, before West Cpast~ took oyer house operation nearly a year a:gp. For his initial Publix. cosLst unit he has secured the Berk- offs—Louis and F.rieda-r-and the Berkoff Girls (8) as a background. Staging is somewhat pretentious— at least it's a hig flash and, well dressed. • ^'he revue ran 43 minutes at the'opener today, but will be cut down, as It was draggy in spots. .Some good talent and some not so forte. Opening reveals most of cprii- pany in Russian peasant attire dancing, with three, boys, singing a medley of Ruiasian folk.songs. Then Stella Stepianoff knd M. Vpdney in a "toy soldier", dance and song that was presumably Russ .comedy. Owert Sweeten, stage band leader and m, ofc, introduced, he sending band into "1 Still Love Tfou," played pleasirigly. Ross and Gilbert, two boys, came on for some . harmony singing, but their opening number didn't mean much, their voices sounding harsh, rasping and me- chanical. One of the boys gave an imitation of a clarinet or sax ivail- ing out blue notes that clicked handily, and then came back with a falsetto soprano worked up for some comedy with, his partner. The girls appeared from pit, daricr ing way on stage. They showed careful training and- did diflicult stuff. A Russian number by the band (with Sweeten's announce- riiehts handicapped by . a cold, , but serving). 'Bandboys put on gro- tesque face masks and sang part of the "Volga Boatman" riuriiber, which scored. Emerson and Baldwin, comedy jugglers and phony magic, came within an ace of stoppirig as the opener, and that's going some, ■Then the Berkoffs for some of their Russian stepping and a finale revealing Rujss spires backstage and plenty of color, ^ith everybody oh. Speeded up a little "Russian Revels" should have no trouble here. Screen feature, "Circus Rookies." with Paramount News to complete bill. " Edwards. As an opener, eight ballet girls worked a mild routine- in Dutch costume. Then a band number, led by Cuesar Linden, who will be aired shortly when Dell Lampe Is given the berth.. It's no mystery. Charles Curry- came on without his girl partner and tapped capably, but without dlstint:tlon. He was followed by the eignt ballet girls in a boy-and-.girl Dutch -number, moderately good. The morgue at- mosphere-liftedTwhen^-Milton—WatT^ son, local favorite, sang three pops. Watson . previously h.as always .^vorked In B.: :&, K. houses, and th is opposition appearance indicates trouble. ■ , , As a fill-in, six musiciaris donned comedy costume and imitated a German haridr; with pretty pood, re- .sults. Charles Curry reappeared with his partner. Miss Alpxanderr in ah ecbentric dancb rPutine, which was fair, The closing act, Eva Mandell, is recently frorii ■v'axideville. She's a plump singing comedienne and looks okay for the new field. Most of her material la special and has to do with her exce.s.<5 baggage. Closing , brought everybody on stage, with the windmllis turning: and the band batting out loud notes. Thif? proscntatlori offered no In- durr^mfnt for repoatp. Tt was en- tirely devoid of class and with few exceptions was vrry quietly re- ceived. Movietone newsreel completed. — , TjOOP' ROXY (NEW YORK) New-York, April 2. As far as the stage is concerned this is proba'.jly as cheap a fort- night as this production depart- ment has had. With "Jazz Singer" <-W-apner's-)—in-for. .tsM _w_eeks, plus Ray Walker, -who has used the billing of Radiol la n.<3 for his orches tra in cafes, vaudeville and on the air, complains to WMCA that their use of the sa;me name for a Tuesday night bahjl ia an infringement Walker avers that he had two club dates caricelled on him because of the Inferior WMCA's Radiollans who were caught on the air. bit. Horse show down south was jiist all right, but 'Tone is evidenc- ing a Strong police dog tendency. More of 'em this week and they've been used too often to be fully ef- fective.' "Kol NIdre" was the prolog. Well staged behind a scrlnl upon which the title! of the picture did not flash. Dark scene holding just a lighted stained window at one side with spots picking out the supposed cantor. on an altar. . Vocal chorus could be dimly s6en. Audience; ap- parently liked it land appropriate enough, but house had to listen to it again during the feature as Jol- son also , sings it. Prolog also used seyen minutes., . Business three- quarters downstairs for the first, show of the first night of Holy :VVeek. Sid. its Vltaphone hookup, everyipody s taking a rest. Little coin expended and plenty coming in. . Not a bad racket if the pictures arc right. Starting the first night show just short' of 7:30 the feature was on by 8, the tipoff on how. the boys laid out the schedule- for Jolson. House staff satisfied to take a rest, too, as the lineup calls for a big Easter program starting Saturday. Overture was. a riiedley listed. as "Al Jolson'HitSj'-'^Rogardless of .the authenticity, the orchestra gave it neat inteirpretation aided by a rnasked vocal , chorus presumably somewhere beneath the sight line to the musicians' platform. Next was "Ramp, An Jazz>'? as neat a bit of its kind as .the house has hiad.. Backed by a