Variety (Jun 1929)

Wednesday, Juife 26, 1929 VAUDE HOUSE REVIEWS VARIETY 41 PALACE (St. Vaude) Palace broke the repeat habit vide ©pen, but new difficulty arose. Conflict of bU acts, each of which 'Ijeileved with utter conviction that it was.'the feature, m^de it Impos- elble to advertlee the show with a name. The big front lobby biinner carried only the running oraer. Only name thut get display was Soplile Tuclter, wiio toolt ;i nplurge across tl>e. Inside entrancs v/all. Management's out here was prob- ably that It was Soph's second weeh. Real jam on claims for fea- turing came from a trio of person- iilities from legit and pictures- Glenn Hunter, of the stage; Roy D'Arcy, from the flickers, and Molly Picon, of the New Yorli Yiddish theatre. Latter more than a star something of a divinity In her own field. Jay. Fllppen, with genuine preten Blon to distinction on the stage was a contender for some special billing prominence In the ballyhoo as well. No-way to deal with such a situa- tion except the grand old running order and, they played that acro.ss the board. With all these elements it could well have turned out a r.^gged show , On the contrary, it blendc.l per- .fectly.' Sophie made It her sort of old home weeic and sicnmcd th^. mob . iip ^wlth the party spirit. Pllpix'n working with suave discretion helped' In the m. c. assignment to sinootb gaps, accelerate the pro ceedings and build the people. Mark lip an extraordinary achievement (or this accomplished clown. He Worked for the show rathef than for Iflinseif,' operating inostly from the backgro^ind for the fattening up of thCf .other specialists. And more tbkn that when the show was run ning long over time, he cut his own turn on Saturday when they had to squeeze three performances in, nfter the flrst show had run to 6:25. Monol'og! was brief song or two (one of them the limit for bluuness) and a couple of gags. All In nine min- utes. Overtime was principally charge able to Sophie, who did 22 minutes' , with- her turn proper (ail new for this week), then 9 onlnutcs for a dramatic number containln.; a piny for her. film, and Anally four more minutes In "one" to permit stage setting for Ous Amhelm's orchestra from liOs Angeles, .^hat .yrasn't all of the "last of the red hbt^ mamas," either. She Intro- duced yoiing Amhelm as one of her proteges from the far back Relsen- weber days, and then crashed'into his band -routine to sing "Some of These Days," with much by-plaj^ In- volving Ted Shaprlo at Arnhelm's piano, .All in all. Miss Tucker prob- ably accounted for between 44 and 6.0 minutes on a nine-act bill, iind then departed to an obbligato of op plause. No doubt about it, the day belonged to blondy Ma. - Miss Picon (New Acts), brings a new quality to vaudeville, something that isn't Sophie Tucker's robust fun, nor yet Fanny Brice's broadly satirical coinedy. but Is Just as defl- nltely "It" as either. Allowii.g for a special and highly friendly e<e ment In this Introductory audience, Miss Picon accomplished an .abso- lute clean up. Olenn Hunter (New Acts) made rather a pale Imprts.slon, partly be- cause this specialist In Juvenile types Isn't vaudeville In style or In- tent and he makes his debut in a sketch that emphatically Isn't for a specialty bill. Completing the count of the new arrivals leaves D'Arcy (New Acts), delineator of screen heavies. D'Arcy himself has the entertainer gift, but he Is here handicapped with material inefCec- tlve because of its over nicety of Preparation. It's all so carefully re- earsed and so painstakingly de llvered that the spontaneity of the performer and the performance Is killed outright. Toung China made % smashing opening. Oriental acrobatic and juggling displays framed In a splen- did setting of embroidered drapes and. 4]rops. A kid contortionist Is a marrer. Another boy, bit older, but ■till young, does unusual contortion while the other six Celestials keep the stage busy. Fast 10 minutes, - Three Slate Brothers, formerly heading a vaudeville revue, here concentrate the dancing excellence that made the backbone of their unit show. Just under 10 minutes of ultra stepping, taps, buck ond wing, tap Charlestons and acrobatic stuff singly. In pairs and a1! tliree. They don't talk and don't sing, but, boy, how they can dance. RIsnt up with the best of >the straight terp acts of the kind, of which there probably are not mor^ than four or five who really belong. Prom No. 3 the schedule ran "Hunter; "D'Areyr'MlBB-^Tucker.