Variety (May 1928)

Wednesday, May IB, 1928 FILM HOUSE REVIEWS VARIETY Franklyn and Stanley do their, ec- eentrlc dancing; ReevcB and Leu de- Mver their novelty ot danclne In the ■ame pair of wide panta; Pauline Miller offers a striking toe dance with a good deal of Impressive stunt material, but not so much engaging in-ace; Carlo Restlvo performs with Ms piano accordion, going from opera to Jazz and probably taking the honors of itte specialty group, except for the comedy acrobatics of Al Siegel, who worked in the clos- ing spot, with much by^play with the master" of ceremonies, which helped to put It over. Navara did extremely well with his own piano ■olo mid-way of the program. For the finale the comedy figure of the back drop disappears and in Its place comes out an over-elab- orated scene of Holland fields with three windmills, the arms spinning In the make believe breeze. ^ For this the whole company assembled down in front of the stage band in a posed group that was rather per- functory compared to the Intricate groupmgs of some of the Broadway productions. In between there were three num- bers by 10 kirls making up the Grcte-Bourman group, > excellent workers in ensemble routines, but •smothered in blonde wigs and swathed in Dutch costumes, what they have o!f feminine charm was at .a disadvantage. Rush: by the publishers, and gains the. ex- pected amount 6f congregational yelping. . Reginald Denny might bring 'in some extra trade with his name In an unfortunately poor featiure pic- ture, "Good Morhng, Judge." How- ever, he didn't, help at the show caught. Film and stage played to a half-filled auditorium. . Bioe. FILMARTE (♦iOLLYWOOD) ■ Hollywood,'May 10. Until now the art and little thea- tre moyemeht in Los Angeles and Hollywood has been confined to the stage. These groups of community players have discovered the commer- cial compensation for their work is relatively Uinlted, Now, for the first time, art activltleis here have been transferred flrotn the stage to jtfae screen. . , The picture art movement is hew to Hollywood. Sponspred by the West-Coa'Bt-Hollywood thesitres, the Filmai'te has been established with Regge Doran as director. House was GRAUMAN'S CHINESE (LOS ANGELES) Los Angeles, May 9. "Northern Lights" Sid Grauman's prolog for "Trail of '98" (M-G) is an atmospheric entertainment af- fording Wholesome amusement to those who fork over the $1.50 to enter these portals. Presentation was of the period with tunes thought tucked away In the memory of past gcneratiions brought to light, again. Set is the Interior of a: Dawson City dancehall and barroom. GraU^ man roamed Hollywood digging up the old boys who. have "lace cur- tains" below-^he neck line. A bar; gaming tables- and short skirted damsels to look at too. Impressive to see some 60 so-called old timers on the rostrum. Will Prior, house musical con- ductor, led the overture, a medley of numbers of the period. Then C. Sharp Minor, at the organ, had a good theme flong in "The Tale of •98," Opening had the mob In one of those old time dreamy waltzes. Upon conclusion the barker, or stage m. c, proceeded to introduce the tal^nt^ starting, off with the Le- Rby Sistiers,'buck and wing. Therr CAPITOL ("Song 8hoppe"-Unit) (DETROIT) Detroit, May 13. About the simplest and Icfist com mendablo of Jazz units to depart from Chicago and reach this point to date, until' the last number, when the Robbins Family appears, but not without something that all three preceding band shows at the Capl loJ have lacked. The Item of Individuality concerns the presence of a company song plugger, who finally can plug.a song and lend vocal accompaniment to a band numfeer. without committing mayhem on It, . The gent In question Is called Jack Richmond, with a pleasing pair of pipes.. Yet even Jack isn't too good, however perfect by comparison. It's just that Jack Is in front by a mile ^In following a series of phoney bo- loney Paul Smalls. And Just tliat that lifts "Song Shoppe"' head and shoulders above its predecessors, overlooking its shortcomings to give three cheers of relief. Only Richmond is making it tough for others to follow. Other than that minor improve- ment the Capitol's current Chicago- bred occupant Is no bargain. Again, Louis McDermott's productional ef- forts prove Al, but, agaiii, the talent is not up to the mechanical end. Formal Oriental opening in "one" with the girls and staft songster (Richmond); this time backed by an olio of music sheets. Apparently no occasion for a cry from any pub- lisher, with all present hits and would-bed mentioned on the scenery, excepting "Laugh, Clown, Laugh," Which Js at this moment the rage for serious-minded m. c's In Detroit, all of them trying It. By the interest- ing settings, the title idea is con- veyed out throughout. Rodney and