Variety (Oct 1928)

98 VARiETV VAUDEVILLE REVIEWS Wednesday, October 17, 1928 PALACE (St. Vaud) Too much near big time at the palace on tiie current bill. Too pxanjr men in the performuncG, ^Hrhite and black. The certain big timers are Sophie "Tucker and the Foy Family. Wliat jthe show, needed they had. . ;. Sunday afternoon with the sec* , ond Sunday opening, very good . downstairs. Better than in the old. way. ■ ; Vartessl fcfll put after- her billing liad.gone, so to replace a nice fast girl ;number, someone substituted the Kentucky Jubilee Singers <N.ew Acts), eight solemn straight sing- ing colored men. Hooper . ana , Gatchett held four soldier uhlfoi-ms' and a Cipher girl, while In No. 2 were the Pioneer Tap Dancers, four old tlnie male dancci's who glibly : spoke of 40 years ago. Opening held amixed twosome on roller skates, and the closer was another mixed two-act, posing. ■ iMUton Schwartzwald was conduct- ^ Ing with Benny Roberts out. The new, pit leader had a five-mihute . overture that may. have served its purpose for a time Itiller'. lleld llt- tle else. > " The only act that didn't - have Bomething to say to the audience .In ah address way were -tlie two acrobats at the finish.. About the best that may be saLid for'the show as a whole is that it Wcis clean, ana also that it may have been a good, bill in some other house 10 years ■ ago. ■ ■ And yet the old time tappers, wrecked the works at their lihish with Eddi6 : Moran's carie dance principally, but again with their ■ 40-year old tapping to black bottom music, showing the old steps were the.same. They were the oric sure stopper on the bill, arid No. 2. Soph would have stopped it If ohe. had not been closing the first part in her second, week.. She did 30 minutes, mostly with '^Rerhem- ber" for the finale that Soph tries to. make a miniature musical cpiit- edy. She uses ,a big lace, handker- chief . that Soph probably copped from: Lady "VVhatSername. Nice act Soph is spilling, even if she did one number " in Yiddish without anyone asking her to. And .,-^^jhe smiles now like Bill Morris. When Bill is talking..and he's not certain whether the point is going over, he throwis In his peraonality . smile for- a clincher. It generally ■ works, and Soph has adopted, the scheme. Bill has a little the best; o? It of course, because he wears a moustache. Soph's new .sob ballad, with its cohver^ational inorality finish. Is a .terror. Sounded as much like Soph as Lady Whatsethanie. " The Foy Family' of six, led by Charley, Is in high with the pres- ent stuff. It's kidding with a bit of travesty, song and dance, be- sides .Charley's locals. The blonde Eddie, Jr., lodka very good as a future production comedian. He's full of it, and the entire family is contributing. Including the . two girls, who look extremely well. They were next to closing, Hooper and Gatchett have a boob soldier comedian and that's about all. The straight sings and two other boya dance.' A girl is being paid for walking on and off. Whatever is in the act the come- dian does. It's not enough for a five- people turn.. In some hou.ses they may yell at the comedy,, probably neighborhoods and small towns. No yelling at the Palace. Just a good comedy turn. A mixpd two-act . next. No. 4 (no programs at Palace Sunday) were Ilerihan Hyde and Sally Bur- rlll. About two weekfi ago another • similar two-act, Jerome and Grey,: at the Palace, also did music with talk, with .Terome stating the idoa . had pulled him out of the pit as a muslci.in. Perhaps it did the same thing with Hyde. Each turn has a boy and girl with musical instruments., llyde does a little more on the: music end, using {I breakaway violin, with lluto and piccolo. He talka, gagging with the girl. Miss BuiTill does very little other than to suggest from her un- derdresslng she is going , to tap dance, which she does not. Turna of this kind call for the man's per,-, sonallty to be .75 per cent, of the whole, and Hyde soems too me- chanical, too rputinish. Just about passed along, and another that may be quite funny to certain audienoea • The Rallstons closed, , man and woman, with both acting .as undcr- • stahder, the different feature of it. Brown and Lallart were the skaters who opened. These acro- batic roller .skating turns, good for ■ once at the Palace every six monthf», seem to get there every month or less. All may have a dif- ferent trick or so, but togethor thoy all look the same. SiMt. the afternoon waned Sunday, there were standees for the downstairs. The difference between the two Sundays was tliat the previous week the first afternoon audi<:hc(; came early and this one waa later in getting seated. •;Thc Man.Who LaugJi.s" (U) did unusually well, at thi.s house. Patho News started the .show with Babe Ruth autographing a world series basebaU for Gov. Smith, ,• Vaud opened with the "Revue Creative" (New Acts). Animated and flashy it served well-here. .Ding Dong: Dell (.New Acts) did songs. Then came the fir.st dash of comedy, in Eddie Dale and Co. .