-'Gus- Arnhelm,, intermission, Fllppen, in blackface' monolog; Molly Picon, next to closing, and the finale, PrancoISrDensmore and Co., medley of hat spinning, acrobatic dancing and'a trained dog. - Fllppen made an eloquent plea for the closing act, but to no avail. At B:J6 the restless customers wouldn't have waited for a cash bonus. Rush, HENNEPIN (Vaudfilm) MlnneapoUa, June 20. Current two-a-day bill was cur- tailed to five acts the same as last week, one less than used at'outset! of present reserved ^seat policy and during flrst four weeks. "While num- ber of acts same, vaude, however, ran only 65 minutes, as compared to over 120 last week when Olsen and Johnegn alone did about 65 min- utes. Reason for cut this week no doubt due to desire to save one act's sal- ary to help offset the load put on payroll by Gllda Gray. TJic shim- mier nnd her elaborate act made this show, like its predecessors, cost the house plenty. Her classy dance production in itself was more than worth the 75c. admission. "The Pagan" (M-G-M), sound picture, and Pathe sound news preceded and followed the acts, consuming 75 minutes, making a show of nearly two and a half hours and another real gilt edge amusement bargain. Vaude lay-out anything but hotsy totsy, as three acts in "one" were sandwiched between the full stage opener and closer (Gllda Gray), fol- lowing each other. But so pleasing were each of the four numbers pre- ceding Miss Gray, who had to take the shut position because of the bill's unorthodox composition, and so flne was the impression made by the Gray act that patrons left the theatre singing the show's praises. Even the Navarro picture, "The Pagan," pleased, although It took a lambasting from the critics. That this splendid entertainment feast failed to evoke a satisfactory box offlce response was enough to drive confirmed vaude fans to tears. Inasmuch as "The Pagan" Is a South Sea picture and also because Miss Gray and her girls did plenty of the body wiggling suggestive of the universe's torrid section, "South Sea Week" might have been aji ap proprlate designation for the occa slon.. It was hot stuff for broiling summer days and nights, but the undress in the picture and the dance act seemed in harmony with heat The 10 minutes' overture, little more elaborate than usual, was "The Couhtess Maritza," with the 10 musicians doing nobly. In the opening .spot, the Orontos, equlll brists, okeh. Gus and Will, deucers, scored with their tap dapclng and acrobatics. Clever and capable pair. Bull's eye of audience favor hit squarely by Tabor and Green, "the dark knights," with harmonizing compensating tor rather lame com- edy efforts. TJext to shut, Ray Hughes, with material and comedy business little changed, failed to land solidly. Some laughs were garnered by his gags, cross-fire and falls, but heavy applause absent at the finish. More eccentric dancing and less talk would benefit this turn. The shapely Pam again a treat for optics. Lower floor less than three- quarters filled. Only a handful In the balcony. Criminal. Rees. a deucer highlight. Betty Browne Is a cute blondlne and Jerry does a dumb enough flipper vls-a-vls to lend It the proper touch. Next, the Rasch ballet, followed by Beatty, whose "frigidalre" song went ais. well here as it did when last caught at the Palace, New Tork. Eh route to' the west coast, Betty tacked on a violin solo bit, playing a pseudo-specialty on a sin- gle string that is a bit, away from thd usual conceptions and la lent further distinction by Beatty's stage salesmanship. The Indian band concluded a corking flrst half. Danny Cairns' RKO Melody band, with Billy Small conducting, again registered from the pit with "Pagan Love Song," an L, B. Sharps ar- rangement, with Charles Beynon of the pit ensemble programmed for the vocal interlude: Jack Norton and Lucille Haley reopened with comedy nonsense. Next Thomas, in a distinguished vocal repertoire, accompanied by Lester Hodges. The Bell Thazers, equilibrists, closed. With the temperature in the late 90's, it was comfortably cool in the artlflclally refrigerated Orpheuin, but biz was off Saturday afternoon; the beaches did a great gross. House is plugging the revised pop summer scale. Another unique plug, probably now a standard trailer in this territory. Invites the. Tuesday evening patrons to take their seats at 6:46 for the night show and listen In on the RKO hour over the NBC national network, which reaches here from 7-8 p. m. It's good insti- tutional propaganda. Abel. ORPHEUM (81. Vaude) Los Angeles, June 22. A good show and an expensive one for this house. Payroll is $10,- 000, with John Charles Thomas at $4,600, plus the Albertlna Rasch ballet and the U. S. Indian Band as sub-features, accounting for $8,000. Paradoxically, up until the advent of the eminent baritone it played as orthodox vaudeville in miUion-doi- lar style. Thomas contributed the concerty touch to the show, regis- tering politely with his rich bari- tonealog, The flrst half played beautifully, with George Beatty as a monologls- tic outstander, topped only by that crack Indian