Gould, in the first Individual attempt after Introduc- tory incidentals, are a two-boy com- bination, singing, talking and danc- ing, all In a comedy vein. They will never be fooled by misleading pic- ture house applause. How Nell Nelson could have hiissed with Ash and that push-over niob at the Oriental cannot be Imag- med. She must have been a panic Pretty, cute and sings in the mod- ern stage band soubret style. But Nellie isn't at the Orieintal in De trolt. Stanley House is a walking, talk Ing amalgamated conglomeration of George Jessel and others,, without g*'nJng any .of the originaJs* idea on now. A medley of pop song titles gets him off safely, but previous effort blah. In saving the show the Bobbins |rang resembles Eddie Foy's tribe t?j days, had the lamented Eddie's kids been ground and lofty tumblers. Old Boy Bobbins brings em on one after another, the total flnally reaching nix, and then pays on with a cart . wheel by hefty Mother Robbins.: The kids are all *"pre or less talented on the mat, with tile next-to-oldest boy a whirl : jvind. The pater slips' in now and f 'w^lth some semi-contortlonistic stuff by himself, always suggesting a world of past experience on the lot and under canvas. ' The permanent house ballet of 10 aances twice, in the opening and in tne middle of the bill. They are Better than ordinary In the second number, a "Blue Danube" waltz led a girl acrobatic dancer, unbilled and a stranger here. Harry MacDonald, conducting-m Kicks in with his becoming ap- =.^..=pearam!e-and=-likeablG"TJresi3ncc^ln n-nnounolng and handling the stage band. He's just what the Capitol 1 5, . ' wants a quiet, good looiting fdiow to bolster the feather Weight units. Sam Bonavie's current pit over ^"''<^<?^voted to aocompjinylng one of ine Fitzp.itrlck Mu.^lc. Master series iro.9f.nce of this reel probably in- eurof) TTank Ford's attondancf .at th« J-;apitol this week. He's a bug tlie Fitz .shorts, pon Miller organ solos with '"•'ililit .slid<'.s, apparently Kuppliod formerly the! La Mirada, av grind Miss Doran was formerly employed , T4r««,« T»a« o ^^t*^^ y,^^*^,. r,rv.^ by West Coast Theatres director ^^1"^ ^♦{.'^^ ViL f?^f«t^^o t^It of public relations. She went east, t,V*L*^tn5«riifn « Unnf o but recently returned to the coast. I'^^^f^Snr ord^Ime^l^'Vn In launching the Filmarte theatre, contest, pleased with Arnold Bob centrally located in Hollywood,^ tlie siackner, cowboy tenor, singing an primary thought was to -create e operatic number that passed In rendezvous for film art lovers. A' high-class rather than si highbrow establishment was In mind. The differentiation is inconsequential. The question whether there are enough picture . art. lovers around town to support this theatre Is more important. Its greatest ^lource of revenue, and that upon: Which the theatre can count, is the picture col- eny. The rest is a matter of con- jecture. Premiere night found many of the literary and .iart intelligensia present. There were also a limited number of celebs. Reaction of those present depend- ed on individual taste.' Opinion as to the program was divided. "The initial presentation offered, as its feature "The Golden Clown," a Swedish production released In this country by Pathe. . Preceding this were several shorts of the color and futuristic ordor, but also included a Fox newsreel Much interest centered around the second film creati,on of Robert Florey and William Cameron Menzles.; This is called "The Love of Zero" and was made at ah admiitted cost of 11186.09. An intermission Wai3 pro vided, during which those gathered had the choice of loitering in the lobby, where coffee and cigarets were served free, or listening to Stella Seager's excellent soprano. - An introductory bit that brought a laugh was a master of ceremonies idea via the screen. Walter An thony, title writer, flashed on the screen iand let drop a few witty re- marks that were liked via a sound device; Music is supplied by a string trio and an organ. These highly profl cient musicians are Clarence Buzek, piano; Nathan Liebenbaum, cello; Alfonso .Corelll, violin, and Josef Wayne at the console. With a 76-.cent. and $1 admission. great shape. The Carsons brought back: the Texas. Tommy to score, followed by Edna Covey ai^d her hoke toe work. Then ChsLz Chase. They hadn't seen this comic out here so It was a push over. As the. main stage feature Chief Caupoli- can, Indian baritone, did four num- bers. . He closed doing VAuld; Lang Syne." This permitted the entire ensemble to join In for the finale which . took place «.s the set, on rollers, split In the middle and was taken off as the voices died out and the picture began to flicker. Split of stage set Is to allow M-G's Fan- tom Screen to n^ove down and back for , the spectacle sequences In Trail." Lateist Grauman prolog