Variety (May 1928)

Wednesday, May 30, 1928 VaudeviQe Reviews R E V ij w s FILM HOUSE REVIEWS (Continuea from page 40) VARIETY 41 New Asls PALACE (St. Vaiide.) more than two hours o£ claJss screen I material. Six-act bill has three comedy AT. almost all-repeat bill of sure-[ smashes and for a house of the costing plenty and giving forth State cliejitele, that spells top qual- t i^ast the wholesome corned beef ity. How these pop audiences re- and cabbage it not the violets of big spend- to an excuse to laugh! time A veteran Palace-goer could xhe giggle leaders this week are sit home with the program and vis- Harry Welch, with 15 mlnuties^ of his ^alize and oralize the show. But It "(jreek restauraJnt" worked over for is still good fun to be there and &et a rich low comedy effect; Sally jt again at the front. Fields, with her own vigorous style Will Mahojiey, returning from the. of delivering, and , finally Otiiiar wars of musical cohiedy, got what. Stang and his band, who since they Ivery good man gets from his true broke In around these corners have love when he comes home—the open built up their comedy until it's a arms and the squeeze that follows, continuous gale. . One other Irishman was received Rest of the bill-blended nicely for ■with aS much enthusiasm in this l tj^iance and change of pace. Sgt. town recently. But he had two pj.a,nklin, wltl> his dancing assistant, Gerinan fliers with him. Ruby Royce, opened,. ifurnishiiig a \. truly terrific ovation. |?y folks clean-cut sharpshooting specialty who knew Mahoney so well that that got away from the acrobats, they whispered his ga.g3 before he Brisk turn that doesn't waste a sec- Bulled them, applauded. VLTllie" ond. Showmahly in frameup and When the overture hit up, and yelled oxecution. Franklin is modest in (or "Mammy" to. ericore. Will did demeanor, doing his shots without 26 niinutes, and st very , full 26. min- parade, which helps to emphasize utes. Nothing new. But not a wow- the diflaculty. Girl is snappy in aii- escaped and not'a handclap faltered, pearance and makes her dance nunri After the closing, act was announced bei-s count. he had to come out and take it Alice May Hbward and Sophie again, and this trip Jie had to make g^jj^jg^^.^ Ugl^t spot No. 2 with fa- . a serious speech. That was the only ^iU^^^ harmonizing turn; On 15 way the closing act ever got ^qn at j^-jj^^^- ^^j^^j s^^^^j^ have overstayed, all. .Hie had exhausted the .audience i ^j^^ crowd liked them and en and the audience had exhausted him, ^.^^gg ^^^^ legitimate, and everything was six-two-and- • ° , - ♦ , ^t.„u r,7»« wmi pvf^rvbbdv on the fav Greta Ardine surrounds her sketch even with everybody idpa with plenty of dancing and . Juliet had preceded him,^and sh^^ ^1^^ ^j^,^ far. Her too, had essayed 2ff minutes.^ That s 1^^ jg Tyrell, al- a lot of. act for one. gal.- bhe like- L^^ys . a - class dancer arid now . wi.^e had little that hadnM: been seen ^ t^^i O en and heard before; ,G^of• With a fragment, of talk. between turn. but.could stnnd^new^materlaV immigrant girl and Tooner at least to^^e imitations.^ A^^ conductor, latter with one as versatile as Juliet doesn t' ' ^ . have to warm over last season's hash. The laughs didn't come so heavy in the first half of. the rou- tine, which is a better tip-off than a trade paper reviewer's opinion. The impersonations; as always, clicked, and hejre one or two hot oyer- familiar to Juliet were sprung. She us the top of a table, a picture in a pedestal frame on the left, huge reading lamp center and book ends on the right. Four dancers, stood as ornaments on the book ends and came to life after Miss Peterson. Bobby Joyce was on for a dance or FOWLER and TAMARA Dances, and Band. 18 Mins.; Full Stage (Special) Palace (St. V) After a picture house tour foUow- two, clever, while the band Syurod ing cabaret starring en.«Tasements with its tunes. . • here and there, these Amorieans, Evelyn Dean, dancer; was a. ^dud - j- Continental dance en until she went into some acrobatics, '^^f7^f„,ni.5h.