Band. Their maestro, Chief Shunatona, is>a natural born showman. Somewhere in his tribal ancestry there must have been a corking medicine man who paced the Injuns when they were making teepee, for the chief certainly knows how to strut his material. The rest of the copper-skinned Jazzists, especially the two soloists, are likewise "too bad Jim" as per- formers. The leader Is somewhat of a racial propagandist, but that Is pardonable under the circum- stances. His coinmand of university diction, against the barbaric racial background, combined with his sin- cerity and effective, albeit some- what exaggerated, vocalizing, made for a heavy click. In addition, it's a corking entertainment and no little novelty, what with the official gov- ernment sponsorship, .the pictur- esque full tribal regalia and the showmanly presentation. The Rasch ballet shifted from Oraiiman's Chinese, Hollywood, where It was lii the "Broadway Melody" prolog, • into Keith vaude- ville. The 20 gals are excellently trained. One of the premier dans- euses might-be Portia (from mem- ■ory-)^She--is-thfi,.pftlfi5faced.^a..dagio^ 1st and an outstanding number leader. In the painted doll number, the second from the left girl had the best conception of the terp.<ii- chorean interpretation, so much so that she . showed up the rest'of the quartet strikingly. Bee Starr led off with her aerial routine Of the Leltzcl ordier. Betty and Jerry Browne's -flipper-flapper nonsense by Paul Gerard Smith was KEITH'S (St. Vaude) Boston, June 25. Jules Bledsoe, a bit of really smart booking as Zlegfeld's "Show Boat,'' Just closed, and the town still steamed -up over "Old Man River." Despite muggy last night and an uhrefrlgerated $6,000,000 house, Boston gave the colored star probably the strongest applause this new theatre has a^ yet heard. Four numbers -with superb showmanship. Weather may net another low week, but what it would have been without Bledsoe makes forlorn thinking. Balance of the bill got by, opening with the Four Ortons on the tight wire with a howl of a flash flnale. Scott Sanders, character comedian, got the balcony with veteran gags and a fair voice. Tech Murdoik and three girls. In a comedy sketch, put over with more nerve tlian showmanship, and Hap Farnell, In a drunk act, han- dled inoffensively; and with plenty of laughs ttom the lower floor. Second half opened with Grace Hayes and Neville Fleeson, followed by the Waldorf Astoria rose room orchestra led by Billy Artzt, and closing with Harry Holmes, nut pianist, with the wildest act of the season, a sure fire comedy howl, but unfortunate In closing a bill. Act itself has no closing, leaving the house waiting for the logical ending, which would be for the entire pit crew to stand up and shoot* him down for the final curtain with cap pistols. The Waldorf Astoria orchestra, all string, carried off second honors, even with their hopeless setting, clumsy old music stands, the foot pedal organ and mid-Victorian stag Ing. -It would be interesting to see what the reaction would be to a presentation of the same routine done as it would have been done In the Waldorf 20 years ago with eve- ning dress of that period and the grim and stolid mannerisms of the chamber music of the era that ran for about 10 years after the Spanish war. As the act now plays It is Just half way between that and the smartness of today, getting by on musical merit, even when Billy Artzt holds the violin under his chin and directs with both hands for a few measures. JMtejf. FOX (BROOKLYN) (Vaudfilm) Dancing bill this week, dancing at both ends and twice In the middle; a five-act show with (our.acts danc- ing. And more !danclhg In the fea- ture - picture. Fox "Movietone- FoIt- lies." And hot, and how, Monday night. Some pretty strenuous -terpsi- chore, too. Not warm enough, • so they had to make the bill sweat and look warm, and the customers got warmer. " Not the best sort of booking, dumping a pedallstlc flash, "Dances That Charm" into the openii;ig spot, and then closing In much th% same manner with a brief Fanchon & Marco unit, "Hollywood Studio Girls" (39 minutes), another hoof- fest. That left it up to Conlin and Glass to supply the laughs, and they did, as usual. Otherwise the near- est they got to a giggle was when Kitty Doner was on, but Kitty de- rives all of her comedy from foot- work. One thing about plenty of dancing In a vaude show: It's fast for a time. Too much, though, grows tiresome. And when too much Is the dancing School acrobatic girl kind, that tired feeling arrives promptly. Don Cummings was No. 2, dancing In and out .cf his roping. Miss Doner in the middle, and Conlin and Glass right under the unit. Latter played the Academy for Its flrst date east, the good report there still Btand,ihg across the bridge. They produce 