Will be of much help to this fllm epic of Alaska. . Ung. FIFTH AVE. (Pan-American Unit). (SEATTLE) Seattle, May S Looks like West. Coast picked a natural In Jack W^ldron, eccentric clow'n and m. of c. Waldron went into this house, 'succeeding Eddie Peabody, and came through with flying colors In spite of a rather luke warm publicity campaign.; The Fanchon and Marco presen tation, "Pan-American," was rather tame, although thft Mirlmba band, eight Mexicans, panicked the mob. and Senoir Pandrazo, singer, was anothef natural. Mirlmba band's numbers should be cut down, as they get tiresome. Adelaide and Betty put ■. over a buck dance, while Edith and Evelyn another " girl duo, warbled- and danced. Both acts arei weak. The 16 Pan-American Beauties did some nifty foot work; but should elimi- nate their undertone ta.lk to each policy of the theatre will be two per-, -oi-i-i formances nightly, with ' matinees | other ^hile working. Plainlyjiotice Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sun- days. For the Wednesday matinee only 50 cents is charged. Films to b^e shown will not be re- stricted to foreign products alone and house will present either do- mestic or other pictures which it considers artistic. House has a capacity of 800. able to the customers ?ind a bad im pression. Waldron directed the band In a hot number and then stepped out to do his stuff. Fast style of delivery went over neatly. "Across to Sing aport" (M-G) the feature. Cohen. PORTLAND ("Dancing Feet"-Unit) (PORTLAND, ORE.) Portland, Ore., May 10. - Tak in g i t-o n- the ehl n- every w^^ek ROXY (NEW YORK) New York, Ma.y 12. The bigness and the high musical quality that have , become standard with the Roxy supply a constant quantity at this house. . They fur . _ nish the draw for the^regular -clien with no one able to give any other tele, and the coming of special prcs Alibi but heavy and keen bpposl.sh. entatibn bits supply a sort of flavor Publix uiiits haven!t seemed able to for a staple dish click with northwest audiences for This week the big show has the business, although majority of the advantage of a flne film feature iii shows have been well received. "Ha,ngman's House" (Fox), some Dancing Feet" Is the current, unit, notable novelties In Movietone News Alex. Hyde's orchestra the backbone and several ■ production . interludes of the show. Harry Rose Is the m. c. that give special Interest Hyde and Rose do some great com- From the stage show angle per- edy which clicks to a big palm. Hyde haps the high, light was the staging has just retui-ned from a week's eh- of a dramatic episode called "The gagement at the Publix Seattle Miser's Death," a tricky sampfe. of hou.se. scenic effect. Stage Is in half light Rose gave the customers gags and showing vaulted room of a castle songs and looks like ah Ideal picture with & cross-barred ca.sement at the house m. c. His ad lib and iT^promtu back, looking upon a rocky ocean stuff are great. Vale and Steward shore with remarkable effect, of displayed legmania of the original waves beating against the ca.stle type, while Martha Vaughan, prima walls in showers of spray. Wlille of the unit, got a big reception with the story of a miser gloating over her melodious vocal efforts. Another his gold is revealed in dance panto- applause getter was Auriole Craven, | mime, an eerie atmosphere is created a looker who pos.sosses a made-to order personality. She flddl?s and vocal Izei.s. A big hit was Richard "Limbor- factory whistles, crash of ..trip ham- mer.. The whole Is suggestive of the title "The Spirit of Labor," a bizarre idea along the linos of the German picture "Metropolis," for which the number would niake a great prolog, A first rate one-time novelty on its freakishhess, but that about meas- ures its usefulness. The big ensemble Is not as happy as usual this week, running more to garish coloring and heavy, over- decoration in Its backgrouiids, but having much beauty in some of the cbstuming. These Roxy ensembles, even when they aim at slnipliolty. are pretty staggering, but when they go in for gaudy ornament, the effect is of something crudely overdone. Fill .the huge stage, as they do this. Week, with mUlti-colored Venetian masquerade flgures, and the plctui'e is too big and too intricate to reg- ister pleasingly. . NotaTile In the specialty group that contribute to 'the building up of the ensemble arc Beatrice Belkin with a stunning rendition of "Caro Nome,' contortionistlc dancer, "and the two dancers, Joyce Coles and Nich olas Daks, In-a futuristic jazz dance Interlude. The dancer Is Lillian Drew, booked IsLte and unpro grammed. She Is a 0us Edwards protegt and a comer In the "apt dance" field. ' Roxyettes are used three or four times In some of the best -unison work to be seen hereabouts, and In the finale the