Variety (Sep 1928)

Wednesday, September 26, 1928 VAUDEVILLE REVIEWS VARIETY 39 PALACE (St. Vaude) Old and new faces at the- ace Keith house this week, the old fa- miliars coming under New Acts be- cause of new routines, Including Margaret Anglin, Buck and Bubbles, Eddie Borden and Pedro Hubin in the special reviews. Jack Pearl, one of the toplinlng trio, Is staging a flyer into the va- rieties, bowing out week after next for a new Shubert musical. Pearl is slated for fortnight at this stand. The completely new face and act east Is Sally Rand, from pictures, with a company. *Wlth Miss Band, the cinema rep- resentation, according to the pro- gram, includes Eddie Borden, whose "courtesy of the United Artists stu- dio" suggests a flicker background, althoygh .Borden is an old Moorc- Megley flash act comic. On the mat- ter of two of a kind on the bill, jlosalie Stewart has two of the three co-headliners on the bill. Miss Anglin and Jack Pearl. So much lor the numerology. Show is ah uneven continuity. It's one of those kind of bilis where the first two acts wow 'eni, with the deucer stopping the, show, to wit: Max and His Gang and the Cheva- lier Brothers. Follows Miss l^and -with an intermediary fla.sh act, hold- ing up on the strength of numbers and the support. The picture girl, fat all of hor shapeliness and pul- •chrltude, although she is too much legs on the personality business, has not enough of the real variety en- tertainment to register indelibly. After Miss Rand com^ Eddie Bor- den and Miss Angiln's sketch, taper- ing off to mild returns; The second Stalf, comprising the spade team, Pearl's nonsense and Pedro Rubin's terp flash, was better paced. Pearl Is doing the interi)reter's office sketch,, although a different skit Is programed, this probably slated for. the holdover session. Rubin's act closing,, for all-of the ballybood by the new Koith music- 'diepartmeht to jack up the pit or- chestras, wasn't helped any by the trench unionists' acconipanimont. Almost capacity Monday nifcht all •ver. Ahel. ACADEMY (VVired) If a bill must have too much o£ the same thing, it is better it should be dancing. This layout is peculiai- in several respects. It has six turns and five feature stepping of one sort or another and most do not do much ■else. On the other extreme there arr^ only two talking turns iii the col- lection. You forgive a booker any- thing who supplies a whole evening Tvith so much restraint of gab. The dialog is that of Jack Wal- dron and Clark and Bergman. Time was wheh Clai'k and Bergman staged the best jiroduction revues in vaude- ville. Now they do a .German dialect sketch rich In Juicy comedy, and in Its low comedy field it's as good as anything of the kind around. Fun arises out of legitimate character drawing with just the right low comedy caricature to make it funny in the vaudeville sense. Come to analyze the whole show, it appears. that the duplication of ■dancing turns was saved from same- ness by the fact that there was a good strain of fun running through the whole bill. . Eyen a dancing girl act that opened had its humorous moments. More remarkable, Frank and Milt Brltton's jazz band, clos- ing, h.ad a capital laughing touch In- sinuated skillfully Into its routine. Ijibby Dancers (New Acts) opened. King and King, two entirely straight young men, danced earn- estly and finished S minutes of tap- ping to a veritable riot of applause in response to some intricate triple winging In which toe taps rippled like a roll on the snare drum. Mere tap dancing In a sublimated spe- icialty. AVeist and Stanton took 20 min- utes to deliver a medley of comedy, ^ noke^ blgxikojits and bits of song arid dance, some of Tt TuniiX^1lU~Honvc-io£ It rather forced and mechanical. Such was the build-up-and-gag bit in a fortune teller's ofTice. All gags T)alnstakingly planted so that George Wcist could walk Into the capping Ime. Rather better were the tramps in nature dances,, although too much el^nborated. Sketch has novelty and weist makes a suave-clown when he doesn't .try to strongarm the yokels into gigles. Fast comedy turn : in /Summary. Jack Waldron just.a singing mon- ologlst, using, much well-worn ma- terial. For Instance, a parody on the bride who turned out to have a ■Wig, fal.se teeth and a glass eve, is no novelty for parody builders. Still, done to the tunc of "Among My Souvenir.s," they yelled at it. Talk on the .same order. Then Clark and Bergman for IS nimute.s of entertainment, ending with the couple In a trim daneo routine, all leading to a curtain speech at this (Monday evening) piM-formiincp. ...