gold eye, un- der white'lights,'a wooden platform slanted . toward the foots- upon .which two'baicho.s pf girls worked, in- groups of 24 and 1(5. Stpmp routines to make the boards'echo the rhythm -ivith the... pit ..crew and organ getting quite warm for the dancers. No doubt concerning the sweet orchestral accon-ipaniinent in this case. When 40 girls danc'e to .80 pieces and it's all fairly' hot* Ifis also apt to be fairly good.; Choris- ters were bare-legged, in short red dresses topped . by long grech feathered plumes. For seven min- utes it was sightly besides unfold- ing nr^at action. News Weekly followed, 11 mins., ^wJi,tu,J2ataniot mt - running a way_oiT^ four clips out- pf seven. Internii- tional had two and the incoming circus got a. plug through, M-G-M's shot of the entraining animals. Movietone was, as usual, thrice rep- resented. Transcontinental phone conversation pictured the A. T. & T. .president on this end talking to Paris with the voices of a french- man and General Pershing respond- ing. It let the house hear Paris without worrying over the rate, had novelty and made {in intere.sting SHERIDAN (CHICAGO) Chicago, March 28. This Archer house, operating un- der the jurisdiction of a triist com- pany, since it went into the hands of receivers some time ago, is do-;. Ihg very well in the, field of presen- tations. And on a limited budget for its stage extravaganzas;,. To Verne Buck, stage band leader and master pf ,ceremonies, must gp mo.st of the! credit. Buck has. a following in the Sheridan territory. This w'eek's program carries as the cineriia feature Reginald Denny in "On Your Toes" (U). Edmund C. Fitch Is a good organist. This week he. Is using slides based on the Chicago "Tribune" game' of "song titles." Fitch Is building up the connimunity slngliig to a pitch where ..It can actually be heard; Given more time he will prob.ably get even greater vocal coroperation. Presentation opens with the Buck band playing behind the curtain, warmed lip wMth - some red foots. As the music reaches a creiscen-. do peak, back go the velvets, re- veaXrig, the orchestra minus its di- rector.'- It Is spread across'the en- tire stage pn a, semi-circular 3- flight of' stairs, backed • with ., a scenic drop representing an Occl-^ dental - sky-line "^'ith the boys in tuxedos. Continuing with a rather fast number, the orchestro; igives eri- fr.ance to Buck. This character comes out of the wings wearing a tuxedo with a bowler hat poised at a rakish angle doing a fast Bowery single. He smokes a cigar, Which .sends forth a volcanic eruption of smoke and sparks. Hitting^ center .stage he ditches the' smoker, and chapeau,. becoming the personable, smiling and likeable m. ,c. who" has so captured Chicago's near north side. ~ Introduced as the ' openers are Dempsey and La Veaux, fine, look- ing teain' of , ball-rpom terpsi- ciiorean-s, conducive to a nice start, Dempsey, tonsorlally perfec^t in full dresst,, and Mi.ss LaVeaux In, an at- tractive black frock, are fit, orna- ments for any presentation en- semble. Buck is next, dropping his baton long enough to pick up a megaphprie and go into a bit of vocallsm that dra-ws the inevitable .apnlause. Ja,ck Waldron, known locally as fprmei' m. c. at a cafe, chatters agreeably, puts oVor a song or so and dors some danolng that is at once distinctive and amusing. He might pick up some better g.ag ma- terial for his chattering prelude. ' Then they dishod out the six ~A"lTlvo1—rlancers; - rThese- -girls,- for- pulchritude. are, hard to beat. Quite commendable stoppors. too. New danoe Is called'the "Wabbly Walk," with the principal dancer, Molba Cordis. Pinging a descriptive treatise on - the dances and that nulte woll. As thft ballet pulls off, Miss Cordes does a ball-room version of the dance with Buok^ finishing by iumpiri,ibr on his back and riding into the wings, aJa hobby horse, to iiToriTy of 1 jfu trlTSr"'" dpnip sey a ri d- L-aVeanx on appin In a whirlwind dancp. Miss LaVeaux attired In a red satin creation that injects tho noeflful flash. Nixon and ?andp, .oomlc dance and- song dun, hald their own as the final turn on the three-act bll'. Billed rts -'■'TTlp-hly. Colorpd ■ Whito Folks,", and helned oon.<5idprably by ofi'eotive- rostMirihig this foam ' goes rtVer to the liack row. Thev have "ome .t:marf gnggln.g, now. It pi'o-' diioos blook-fnoo and hJsrh-brown latvghs. .Olri of tho dun I<5 not so hot In hor'-,, "F-Tow-do'-ow-drnv stuff biit nfhovwise porfoot aorrimpHoo, Wnld.Kon, on n.rrTln. s,ln»r.