^rt rWW art Miss Peterson, the Berri girls and tertalnment, "^^^^f^^ f^^^^ band put over .another, it.em. .the and. novelty to a Palace bill whlcli singer being, framed in the picture needed all three. .Miss Tamara s on the table top; Van and Schenck groAvn-costumcs ,-<Hone were rich, are standard. They worked .in Jvont .j.jjj,g ^^jj^ggjjj^ of .the scrim; .ahd to stop the ap- . . . ^ 4.1,- n,,vv♦>^v.,o1o vtn plause Joe Van runs through the They bring the Guatemala Ma house and out the front door. Finale rimbg. Orchestra of 7, one being a had the girls surrounding the la.mp bass fiddler and the others ham base, as it turns. . I mer thumpers, and ."i foreign solo Art'Kichter, organist; first played' a medley of bird songs to slides. Nicely received. "Feel My Pul.se" (Par) the movie draw. .• Tsrdel- CAPITOL ; (NEW YORK) ;• ■ • NeW^;. York,; May 27. a; Boris. PetrofE productioTi, enti- tled "Crinoline vs. Jazz," has some ist, Jiian Sebastian. The band ill do, and the tenor, while ricBllg^ble, helps fill in a change. ; But the dancers" arc supci'lative, First: in a Spanish double and then in an exquisite tango, they were es- tablished before they left tlie stage the first tiine. The soloist sang off- sitage, with the band accompany- ing. They returned in a sort of KODY and WILSON Song and Music 14 Mins.; One Riverside (St. V.) Two pretty girls,, blonde and bru- nette, in a refined routine of voctU and musical entertainment. .Musi- cian ulays piano, harp, flute, and violin. .- SiJiKer has a trained voice of good Qiinlity arid a pleasing personality. She makes two changes of costuiiie, discarding Jong, drosses for a gypsy offoct. Vocal high liglit is a flute obbll- gatp dueti A harp and voice rendi-. tlon of /'Old Man Riber". . by th« musician also got over nicely. Tliey liked the girls here, nuin»H>r two. Cnn. out character. iK3et down promptly to the stepping and thereafter they're set. Tyrell, by the way^ is the only man hoOfer that comes .to mind who makes the burlesque ballet thing honestly amusing. He. does it mostly by putting some remarkably grace- ful toe work into it; A capital idea. with Mahoney's wclcoriie .as Will's Welch, with Harry Hill straight- name was flashed. She took one ing for him as of old. proves again bow thereafter, but no harm done. that there is—or maybe, used to be » William and Joe Mandel, another a wealth of great comedy material f< team of standbys, getting better for vaudeville in burlesque. Somc- with every appearance, even though times they .don't register, but the the prelim talk in "one" is growing genuine ones do. Welch substitutes a trifle lengthy, crowned the mob low comedy play on "two eggs" with with the burlesque acrobatics and pit responses and back stage echoes, encore ballet. Bit by bit this pair for the effects he used to get out Of keeps improving, socking in the the "Zoop" routine. It's great clown- laughs harder and working easien ing. The State crowd made it a Doc Balcer and his two cuties con- laughing tumult, tributed ariothcr "regular," the two oscar Stang has come ahead since girls helping with some strenuous j^e first showed hereabouts last fall., cartwheeling and Doc doing his cus- jjg has three singing comedians in tomafy protean whizzes and liff^t Kjg lo-man organization and with attempts at characterization... himself doing burlesque fcmme im- Cliftord and Marlori, once, again a pgjgQjjations they are iri for laugh- hardy annual, or .semi-annual, with- value. Jazz mitslc mqjces a.per- out anything added since their first ^g^^ background for stage clowning, smash here, went for a volley of Lnd this group has'both. They never .deep laughs on Miss Marion's limp ^^^^.^0 the buffoonery, but the robust postures and unique gag-shooting. JJg^^_J,J^.^^ jc, there nevertheless. She makiss a.mlstalce exiting and re-I Rush. turning after a change in the same character. If she remained on, even at the expense of Clifford'^s single comedy song, the effect would not be broken and Would not hnye to be picked up again. Her appearance '"Straight" for the bovir is still a strong comeback, and indicates how her grotesque is appreciated. Pow- erful comedienne, and would clean up a bit in any revue, i Fowler and Tamara (New Acts), with the Guatemala Marimba Band, slammed the firtt part shut. Ber- nice Claire, single and male piani.st, - singin.ET three soprano numbers in a nietalllc but true voice just made for vaudeville, deuced. Her dress- maker should return her the money ravishing costuming (made t)y Spanish foxtrot, ryhthmlcal , and Brooks)i a finale of abundant spec--.xhe soloist then made tacular flash and a lot of engaging ^ orwr.