^Tlifi. jiiattana'-..jaza,_gmuiL,^<aglLt ' ri number, besides a giil speelaTty dancer called Georgette, i.s just a lit- tle late. If thoy had swun.g .alortg during the peak of the eraze for stage bands thoy would have bet-n in the forefront. Not s6 much their jazz teehnlque as a Trcnh typo of bland comedy they di.spense. Most of the usual fun making of boy Musicians runs to the knofkahout and sandbag technique. This crew is more subtle. One bit illustrates their style. Trombone player is out front for solo of sentimental ballad. Ho ex- hibits desire to break into song and warbles a few bars when the gang razz him. Disappointed he goes back to the horn, but until the end of the solo he is constantly on the point of smglng again but discouraged. Built up for good laughs-without horse play. Agam for. the finish ail the players (eight) are made up as fam- ous T.omposers, and each leads for a snatch of his masterpiece. Another quiet comedy bit here. "Mendels- sohn rises pompously to lead, but ^eing. confronted by "Liszt," also about to direct, starts to; protest, we looks at the placarded announce- ment and, finding himself wrong, subsides. . Brittona are the same who have been doing musical acts for several years although this Is their first try with band outfits. Georgette is a tall, willowy gli-l, probably 5 feet 7 or 8, and she Is all wrong in wear- ing the scant dressing designed for a plump squab, not to speak of going stockingless. :She is not the bare leg type. Film feature, "Fazil" (Fox) sound- ed, and attendance at this show called for .standing half an hour from 7.30 to 8, . ^RtiaK . SIST ST. (Vaudfilm) Tom Kippur's descending: sun re- leased one-third of Manhattan's population for an invasion orf the show shops Monday night. This silk-stocking district filled the main floor at the 81st Street to overflow- ing, : Excellent vaude bill opening with Charles Carrer, classy juggler, whose seven minutes (New Acts) constitute an Incessantly diverting interlude, Pierre White, baritone from musical comedy, deuced. He got over (New Acts), but not with any. margin to spare. Possibly due to newness, his numbers, largely dramatic in theme, fell short of the requiremcnta; More fire and ughph in. delivery Is needed. . - Art Henry and the unbilled but stage-introduced Mls9 Callahan were never in peril. Lightly face- tious in the style of quiet persiflage presently recognized as "smart," this turn jingled in easily at a trot. In the absence of the iowdowh:at the time of going to typewriter, the guess on Hooper and Gatchett is That Itss fin "office act." Certain- fingerprints on the production (New Acts) indicate that much. How ever,, the turn is hereby absolved from any impiled stigma. It Is a snappily paced and tightly geared vaude ensemble created by the union of two male duos, ingenue and tenor, aliso including ,a comic that $5.50 scouts might do well to. keep indexed. Winnie Llg'htner's "song a min ute" barrage cleared the. decks for a speech in which the peppy carol chanter. :assumed a cockney accent and promised to tell King George about the nice people at the 81st Strebt, For a closer, there was a posing act, "Parisian Art," okay. Pit., orchestra overtured with-r- shades of Balaban. & Katz—"Pagll- acci," paraphrased by Lou Forman with iiioans for the saxophone and a snatch of "Laugh, Clown, Laugh." The 81st has a new main title for the news reel. • A little heat would have been helpful Monday night. Land. RIVERSIDE (Vaudfilm) Second week of vaudfilm policy Tor this fonner big timer, with the bookers going six acts instead of five this week and with the holiday helping attendance to a sellout Mon- day night. Nothing big or wallopy. Nothing to support that "Now Era" shout. Four Waltons, male foursome, opened with snappy acrobatics and tumbling, giving way to Bard and Avon, mixed duo, for the u.sual har- monizing - stuff, which . .went over fairly well. ' . Casey and Warren, mixed team, did some clowning and songs that need much brushing up. Their for- mer act was better. May Usher, with her songs, got comedy honors, mostly on one num- ber, "Yiddl.sher Paradise," which she has been doing around. It was eaten, as ne^v at this showing. Pipe bo- fore this 96th street audience. Her ballad bit for closer was lost in the fog. She could have walked off big after the "YIddisher" number but made the error of staying for the ballad. It let down her walk to but mild returns. Fred Ardath and Co.. the support comprising strnlght man and fcmme asfistant, pack plenty of giggles with the club fellow bit Ardath ha.s ben doing for the past two .seasons. Arduth's sou.se is a classic with him Jlmci-aeklng wise most of the time and with the dame trotted on towards end for dress and to help the tag. Good comedy act but no riot here, "'"T^'aTar/lTrr^'attovaf^flankod-by^^thrjt'^^^ male assistant.s, closed with a'cork- ing good dance spr.ftaclo that held them in. It gave the accomplished dancer plenty of scope. Act well mounted and Nattbva'a dancing the es.sence of finesse. Turn a good bet for any bill. "Port of Mls.sing Girl.