=: a new one. "Oonclbye Brnadw.iy, . •TTell'^- •Montreal." and nuts It over to an apparontly thfr.vty. house. . In tho finale the ballot I.s on .nn olevated nlntfnrm above . <he flight, of stops. All acl.s ,Come out for brief wbh-h'- arid. bows. No rovlow of' the Pher.fdan would bp mnnnoto without ' comment on Frank Wilson, band moriibor, wiio s In j?s~ find= "'fl fnms"^th^Bu ck7-~=^— Considered . from the , ensemblo vIe\vpolnt. the .'show was Very good fni; an indonondonit houso operating nndor the .Sheridan's mrtney handi- cap. Buslnops, oxcollont. . Lnop. METROPOLITAN (LOS ANGELES) Los Angeles, March 31. Now that Publix pta^ revues are definitely under way at the Met, several questionable points arise as to how much and which way it will affect the theatre going populace out here,' in conjunction with the calibre of pictures at the house. So far the llrst two of Publix shows carry the load. , In both instancea th© screen attractions didn't mean a thing. The type of stage fare now In- stalled must be reckoned with- as foreign to the majority of folks in this city as yet. No doubt but that in time they will get on to it and then it will be the thing. Mieaii- tlme'neither the first nor the sec- ond Publix show, this week, have shown Indications of being a riot. Both are Chlcago-mdde arid^pro- duced. :. , ' ■ ; Opening day, Saturday, with a grind of five performances, the box office failed to click; discounting al- IPwances such as*" local conditions and, Easter shopping periPd. Bn- tertainmertt on the stage was all there. The John Murray Anderson unit> "Highlights," while hot rating In tiie aehsatlpnal Class, is never- .theless very gpod and diversified. About the only thing wrong with it Avas tempo. Just a little too slow in action-. .Timed correctly, abput 35 minutes, it started smoothly and finished'the same way. The "high- light" of the unit Is Willie Solar, veteran coniic who knows his busi- ness. He clicked the rrioment he' walked on and was forced to do a curtain bit to get off.' To most of his. audience Solar was probably doing his stuff for the first time, but It didn't look. that way. His inarticulate gestures and exti'eriiely funny mugging fortified his vocal efforts to a lai'ge extent and the fact that he, followed everything else ^vas no handicap to him either. ,. The, presentation enibodies no flaws as far ds construction is con- cerriedi Color and lighting effects are harmonious, blending in a man-" ner plealsing to'the eye.. Distribu- tion and proper sources of light was well taken care of to give a central focus for most important objects on setting. In crediting the smooth running of the show a good riiany points may be chalked up for Frank Jenks, m. c. and baton wielder, who ' returns to the Met after leaving it about a year, ago as a member of the band. Jenks has develpped silnce. He is okaj- the. ■way he stands now and with mPre acclimation, to his present sur- roundings should pi-ove a popular, persoriality in the house, A versatile chap with an infec- tious smile, Jenks' future seems 'as- sured. All he needs now is experi- ence and he Is in the right place to get what he hasn't got already. The intfpductory highlight, oper- atic, as, sung by Sherry Louise, turned out a tralned but rather weak coloratura. While in front of an elaborately spangled scrim, with the band In the background, the number impressed as too big for the voice. The first entrance of the Foster Girls (12), with a marionette ,rou- tlne,, did not score as favorably as what followed. 'The girls later proved exceptionally clever, con- trasting markedly in being of about the same size and worklrig in per- fect unison. Looks and figure put Helen McFarland over with the cus- tomers. A cute trick, ori the "ow deC ow dow" type, the girl has her p ortion, of "it" a nd some left over. Her whRe rhinestohe P~utTir'set'ln?r- out and, helped a song and dance get by, also, at the xylophone, That in- strument Miss McFarland played, well and scored. In the next nPtch came Douglas Burley in slow motion -gyrations, giving him an edge on facial expression and persistency in getting a laugh. The Foster girls, this time in an Arabian gun drill, were quite something else again. Noticeable a great looking bunch pf kIds, ind ividua l 1 yTld^ col 1 ectively. Formations andrbu-fmes In the iltIli-~ tary number, while not unusual, were made to look that vyay in the manner the group of girls, did it. They earned deserved applause. Masse and Dietrich, pair pf male hoofers,.skipped through a brief in- terlude quietly, with the tempo be- ing picked: up by Jehki? and the baiid with "Melahcholy Baby"; ■\vcll done. The aggregation on the whole sounded good, though a little too brassy at times. .Incidental vocal trib'with Jenks to the fore w-as' pleasant. The ,com- bination should be e.ncoura.gcd. .Tenks rattled off a few time steps in the interim which was .okay from all angles and also something he can count on for the future. The Foster girls picked up the finale,' with the cnth'C company goijig in ensemble to a corking flash windup with a lan- tern display coming out in tableau but .spreading and blending with the full layout. For the cinema faro Mi Ley Ann Leaf presided at the organ, giving tmil^s way^to^t h e- co n ho 1 e^ an d.=iii,ic£iti, ing some Individuality in her play- ing lure and there. Paramount newsreel carried but five items. A Felix cartoon . was llght-riiindod stuff for a few minutes, while Wil- liam Haines held the feature in "The Smart Set" (M-G). Joe Barrett has temporarily dls solved his vaude partner.ship with Mack Rdy to appear in TDIamond Lll." After six years on the Keith-Albe^'i circuit Billy Glason will do his single for Lpew's starting April 7.