«^.v^T,,.o «in£riii« ah urifa- stage numbers by a Chester .Hale his, appeal apce. felng^^^^^^ group of dancing girls. This is all miliar number in .bpanish . to no very well, but the stage proceedings great , .effect. have a fatal weakness. There is "no a salvo greeted Fowler and standout among the specialty people, r^^^^ ^1,^^ they came forth With Metropolitan audiences ta^e^pro- j extraordinary waltz maneuver ductlon splendors for granted these ,„ut^u T^n^a o-ivmi<4 nerchcd days, but.the. flavoring of the enter- in wMuch: Miss Tamara P«»c^"ca tainment is looked for in personali- on , Fowler's shoulders. A^ more ties that click for one reason or an- graceful terpsichoreari bit doesn t other. The "Crinoline vs. Jazz" idea live, nor a more dainty and ro- itself is familiar, of course, but here kyja^ntiC The finish, In which he its beautifully worked Out elabora-- j^^^^ while holding her with tion is thoroughly enjoyable. M tv,^ Ant nf Vipt- hack Walt Roesner hasn't much to work one hand under the flat of . her back, with in the way of introducing peo- Is strength, poetry and origmauty pie, but achieves orie good gag: An- ini high: . The encore was a simple nouncing the band number by .the but entirely effective perfection Capitolians, he makes an impressive .j^^,^ variatiori of ballroom steps, to gesture of ballyhoolng a "brand new] ^ yj^^y t f rich applause, well number, never before played on any r^" ^rV"-" .stage,'.'and+i-'en. springs the title as| earned. "Ramona" for a laugh. Number Is it is easily seen why this pair gets expertly handled with incidental or- j^gj-^gg i^ every branch of enter- chestra bits. Dialog between Roes- - ^j^ing exqui ner and his comedian violinist isV:""""^ ' , , . ng amusing, especially the musician's JS a thrill,^ and thoir work ls_ as trick of using violin notes to express hfearly perfect as highly tramea such things as "I don' wanner." specialty performers and natural Karavieff, billed as late-of /"'Take atrists, who love their profession the Air," is tho partisan of the crin- ^j^^j give it devoted concentration. □ALTON and CRAIG ♦ Comedy Skit - 15 Mins.; One. (Special) Fifth Ave. (V-P) This clever .team. is. a standard, . with" the routine^ caught at th©: Fifth Avanue probably rie>v- Some- what of a familiar^ idea; tli.e man- ner In which they dp the hicktown cigar-stand girlrand-fly actor dls.^ tinguishes their stuff. It's a bright turn for the family trade which will take to . the vvoniart's wholoeome personality and silly giggle bit, and. the . actor- character's flip routine In helping himself , to e'verythirig in siglit. Act •probably specially authored, although no one lobby-credited. •.■ - ■■ ■ . , Ah-i. ■ can reach. oline,, Roesner of the Jazz age, and the whole .show is a cdntest of ihe 1 two styles, Marie Bohheur, soprano, | ings old songs; .liillian Roth offers hot" topical*, iand the audienc"? does the judging, Chester girls in the crinoline costuriies make a love- ly picture. Center dresses are vivid red and the tone shades off through all gradations of pink to pure white. Out of this color scheme some stri'f- irig effects are obtained. Switching to the jazz age, the gli"lt? many Lait. RIVERSIDE est. Vaud) It was Bob Hall night at the Riverside Monday. Hall, after put- ting the N. V. A. Club across with a "smash," has turned his peculiar talents in other directions and Mon- day night was the recipient of a gold plaque from the. Daughters of Israel, for aid in staging a drive for the hospital. Carl Emmy made tiic presentation speech and Hall ac- knowledged it in a carefully re hearsed ad lib rhymed response. Prior to that. Hall had mentioned for both gowns. They are not the names of many people present Broadway.. Six Daunton .Shaws, cy- In his "rhymes," and also letit ^^c. clist.s, opened, ending elegnnt with a known that he sails June 101 dno-oycle ensemble round and England. Here is a great spot toi round. Nathan and Mencken to do some The last act, Cliirence Downey and research. England "vvith her sneers -C57r^ot~li"TaTr'^5t^C'bW^"^^ slow and dark, necessary for black- claims of an older culture Is on trial art .stuff. By the time the best for her life. If she goes for