*?" screen feature. Edha. STATE (Vaudfilm) Big time from third to fifth. Lewis and Dody topping in effect as well as billing, but. with two others close behind. One New Act In the five, Marino and Mona Kevue. Romas Troupe, still opening Inter- mediate and lesser bills and getting a break once In a while at such .'pal- aces as the State, have been re- tarded for years by nonsensical gab that consumes the first half of their running time. It's a gi-oiind and lofty tumbling act, pure and simple, and mostly simple with the clown- ing. They may not be aware that without the lioke they should be quite suitable for tlie picture houses. Kramer and Fields, youthful mixed team; look and work about the same as ever; Other, than replacement of the former black bottom ilnlsh with one that is new In title and musical accompaniment only. Still a pleas- ing deucer for the time. Big things began with the Kerr and Weston Revue (6), No. 3. Couldn't miss with Donald Kerr's comedy and Efile Weston's appear- ance arid graceful aid. Good vaude- ville In other ways. Funny thai . In all this, time another ending for the parlor scene has not bieen devised. The rhythnilic "shot in the back'.' by the company after the girl is shot in the back remains an awk- ward conclusion for an otherwise fine piece of material. In spite of that they whamriied. They have something that vaude always needs —coriiedy. And. how that Weston girl looks. Lewis and Dody, as per usual, had to speiak off. This Is one act that needs not a single material change to step in any house, iricludirig the film Mouses. Sam and Sam found that out. This must be a return to vaude after a couple of seasons of pre.sentatioris., The Marino and Mona revue fa,r€d splendidly .in its first trip hereabotits, Class dance and. musical act that can go anywhere, a lightweight songstress notwithstanding. "Cardboard Lover," feature. The State stands still in the serv- ice department while surroundlnis theatres seem to be training their staffs for the next war. "The non-: chalent way; as practiced at the State, may ■■ be the best after all. But the mob has been educated and by now may like petting from pet ushers. Biz off Monday nite, but not too much. Bigc. HIPPODROME (Vaudfilm) Not a bad 50 cents' worth, but both the balconies still empty and the ground floor capacity, only after 8 o'clock Monday night. A good openirig with the Five Jansleys, quintet of smart tumblers. Following are the Klt-Kat I'VJur (New Acts), colored hoofers, who stirred the . house. After theise two the show took a dropi With Nos. 3 and 4. Josephine Harmon, singing and . attempting comedy, spent a trylrig 15 minutes to light returns in this big house. Doc Baker, appearing next with a revue Including two girls, also failed to click despite, his clever quick changes. Songs, comedy talk and dancing of the old-f^hloned va- riety. In next-to-shut Lang and Haley mopped with the old prop Who and What gag. They laughed as hard as ever at the Hip, the argument going over ais good as new. The comic went Into his punch line rou- tine for the last five minutes, also putting over a couple •whistling solos, and bowed off to a healthy reception. Earl LIndsey's Revue, closing, seemed a little long. Though car- rying a number of girls with good hoofing special ties, It somehow missed fire here. Feature picture, "Danger Street" (FBO), average film entertainment that goes into this house. Walter Wild at the console and Jules Lenz- berg conducting the orchestra. Mori. • for stronger rcsult.s. She pulled nn imitation of Jim Barton that seemed her stock In trade. It was pleasing- ly done and drew down her biggest applause. Anthony and Ilowland, Billy Tichonor and Co., Harry and Frank Seaman and Bela Berkes and Or- chestra (New Acts). On the screen, "The Port of Miss- ing Girls," which covered a lot of footage before the censors stepped in. Oh, yes, the Al Sriilth news shots brought forth sonie .genuine nelgli- borhood euthiislasni that was spon- taneous all over house. Hark. AMERICAN ROOF . (Vaudfilm) A chin in the air seenied to pep the reof crowd Up Monday night and made, it more than generous in Its reception of the individual acts on the first-half bill. George Lyons, harpist, opening the second half, grabbed applause hon- ors With a ballad medley ori the gilded Instrument. . Following a pop. tune sung to his own accompani- ment, Lyons offered a touch of jazz and bowed , off to a big hand. He played the Broadway picture houses not long ago. Villani and yillarii. have a' wop comedy act, the basis of the patter being the intricacies of an Income tax blanic. Good for laughs in the