ballet corps has some beautiful toe work. Movietone news reel has a whale of a record of airship maneuvers at Langley field, when the camera and sound recorder were taken up to follow. the aerial maneuvers of two score bombing planes attended by fast scout and battle planes. The medley of ear-splitting noises gen- erated by the air squadrons has an enormous effect. . Shots Include the dropping of many bombs and ah attack and burnihg . of a captive observation balloon. News reel is all Fox, with the exception of one clip of a Navy blimp making the first transfer of passengers at sea to a steamship. In this case the "Amerl can Trader." This clip is from Par- amount. ... Overture Is a fascinating medley of Impressions from "Faust," with the Roxy choir singliig from the boxes, and the Interpolation of a ballet number, a German peasant dance, done on a huge elevated stage and carrying an odd atmosphere from the fact that it had no scenic backing at all, so that the. folk fig ures seemed to make up an animated painting. Rush. STATE (MINNEAPOLIS) Minneapolis, May 10. A' stage show built about selec tions from various Victor Herbert operais featured the pleasing and well-balanced entertainment offered here this week. Business was badly off, due to the Inability of "The Showdown" (Par) to pull, and also to warm and cleiar weather and gen- erally adverse conditions. Exterior of a toy shop was the initial stage- setting, showing. 10 mixed singers in display windows. After "Toyland" came "The March of the Toys," with nine young and pretty State red-wigged ballet girls, In tight-fitting Uniforms, executing a march and a drill. With the words of "Kiss Me Again" flashed on the screen, came a violin 6olo In the pit, and then, as part of the same number, an acrobatic dance by a scantilly clad pair, girl and man A fullrstage Italian street scene wa« the setting for 'Tm Falling In Love With Someone" and "The Italian Street Song." The 10 singers and 11 dancers shone again In these numbers. A billed soprano and tenor, Luella Felertag and J.ulian Neville, were heard In solo portions and well received. Entmpre Hotel orchestra.^on Vlta.- phone, opened the" program and won real applause. The orchestra gave International News Weekly a splen- did niuislcal iicfcbmpaniment. "A Leisson In Golf," Walter Weems fea- tured, went over nicely on Vita- phone, drawing much laughter. Larry Goldberg's organ number was called "Stage Struck'.' and utilized the screen to coax the audience to sing. Larry's mes.sage, via . the slides, was that he was giving evcrytfody a try-out In order to learn If they could sing well enough to get in the "Follies." It got over and amused. CAPITOL by the rhythmic beat of the surf seen throujrh the only llght^'d spot of the stage. jSnothcr out-of-the-'ordinary bit Is :lPgs'j_-KdWxards,-Jvlro^c6nncctad^ his dizzy dancing. Edwards had tho house In an uproar. Camf^o Ballot, 12 girls, got a hand. Homer McDonald Is tho new or gani.st at tho house and scom.s to have cauglit on with the .fans. 1I< •sings while playing. Linden's ov- ohcstra, In tho pit, p\it ovor an ovor ture to light roturna. I'orli.indfr.s donH .<?com .stront? for thi.s overture gag. A iittlo too ritzy for tli'^m, P'^r- hfjpp. "Tlio Enomy'.' i M-f;; and nu- nvron.'s^ phort ptnff r"iin*iod out tho bill. • Cohen. without niu.slc by Von Grona, inter- ostlng for its outre novelty. Stage is set with horizon effect in rod, with stoel building skoleton, .stcam cra.no, and fututristlc jumble of ponderous machinery in silhouette of sharp bl.'ink against the luminous haokground, Von Grona, drossod in sldn tight black silk except for bare pkin from waist to breast, goes through movements resembling a drill in calisthenics to the aocom- panimont of shattering nolsos— shrieking cs'-apc of steam, blare' of PALACE (DALLAS) Dallas, Miay 10. John" L..Hathaway, director of the pit orchestra, and Dwight Brown, organist, honored the local Miislc Week with a combined specialty consisting chiefly of selections from the old time composers, featuring JtSteiJUi^-JLAud.erl ja,a;ja-^ added attraction. Town is strong •for music and the cla.ssldalists had a^ week to themselves. On . the stage, Helen McFarland, singing, and dancing xylophonist, headed the favors for the "lllgh- light.s" Publix unit. She had been here last year and was reni(;mbei*od. Foster girls were okay and Ken Whitmer performed at the drums for a hot numbor which took two to four encores. ' "Ea.sy Come, Kasy fro'' ^Par), feature, sooniod to strlko the crowd a.s a necessary evil. (NEW YORK) New York, May It. House Isn't so much concemaA with its turnover this week Mi standing off the Ash publicity for the Paramount. That was evident when the revival of "The White Sla- ter'' was postponed until next week. Circus Rookies" (M-G). beinc switched in