(New Acts). Winnie Lightnor fc^llowod. : She got the most on "You've Got a Lot to Learn," through its lyricy. The- Uessem's clo.sed, classy duml) actl Mark. RIVERSIDE STATE ; (Vaudfilm) Bangup show hiere this week. Half a dozen consistently good acts, and "Excess IJaggage" (M-G-M) -<as the feature picture, niaking it olce all around. The Mandel boys, Williams and Joe,, are back again without any- thing particularly new but what still is among the best comedy acro- .ba.tic acts, for pure and simple com; cdy, in show business. They remain at the.top as the first of, their kind arid atiil,,the best.in spite of what has .*eeri going on in the picture houses "and here and there in vaude. ., More comedy gVmnastics in the opener, Ploptz Bros, and Sister (New Acts). In this the "sister" performs most .o,f the acrobatics while the two men clown ,thcir way through in dress and riumbers. Feature and the kick is the trio's dance on their hands. Joseph E. Howard, eminent pop composer, of the past, returns to the rostrurii with a revised routine in which he relies mainly on two audi- ence, plants for results. The way he manipuliatea the impersonal, mem- bers and rriakes their presence al- most believably Simon pure is t\\^. essence 6f the turn's success. George Lyons, single , harpist, on second, mopped and offers no rea- son why he is not in the i^lcture houses. Or if he has played the flicker places, no reason why he should yet be out of them; Lyons is a perfiecf presentation act, good enough for vaude but better for the picture . palaces. He has added the "St, Louis Blues" to his Ja^? rep- ertoire. • It's great. Third were Leon and PaWn, girl comics with special material. The comedienne., comeding In' a very rough house manner, doing rough falls all over the place to double barrel the laughs. Mnst be tough on that female's anatothy, but It gets the act across. The Mandels iand . Howard folr lowed, in that order. Memories of the Opera finished. After the opener and excepting Howard, all are familiar around New York through recent showings else where, and ire here without chang ing their stuff, but still good. M-G-M News fiashed the flight of the Graf Zeppelin over New York city, scarcely more tiian three hours after the flight took place. That plared tho newsreel on a. par with anything In the show. Pathe Review and an M-G travel- ogue in the short subject division. Near capacity business. Bige. (Vaudfilm) • In its first Sunday-opened week (last wook) the Riverside (."jcpori- euced considlerubly im^)roved. by.si- ncss on Kunday, while Monday re- liiainod at its usual good normal. Tho Kal^l>ath increa.se meant thoso who had seen the preceding six-day show returned tho new oiie, whereas had the opening still been oh Monday they would not havC: at- tended until Monday or later in the week,. : , ; ,' . . . For the balance of last Week, after Sunday and Monday, biz was about average. . Any improvement . was credited to the feature, "Docks, of New York" (Par). With this week's film ("Man. Who .Laughs") equally stroiifc making two successive :ex-. ceplional screen weeks for this house, and these the only, ones so far under the Sunday opening, how the house will fare with average material cannot yet be prppei-Jy estl.^ mated. Lengthy running time Of the U production of Hugo's classic shaves the current ..iRiverslde. vaudeville sec- tion to four acts, shoi-t but snappy and meaty, AH consume over 15 minutes, while three are on the ros- trum for more, than 20. The midget bill is well laid out, but could not possibly be otherwise* Everything a natural and each turn in" its logi- cal spot. Brace of New Acts are the "Toby Wilson Co. and the classy full-stage dance offering" of. William Holbrook and Anne Pritchard. Wilson is an established.figure In middle western tabloid circles. This may be his, first big-time trip east. He belongs where he is right now, though for monetary purposes that western tab field might be just as good or better Wilson sei?ms to haye,reduced one ot his old tabloid Ideas to ev3i shorter form for vaudeville purposes and graced it With a. highly compe^ tent set of players. It filled the deuce here with Its special trappings and came home a winner. As did Mr. Holbrook and Miss Pritchard in the finale. Here's the sort of dahce turn seldPm seen around today, . . Opening were the Hill BilUcs, much