Intermediates. Next to closing here, the boys registered easily, encoring with several double numbers. George P.. Murphy's company dish up an antique bookshop skit. Murphy flaunts a putty nose and does Dutch. Assisted by a. boy and girl, both of whom do straight for him. Murphy- is better than average In this class. Kit Kat Trio (New Acts) hold the deuce In pleasing fioshlon with a fast singing turn. Gibson, Frisk and Stewarts/ two girls and .a pair of hoofing brothers,, show, a dancirig revue that is nicely mourited and well routined. A little cutting and speeding would help. Grlridell and Esther do comedy that mostly de- pends on Grlndell's lanky build and mugging. LawtoUi juggler, opened to good results, and Bob Anderson's pony closed. Ori the screen, "Forgotten Fjaces" (Par). Biz good. 86TH STREET ; (Vaudfilm) Proctor's 80th Street gave the cus- tomers a six-act bill with its feature filrii, though but. five were pro-, gramed. Biz holding up. Monday night and a drop in the temperature plus the racial holiday unquestion- ably helped the returns. The show - ordinarily would have passed along In its usual.neighbor- hood style but for one thing. That was the Ujltlal appearance up there of Bela Berkes (New Acts) and hi.s orchestra. Judging from the ap- plause that the Hungarian niu.slc master received, at the opening, there I.s quite a following of the vio- linist there. Berkes didn't disap- pioint. It was one of the musical treats that sifts tlirough vaude's booking streams now and then. Lady Alice's Pets opened. Some attentio n wa..q_glycn to the little, monk perched ori a TsTHe, TalcITitr^a, delight in bouncing one of the rats off every few minutes. Sevral jab<i looked as though the monl<ey had about sounded taps for<hem. Olive Olson was second. She sure Is self-assured and goes into for I comedy manife.stations witli hor | numbers that could be rearian.i,'f-d ) 5THAVE. (Vaudfilm) ' With the 5th Avenue's top. now Increased to $1, since reopening, and an ordinary combo bill of seven acts and feature film, on the Monday's holiday night wlien every other house around town was packed, this Proctor theatre never had a 75 per cent, downstairs attendance, all evening. Entire house staff has been changed and wails have been paint- ed. No other Improvements noted and certainly not in the first iialf bill of acts. Mo.st of the turns are new. An injustice in spotting was evident. Jose Bohr and Co., musical and dance turn of four people, had to close, with the Ben Ho,mid troupe Of: six Arab acrobats placed right in the centre of the show. It makes rto difference how It may have been laid out' on paper, the spotting was wrong. In over 10 years there has been no Arab turn with or without, ringers with a single new formation or difference Irt routine. This Ben Hamid troupe Is no .charige from the others and did their work in five minutes. Everyone thought the vaude end had finished with them. No highlight in this program; not a vaude name meaning a dollar at the box office to stand off the 25c increase in price. If "The Port of Missing Girls," feature film, was the stand-l)y, then the 5th Avenue vaude house was not the place to take the chance. In comedy in a general if not gen- erous way, enough for the 5th Ave- nue, but not too much or too refined. Charlie and Addle Wllkins, billed here a.s Wilkiris and Addie, didn'L seem to care No; 2, and slid away without an encore. Rayniond Bond and Co., No. 3, in a taken'.'hancc ncwiywed skotcli, got over here on the rough stuff of the situation, hotel bedroom on . their wedding, night (New Acts). , Frank Hamilton and Co. (New Acts), barely passed, through on Hamilton's stuttering low comedy song, with the Ilarhid troupe .stepping In to mean nothing other than the usual apjilausc for the u.sual tumbling finl.sh. Butler and Parker (New Acts) are doing a Savoy and Bronnari turn and perhaps by permission of Jay Bronnan (now Brennan and Rogers), .since there is no pretense by the couple to di.sgulse what they are at- temptlnfr. Rather a good cro.ss lire turn as they are doing It. The Jose Bohr turn (New Acts) closed the. vaudo show. Whoever told, this turn or oncouraged It to go into vaude with the kind of an act they , have should be called to explain. There Lsn't a chance for it at an^ money, and there oj-n four peoTiir^r-^I t^ig)Tt=bePworth-wh.l le-n o w- and then to find out how some acts, entirely strange to vaude, get int'i It in the manner that they do and the lay out they have. Only tahmt In this act Is Bohr him.self, and he' may have plenty if developed. Vf-rnon Hathbone arid Co. (New Act.s;, four .su.xophoni.';t.