Bobs material, happened half the seats h-hymes—Macfaddon ought- to hop WfM-e emptly. . on the next boat. Hall was fourth- Business was overcapacity, due to Maybe tlie presence of . the names. Just the kind of a show that Daughters jtcJcounted for the healthy y'ill draw more and "entertain l<?ssKQ„geful Monday night,, but more in New York and draw less and ^n-i likely it was prices. "Theatre has tertainm more out of town. Top] many returns throw it out of bal^ ance as exciting stuff, though the I patriots had a bi.tf time doing their -'let from out front. Almost every wpmnn on the bill got flowers over tlic foots. That me.ans summer is liere again and homecoming time is | '<t hand. T,n!f. ikely ... ^ ., been scaied~ downward and ha,s picked up business. For six bits you can park anywhere in the or chcstra. The tap for the boxes is a buck' ten. , .,, B'ill was typically vaudevUlo with one riew. act, very f^ new- gags and nothing standing out but Bert T>tell in his corking sketch, "The Valiant." I.ytell has been using the sketch for a couple of .seasons now. but it's worth repeat (VatidfilmV I ing. It's mnde to order for vaude Pointing Jut tl,aT -tho Htnte's vine -"f, V%T.^l'/^tled Sir^Uh^' forcen features in.addition to a solid Hrst half I.ytell patted out witn comedy entertainmont of speoialtles speech. . _ „ ^nlng a Whale of a bargain at four bits, \^J'''^Zr,lT.T.'f.^^^^^^ Pa the ne"wsreel STATE ■■s -etting to be old stuff. But every I Co. opened the ^^^^^,'^11:^° , Jini<L.Qna.drQpsjnta-.thc^liQU3ii-_a£tejcv.Jr^^^ an absence, the fact hits anew. Voung penning. ^^''-.^'IfJ^X^XZ Besides this week's, .layout is three year <?ontract bable^s has rather startling. "Red Hair" (Par) hrnrnpd how to glvp them shodow wiis something of a riot in the de tintil nenr the finl.sh or tne luxes at a higher scnle and, besides, when substance is on tap. 'liey have a screaming Ilnl Roach has been redni-ed +0 an art ny i^f" vourOan.g" comedy and a distinctly standard nrt.s of vaude. and if? on^ "srhtly color short from the Tiffany- of the • rf«n.snrt.« you have to stano ahl list; then the M-G-M news nn line tn get in the picture Tac 1 with kick material tliat crashed torle.s. Thr-v pull a routine or er he composite topicals. ToJtal ot| fortle.sp and fak" dance. pt^-p.s and trim This EDDIE MORAN Master :'of Ceremonies Branfbrd, Newark Moran is of a different: type than any of the m. c.'s who have graced the Branford's stage; DIstirictly comedian and as such has played _ weeks succcs-gfully at the stHp'To " cocky" costumed I house, He had developed an appar .satin, close fitting and set off with ■white-top hats. Taps go with the .iazz and mlmiet-like toe rO'utines With the criTioilnes. For the finale girls are half of oiit nd half of another, crinoline girls posed down stage and then going to ently original line of' garbled talk that aroused favorabl • comment and iias always ^-'.'en used by the press as publicity with his notices writ ten in his style of language. Moran has a long face that can an elevation half-way back, and jazz be terribly solemn. He has the ama girls posed high at the back amid a sort -of mechanical pinwheel tire- ■works effect. Exc^^t for Miss Roth only specialty wa .le solo tap and acrobatic stepping of John Quinlan. Running tiriie of preseniolion is 26 minutes. "Robespierre" was the overture, in- troducing the Vocal ensemble posed behind a transparency singins t'ne Marsellalse" to flne effect. News reel Is medley of Paramount, Presentation rclativoly short, a Hal Roach comedy twi.-roeler was shown, Charley Chase m "The Fight Pest," a low comedy jiiterinde that was sadly needed in the program, which had a rather mournfui feat- ure in "I^augh, Clown, Laugh" CM- G-M). Two-reeler is a pip, having io_do:Jvith._one.^of:.tho.se._flght fanH who makes a nuisance of himself at the ringside and then is lured Into the ring, where he gets aw-ay from murderous bruisers by accident. A yariatioji of these chase idea that is genuinely funny. ' Riish. save the .snappers for the finif^h The youngster i.s using his dad as a foil for some good naturod kid ding relating to pop's brief and mild contributions to the routine. Pat returned later, walking out for ;!i.h imitation of Tom I'atricola, in Miss Patricola's turn, at the fini.sh Miss Pat, spotted next to closing .sang a couple of new ones and then a medley of some of her. for- mer hits. It helped a Hni.sh where help w.xs needed. Wheeler and Wheeler oiiened in their smooth dancing acrobatic twin routine. Kody aind Wilson (New Act??) deuced. CarltDji Emmy and his entertaining dog. act treyed Emmy has "w-iscly dropped the reci- l>'vtion=h e=wafv^ufiin gH^^him^thc=a:fii; plavf>d Los .