Improved act after two years pr so of playing. While no greater in the way of talent, their present routine gives them double the for- mer effectiveness. Three encores in the one hole rate the HUl Billies (6) as an excellent number where nov- elty music Is needed. Joe Weston and CoUette Lyons were third and over as usual With their low comedy, but on a hit too long. They: should slice from 22 to 15 for tli(B bettef. Bige. over nicely In next spot with songs (New Acts). Petrie Quintet, four men and girl, offered and clicked with" a likeable potpourl of instrumontals, featuring bra.'is both in ensemble and .S0I0.S. .The line-up of Ihstru- inehts comprises piano, violin, sax, cornet and french horns. Varied program of >?eloction» went over big with the mob. Good musical turn, Faboi" and Walesj, mixed teani, came nearest to goaling for comedy honors. Their chatter and songs registered heavy despite absence of bellies. Lingo is smart; handled capably and should mop anywhere. Adama, Ash aind Co, are a male aufirtct with comedy • opener woycn into semblance of a skit. Three do dialect, Adams, Dutch; Ash, Hebe; another Wop and the. remainder straight. Opening with a cloak itthd suit house set, the act goes "to "one" for the legitimate harmony num- bers. The hoke tickled them and the singing went even better. While good for an earlier £>pot, not heavy enough for next to shut as on this bill, "Dance Paradei," 10 people dance flash, seven girls and three men, in a heat son^ and dance turn, with the men overshadowing the dames on the hoofing but with general re- sult corking.. Good closer. Krt&o. 86th ST. Second of the Sunday.^ to take In the new bill opening noticeably successful In attracting a big mati- nee audience but comparison with tho initial Sunday opening suf- fiered as the previous day had hung up the banner Sunday of the sea- son. That huge Proctor theatre In Tofkville and turning 'cm away from a 3,400-soater is doing a .wre-' enough landuUlce biz. Long before BROADWAY (Vaudfilm) • Usual standup Sunday night, but that took secondary importance. Show w.a.s the thing. Somebody finally hit the proper .Broadway stride. Obviously .nn inexpensive hill without a draw label in the lot, but placement and pace covered any lack. • Lots of low comedy and sufficient variety this week to stamp the lay- out as. just a.bout what th?y w.ant Three New Acts out of seven, though nary a new face. A pair of them at least seem to have advanced considerably with material of the moment. Primi ose Somen has fashioned an admirable vaude personality. Bur- dened somewhat with much useless paraphenalia; she n'everthele.ss land^ <»d"onc of the two l.-irge hits. How Miss Semon .(New Acts) has evaded picture houses, or why, is not exi- plalnable. She's stage band perfect and at best with a minimum of nec- essary .talk. just ahead ,ln effectiveness and two flights up In the running, was George Beatty, fifth. To his former routine, of home made chatter Beatty has added material suggesting out- aide authorship. Apparently Just what he needed and now ola.s3ing him as a certainty in intermediate company. " Best example of his ad- vancement Is the fact that the "ffigidaire" song which^,once stood praetionlly as his act is'now one of throe and behind much oKse in value. ^-W'alter:^Wjvltei:3 and Co.. ventrll- loquial, next to closing^ wh'iTe"^H^ Six (Jalenos, imported acrobats, had previously oi>enod. Other New Acts, besides Miss Semon, were ReynoUls .nnd White, musical two-aet and standard in an- other form; Adeline liendon and Co. (5), full stage dance flash. "Tango Shoes" is a rough noveltj and so low It Is almost bottomless, but not without requisites for small time. ^lain fault Is that it runs longer than Santa's be^vrd, Bige. AGADEMY OF 'MUSIC (Vaudfilm) . Plenty of show at this downtown Fox ace.. Capacjityi as usual, Mon- day night. Seven acts, all-clickers, and "Win That Girl" (FoX) on the screen. Also the usual Movietone shorts, Norman. BrotlVers opened,. doing clever hand-to-hand and rirtg gym nasties. Above average for this type of act, Paddy. Cliff and Orchestra deuced to good returns. Cliff, led the outfit which comprised nine girls, with Nerlda, dancer, contrib Uting a corking Oriental, Cliff got in some hot stepping between band number.s, A big act No. 2, but they give them their money's worth down here. . , Billy Farrell Co. scored with his song and dance sketch, "Home, Sweet Home," Farrell is supported by his father, veteran dancer, and two unbilled women. Plot makes a gront set-up for the subsequent hoofing of Billy and Pop Farrell, the duo goaling on a hai'd-shoe clog for a tag. Bud Carlell, in cowboy garb followed in ,fancy roping and chat- ter. Over on both. Harry J, Conley Co. was a cornedv smash next to shut, Conley's cut- up remains the comedy classic it 'has- -always - been,- Present vehicle givefi, him an opportunity to offer everything he has. TWo girls and a man comprise the support. '.