and five impot'tant act« • spliced into the running. Satur>. day's first, complete show ran ex- actly 2:36, with the screen leader only a CO-mihute comedy. It's a ble show, a good one and worth the 1,65 Aveek-end logo top. Boris Petroff'gets credit for the stage demon.stration, titled "Capitol Gambol." It holds Ruth Etting, . Williams iSisters,. Joe Termini and the Tcniplcton Brothers. Plus the 16 Tom- NMp Girls, tho stage band presentation went 56 minutes for at least a full three-quarters of aa hour of entertainment. Any picture house stage item running this long is bound to have some superfluous material around. This ono is no ex- ceptlon. A. specialty number, pro- gramed as written by one of the Templcton boys, had a good idea behind it-, but Wasn't needed on this particular bill. Termini, recently back from Europe, also could have cut something from his eight .min> utes. He was out after this, first show because of th0 bill's length. Setting was In green and blue, with a dome significant of the Capi> tol half revealed , in the rear. In^ front of this the 27 musicians an- . swered Roesner's baton. Show was strong enough and too long to call for the comedy byplay, which opened by having a page deliverlhg a mes- sage that Roesner was delayed somewhere and couldn't makie it. . The m. c.'s'appearance was greeted with squeals from the Nip femme contingent, after which Roesner started to shake, up a muslca:! cock- tall, an Idea that's been done to death. However, the band put tp»» gether another one of its usually meritorious numbers In rchashinir some of the hits It has played dur- ing the past few months,. Capitol patrons are sold on this instru- mental outfit and Roesner,. and as a unit their weekly solos rate this reaction. The unnecessary bit wa« i Templeton's "Why Aren't We Sat- isfied?" which had vairlous princi- pals and band miembers narrating what they'd like to do and then do- ing It. OKay some othe^ week, but not when the show la so overboard. Plenty ■ of hot music floating around these former classic portals, with Miss Etting warbling thrice, the Williams Sisters stomping oU over the stage and Termini heatlnir up his guitar for a. finish. Williams girls, Zelma O'Neal's guiding, light, were on twice for applause which warranted their Inclusion, while Termini Went through his routine of violin, banjo ' and • • giuitar. Miss . Ettlhg sang to her . own piano accompanist in the pit, but, had the orchestra for .final choruses. She never , was in ddubt and took a demanded encore. The Colonel should be interested. Ruth and Paul (Templcton) boys opened, the spe- cialties, doing their familiar contor- tionistlc dancing. Nip. girls pranced twice, occasionally haying their rhythm troubles, and a simple finale had everybody on stage, with girls decorating at vaHoiis points above, on the sides and below the band. . Show's added feature Is Milton Work, the bridge expert. Introduced by a seven-minute- Technicolor short showing him making a grand slam out of a no-trump hand on which he bids hearts to get the honor score. Point of the reel ex- plains the necessity of trumping the partner's ace. Work was on stage immediately following this for » brief,, nervous and somewhat too ex- act verbal discourse, thence retir- ing to the promenade, where he had, announced he would take his stand to explain and discuss bridge with these desiring to:b_e_enlightened. Okay for the bridge players, gen- erally the logo and orchestra pa- trons, but the balcony habitants may become restless, although Work and the film only did nine minuteiu It wasn't BO long ago that an ex- planatory Mah Jong colored reel was laughed off the screen at the Rivoli. Work , is doing two special morning • matinees for the card fiends this week. News .weekly went seven minutes and held nothing of particular In- terest in the material supplied in three shots from M-G-M, two from Paramount and one by International. "Mother's Day" was the theme of the "orchestral production," Sylvia Miller and John Qulnlan singing a new "Ma" number after "Songs My Mother Sangv to Me" had been played by the orchestra, than which no sweeter melody has. been writ- ten on the subject. Warbling behind a scrim, the vo- calists were carelessly lighted for a bust effect on each which the au- dience could make neither head nor tall""'6f ^and'""TSWiHC-qtT^ nothing. Shows at this house have not been particularly woll lighted of late, and with such mofiningless electricity as this It boconies se- rious. It not only smothers but choaporis tho dr-slrod Imjircs.sion. Outlay looked good on costuming and had an ahun<lancft of talent to back up this sight unglu. Definite but .:li(iico .sh-'iviii;r would prlvo . it addod wfirht for the "nut" involved. It's probably tho longest show the Ciijiitol .ha.s" over hold. Sid.