(\ngeles. "Amateur Nite in London," Or.r don Bo.stock's contribution • to th*- Ifvitv of nations, closed arid wa.'- inst 'what the'six. hl.tters crav-d The cro.«sfire from- the guy In tho box. clicked 100 . pf-r crmt. .'Tli' CTOtesque makeup of the ama1<ur.«-- was the signal for shrieks on th<-ir fir.st appcarahcp. Con~ HELEN TOO WISE (Continued from page 1) . ■ * ... . ■ ' tV environrtient t^at had inspired her with them. Helen, angry;: refOsed to do .any- thing of the kiiAd; and finally left home,: For sorne time she lived by herself, ignoring her mother's de- mands that she return home. A long scr9,p ensued in which H seems her mother has finally "won out. Not long ago when Paul Bern, head of the lI-GrM scenario depart- .ment,';was in New York, he met Helen and recommended her for it contract with M-G-M. It was this offer, along with her mothers's per- suasions, that finally decided Helen to tehiporarlly leave the stage and go to Hollywood to make at. least one picture this summer.. She may return to the scenes o£ her enlightenment next season, aa she has a contract with the Theatre Guild to appear in one of its pror ductions. teur spirit and acts always as If he were having a good time. This Is naturally infectious. He also can dance and does so while leading the band ^e docs several blackouts with Les Stevens, and although he cannot sing niuch, lie can talk a song across. Moran'S chief fault is a failure to get all his lines across in the big house. lie is evidently Olever and quick, as shrieks of laughter from the front rows testify, but most of these are lo.st 15 rows back; It might be added he is popular with tho large flapper clientele. There doesn't, seem to be much doubt that he will coax bu.sine.ss, back to this .hou.^ie again. AiiHtin. MURRAY MOSS Accordion 18 Mins.; One . American Roof (V-P) Annunciator, and lobby sheet had it Murray Moks, but another man working from an ui)ner box drew the applause when he warbled a ri^ush ballad. Moss does some hot stiiff on an accordion and by .way of showing familiarity with the instrument pVa^ys a blues. The usual interrup- tion from the "plant,''' greater part Of confab gceting laughs. Combo fair, but could stronger turn. Houses Opening Lincoln Theatrical Knterprisea, Newark, N. J., has broken ground for a 2,500-seat theatre and office building at Greenwich, Conn. House s figured to be ready In Septem- ber with; vaudnim policy, the acts booked independently. Fally Markus will book the Sun- day concert shows at the Columbia, New York. The Paragon, pictures, opened by Charles Fischer. I Arlington, Arlington, N. J., pic- tures. • Queen Anne, Bogota, N. J, piCr tures. Castle;—Long -lleachr- on<j~of-the- H. s: Mo.ss .string acquired by Keith, will play straight pictures this .summer. •; f rarrie Mdrlt. MURAND and GIRtON Acrobatics 5 Mins.; Full TA'nTerlcan=-Roof^(-VTF)---====-'— First part devoted to acrobatics witli the mart doing .some ground work.'Girl shifts to familiar two- whee].id biko rouijnf. but worked extremely well on the .small stage '.Within.;.' .iniustinl. but in)f,'lil show to belter odv.iniai'e on a hig;j"c '.'itftge'-; O-petiinc sjtot )icre M<irk, ILL AND INJURED Evelyn tiowell of "Sunny DayS." .struck by an autohioblle on Michi- gan boulevard, Chlqagpr Iri St. Luke's hospital. Attorriey Phil R. Davis Is starting suit for $10,000 damages against Ernest Iteshman, driver of the car. William Eddy, 70, formerly with the Flying Eddy Troupe (circus), seriously ill at the NOrwalk fConn.) hospital. . ' Babe Clarli, vaude, fell dowri- stairs at the . Audubon, N. Y., and is unable to do stage work. Mr. and Mrs, Jack j; (Iain, dfiugh- ler, Hollywood Ilo.spital, Hollywood, .Mny L'.'J. ?'ather is .studio manager, of J\'ira7iiount. Mr. and Mrs. Frank .Macl..iuighlln, von, '"larfield Hosiiital, Los An- ^:ile.y. Mother is ni»'~former Huth V.'iiddell. fX-"Ko;liOH" girl.