•Harlem Vanities" (New Acts) colored revue featuring Harris and Van and enlisting 20 .others. Includ- ing an eight-piece band, closed. . Edha AMERICAN (Vaudfilm) . Vaudeville in genera^ and one cir- cuit In particular suffered in the past through permitting and even encouraging palukas to appropriate and use the material, style; dress or unique features oi-lgihated by . and belonging to high-c,lass, high-sala- ried actors; The American Monday night held a classic examplcy. George Shelton, one-timie tramp monblpgist, offers himself as a number two Bobby Clark (Clark and McCullough), Although .avoiding duplication of gags, Shelton has done his best to capitalize the pe- culiar delivery of Clark.. Clothes,, ca.ne, eyeglass, cig^ar, . business of diving for the butt—all the, charac- teristic movements of the famous comedian are employed by Shelton. A glaring case of lifting if without permission, . Bill in general was middling fair. Jack DeSylva's Vanities, headline turn, Is long on drapes and cos- tumes but rather shy In specialties. However, because of the flash (New Acts), It suffices for average pur^- poses. .Rose O'Hara, • soprano, created a pleasing Impression with a Voice, of sustained strength and tone plus an attractive appearance. Four Choco- late Dandles demonstrated that frenzied animation IS not always a good substitute for quiet certainty. This colored quartet tries hard but wastes a large measure of its Vital- ity In Ineffectual boisterousness. Saxton and. Farrell neeid a new act. Lew Kelly Co. (New Acts) baited giggles with gibberish nonsense- Kelly and the assisting tenor proved agreeable diversion next to shut. Four . Eastons, tumblers, closed. "Tempest". (UA) on the screen. Biz Just so-so. ' Land. 125th St. (Vaudfilm) Bu.slhess took a decided jump for the second week of the Sunday opening. Capacity and standees at the matinee Sunday, If anything the picture "Man Who Laughs" can be figured for the draw through the firat uptown showing at pop prices Nothing heavy on the vaude. It could have stood more comedy. Deviating from the usual routine of dumb acts for opener "On the Golf Course," tabloid musical on listing services of three men and four glrla pace made. No billing for .any^oi^the^-.pidLncimL5L-liu t-wlth,.the eccentric, mugging comic probably the main squeeze of the act. Like able hoke with familiar formula of substituting tho boob to compete with a golf champ when the carded contestant fails to show. After planting this; plot goes bu the window for usual routine song and dnnoe ,«ipecialties by the boys and girls. Good for houses of this type. Grant and Haines, mixed duo, got HIPPODROME (Vaudfilm) Every staU occupied Sunday night in the mighty echodromc and stand- ees in the foyers. The Sabbath will henceforth be a day of rejoicing and a large helping of peaches and cream in the Keith tabernacles. .' Reinforced by a hew tuba, the Hip orchestra did well by a medley from "Faust." Thence into the news reel, Pathe?* Funny clip that drew laughter- at both houses was beer festival in Munich, Germany, Dur- ing the passing of the mugs one of the men pinches the fraulein's leg Apparently .overlooked by news edi- tor, this piece of business is an un-^ intentional wow, Nicoll and Martin (New Acts) fool around with .solo-wheel bikes, going from, "one" to full and. back again Geofge 7 "McLshtRSW'^eStabliBhed h 1 .s versatility despite conspicuous Stall ing between linos, steps and busi ness, ' He opens with a long dirge about who will bury the last man ori earth when he dies. This.is suc- ceeded by an extended pantlmimic poker game done entirely without words.- That he held , his raudience at all With a tempo-So funereal is a testimonial to his experience a.s 0 trouper. He finished Well after showing skill on the clarinet and taps. "Amateur Night In London," the venerable. slapstick operetta, wa.s vastly diverting to the Hippodromr ors. Art Henry and his sidekick, Callahan, found the laughs where they were .supposed to be, but Hugh Skelly and Emma Hclt were not overwhelmingly comic, Skelly'a rushing about pried loose some giggles. As a whole, the Skelly- Heit routine shows wear alid tear. Particularly out of focus was the coming, bark in "one" to demon* S-tL.r-a.le MJss Holt's soft-voiced FIFTH AVENUE (Vaudfilm) The char^O of the mob who paid divided attention with the new show hei-e Sunday nighL Capacity and standees .downstairs at ^1 a