«, former KENMORE (Vaudfilm) (BROOKLYN) The Kenmore, Keith hou.se, in the Flatbu.sh'SeCtion of Brooklyn, Y., at Church and Flaitbush avenues, stone's throw from the former Keith's Flatbush on the opposite corner, opened last week with a vaudfilm policy similar to the for- mer house. The new location be- came necessary with loss of the original owner's (B. S. Moss) lease on the Flatbush, which Keith's hater took over, along. with the Other Moss houses. The Kenmore is a 2,500-seated designed along picture house llneg and further fortified for the future with a Wurlltzer organ, an orches- tra pit built on a lift, military- trained usiierlng Adonises and all the familiar cathedral trimmings. It ■ is architecturally patterned on pic- ture house ideslgns, with a spacious sloping balcony and loges extend- ing well forward over the lower floor. Aeathetically It shows some- what better taste than some of the gaudy and overly ornate sanctuariea of the cinemas, althoug'h leaning backward a bit to strong severity. The interior decorations conversely could have borrowed . from the •sumptiousno.ss of the picture houses on de.slgn and quality. The Kcnmore's policy is reserved seats on week-days and continuous on week-ends and holidays, with nothing reserved, but the scale tilted to $1 top. On week-days the vaude Is tWo-a-day from one to five p. m. arid seven until closing, with fea- ture picture showings preceding and following the stage portioris. On week-ends and holidays the acts frolic three a day. Six act bill last hair was topped to Natacha Nattova, with a new dance frame-up but retaining fa- miliar numbers and styles of Inter- pretative dancing. None the worse for her recently broken ankle suf- fei-ed on a Publlx Itlnerair. Miss Nattova has V. Sueral and N. Daks sls her male da,nclns partners, with C. "Weeks, fiddling a solo In the pit, officiating as her special conductor. Miss Nattova individually Iriipresses ■ as ever with; her class and terpslch- orean Interpretations. Preceding . her In riext-to-shut wei'e Mitchell arid Durant, malfl». corriedy team, who should land 1ft' production ultimately. They work hard and originally, with enough ,of the. hoke and nutllsms to qualify: them anywhere. Their acrobatic, stopping, particularly as concerns Durant, the bigger fellow, comes • somewhat as a surprise in view of his build. He does some hard-danc- ing that clicked and between the two garnei-ed a flock of guffaws. Novelty further lies In fact both are comedians, neither stralghting for the other. Opening were the Four Waltons (New Acts) in a zippy risley routine. Cardinl, -the dexterous palmist, twlcod. His most diflicult work Is done in the forepart with gloves on, palming cards for comedy values with a bellhop-costumed femme as the straight. The latter portion Is the familiar thimble .stuff, card manipulation and cigaret legerder- main. Working rather long for a turn of his type, Cardinl's 15 min- utes were chockful of novelty and Interest, even If he did give the front row customers an overlong opportunity to analyze and dissect his skillful bariiboozllng. That, top. Is good showmanship since the riian- ner in which ho dexterously fools the patronage Is the more appre- ciated if the rudiments of his palm- ing become familiarized. In the trey were Tom and Ray Remain and a supporting company of three having to do.with, a double honeymoon by the twin ROmain brothers. Comedy derived from re- . spect.lve wives' mixed Identification of their newly acquired spOuscS. Light stuff for tho spot on the fam- ily circuits. . May Usher with her kosher Cats- kill poker number scored strong on delivery fortified by irresistible com- edy material. Whoever her author Is." «he shouldn't be ^shamed to bill him. Ai : Shapiro, conducting -the Ken- '■ more's orchestra of 15, flatteringly . evidcnfies tho yeoman work Milton Sehwartzwnld has done on behalf of the Keith circuit of theatres as ro- gard.s the music department. Rchwartzwald came Into executive charge under John J, Ford's spon- sorship and the snappy manner of Instrument.al accphipaniment, as well as the orehestr.a's own overture op- portunity as a .sa,lori eriscmblo, seems to be about the only ricw thing In an otherwise shallow "new era" Of variety entertainment. Whoever Is at the organ's console, sounded well In incidental accom- paniments but ha.s not as yet boon given solo opportunities as is the • intention of Fred Kinsley, the clr- cult'.« .sujjervisor of organist.s: Ahcl Rathbone.s with their two young .sons, opened tho bill. f;ag.s are traveling as fast as for- merly. First half nt the 5th Avenue in-»difff'iUir)t=.Lurnii^'i£y^tiM2.^.]^t_^^ C)ne ab'.'ut wiiat peoph' are eaTl'^cr who .study bugs, with (■hamb(!rmaids the answer. The other, "You must bo makhiK a million the way you look." Willi thf girl: ''It will cost over a mllliDn tn make mi'." Too bad to slip thc.so to th/- title wrlt'-rs loo vsoon. l^irnc.