throw. The. standees colildn't I'econclle themselves to such, a condition after parting with a suiacker to crash by the ticket taker.. Girl ushers at- tempted to keep standees in check unsuccessfully, with the . evening one of many rushes," ' .: This up and down parade obtained for most of the evening with:'some of the rear seaters jealous of the fun the standees were having and also Joining In, changing locations as often :as possible and making much whoopee when beating a com- petitpr to squat,. , . A long show,' seven acts and "Docks of New York" on "screen, . with plenty of comedy in vaude, MPrin Sisters opened with their nifty acrobatic dancing and musi- cal stuff, getting over as usual, Sargent and Lewis, two men, next cashed with harmony singing and instrumentation.. The boys got off to "a slo%y start with an ancient Spanish oomedy numbei'. It failed to provoke a ripple but piclced up from then on and finished strong. . Babcpck and Dolly, mixed team, got the first crack at comedy thus, far and more than made the grade. Lingo between man doing comic ' and girl dping Frehchy had 'eni go- ing, throughout with the abbreviated costumes of tiie gal providing a burlesquey touch more than wel- come to the males ouc front, Cork-' ing act for ainywhere. Dixon, Hoier and Co. also main- tained the comedy pace in their de- lightful skit with songs, "The Wall Street Girl." Three men- and-three girls comprise cast with a four- ilush Idea of tlie juve caught a.t his own, game when trying to make his girl's, father believe him a captain of finance. Despite discovery usual happy ending curtain. Plenty of rollicking fun and several good number^, all handled with class; Hit heavy here. . • ; ■ Four. Canierons. next, were the out arid out smash of the bill, gal- loping away ahead of all others for comedy wow honors. Abbreiviafed comic's antics, had. them literally rolling up and down the aisles. Dance and Instrumental contribu- tions hy the blonde lady also regis- tered for top with combined efforts sizing the offering up for top re- turn's. Emily Darrell, next tp shut, added also to the chuckle department with "Ea;ck at the Five and Ten," but was In a tough spot following the Caiperons. . . Versatile Five, male musical clowns, closed with: a repertoire of Instrumentation that packed a 'me- ipdlous wallop. Edla. crooning. ~ Alma Neil son, the acrobatic toe dancer, surrounded with her phalanx of seven soup - and - fished boy friends, five of whom play jazz in- struments, closed and left a good impression. Suggested it would bo better to fini.sh-on her feet dancing ihstond of on head doing ne.ok bends. "Red Lips" (U.) on screen. Land. JEFFERSON (Vaudfilm) Old 14th . street ■ was a weavins web of humanity Sunday night. Theatres east of the subway kiosks were all doing a jamup biz. And that takes in the Jefferson. At 7:30 they were selling standing'room at tho Academy and at that hpui-'only standing space at the Keith house,, further east. Sunday afternoon as reported,, big from 4 p. m. on. The Jefferson's entire variety section was occupied by a tab, "Morocco Bound" (New Acts). It ran 75 minutes. Sand- wiched in between Pathe newsreel and tire screen feature, "The Man Who Laughs." Pretty tough undertaking to slam a now vaude prc.sentation like that down there when anything that hops from song to dance must be pretty good or it gets the'razz. Yet this little production which ran along like a tabloid ireceived attention, laughs and applause. The show as a whole, while differ- .entiating-.from the customary va» riety bill, appeared to give Al sat- isfaction. Not the slightest element of roughness, all the more remarkable for the birds down there fly In and get pretty rough; maybe it is dU© to the close watch Manager Lena- han gives upstalr.s and dowp Ther« have been other times- when, they 'heeded a small army to keep thfli boys, quiet down at that house. . ■ . ' ■ Mark. 81st ST. . (Vaudfilm): Sunday matinee close to capacity on main floor. That represents a clearly marked iriiprovement on the big day's afternoon business. The tide of occupied chairs previously seldom washed hack more than half way. Matinees at this house are scaled 50 cents and first comie on locations. Bill was cut down to four acts bcoHuse of running time of "The =Man===Wh o=^Lau glrs^i-(-F=>:--=TJ I i-eo=:=o the four turns iippearod last week at the Palace: T>eter Higgins, the DeMareos and Three Sailors, The bill Was a pleasc.r, eretting Its laughs at . both ends and its class in (he renter section. George and Jack i:)ormonde. com- edy monooyelist.s, opened and atlm- nlatofl the risibilities. Higgins, douoing. wf<s an ca.«y winner,, get- (Continuod on page 30)