'em on the coast and make 'em dance. Here where they book 'em and play 'em, they add more dancing. Business light Monday evening. Bige. 81ST STREET (Vaudfilm) Four-act bill whamming* at both ends and drooping in the middle. The whammers are Beehee and Rubydtt, Arab openers, and Bill Robinson, at the far end. Two and three, Claudia Coleman and a new combination for vaude composed of Margaret Irving and Edna Torrence, with Johnny Torrence (New Acts). Latter needs material and a satis- factory routine. Appearance and general excellence of its personnel fall to surmount the present defl- clencles. Beehee and Rubyatt, formerly a two-man hand balancing team of the same name, now seven Arabs, tumbling, catching, pyramiding and mixing. No faster gymnastic act nor is there a better opener. They took a bow before the curtain at the conclusion Sunday night to applause that ran Into the next act. Miss Coleman could easily . have omitted the story she used as. a cur- tain speech and walked oft at the IT-inTnufe'po'Iiff; "Hiarking^^the-finlsh of her turn proper. That come-back was forced and not warranted. Miss Coleman has been around long enough, to know when .she shouldn't Coleman -vvas a strong enough deucer. Strictly a showman.ship turn, .since her material at hand is dependent entirely on delivery. Robinson No. 4 and last, and as uBuo;. £{ee. PALACE ACADEMY (Vaudfilm) Usual complaint these days on all sides. No novelty. Songs, dances, and ^hen some more. Saturday's show at Mr. Fox's prosperous 14th street arcade opened with Three Silvers, acrobatic dancers. Followed Florence Rogge's Dancers, rehash of stuff from the Roxy ballet. Thin Art Toung, lightweigl'. ,i»ng and dance skit. Fourth, Pall Mall, blackface singer. And closing with Jack Waldron's Revue (New Acts), more stepping and warbling. To speak conservatively, it's mon- otonous. Anything would be wel- comed as a change of pace. Or per- haps a good old-fashioned xylo- phone player. Three Slivers good opener with sure-flre equlUbrlsm and hoofing. Rogge Dancers Is headed by the classy BurnofC and Josephine adagio team. But carelessly thrown to- gether with many ragged edges. Girl sopsano of remarkable vocal range combined her splendid voice with a quaint .vaVlatlon of vo-de-o do mannerisms. Doubly disguised by cork and his nom de rostrum. Pall Mall Is' an energetic and Industrious member of the guild of mammy-celebrators. If he had. anything to go with his pleasant voice and bounding vitality he might be a good act "Stark Mad" tWB) on the screen with the assortment of small flim stuff. .Academy shows alwayn vjn o considerable length, frequor-My i;oii- sumlng the best part of thrci^ h. -.-r.": Good' trade Saturday. LanC. , 58TH ST. (Vaudfilm-Wired) Good bill for' Intermediate house first half. Fair business Saturday afternoon. Four Instead of five acts, probably due to the length of the screen feature, "Divine Lady" (FN). layout probably a tough nut to crack for spotting but played well. With but one silent act, in opener, it fell to Joe May and Dotty, mixed comedy team and next to shutters, had to shut here. The lone silent act, Kitty O'Dare and Girls, opened with a dance that got over for results. Miss O'Dare Is an accomplished tap dancer and adheres to this mode of hoofing .for three solos, with slight variation-of routine for each. She is backed by a sextet of girls who handle preci- sion stuff and two of whom plant specialties. Mies O'Dare's tap on stairs closer is a la Bill Robinson and over big. ' Hall and Flllard, male twosome^ straight and comic, did well with ancient hokum but corralled laughs aplenty. What these boys could do with cleverer material! Marguerlta Padula and Co. romped away with hit honors in an accept- able song routine. Rotund songs- tress got 'em at walk-on with a satirical diet song, and topped this further down with her Nora Bayes -lmpr&slon._„AJl:„flI^he!:-^ numbers clicked. Male pianist and. "male singer dueling with her for closer, comprl.scd >Ilss P^dula's support. Joe May and Dotty closed with a likeable line of chatter and clo'.vn Ing, keeping thcm-.chuckllng through out and walking a-vvay to good ro turns. May knows hi.-j laughrgef ting onions and hi." llltio blonde supporter is a cute tricli. (St. Vaude.) Chicago, June 22. Just another vaudeville show for tlie Palace this week. , This being the first ofllcial week of summer and with hot weather alre.idy here, it's a wonder the' bookers In the east don't realize the favorable spot the Palace is in, With local picture houses cutting down on their stages at this time, and with nary a legit show of real importance In town, there Is an op- portunity for the Palace to cash. But not with the kind of show the Keith house has this week. lAst week the Palace did a fair business, $21,000. This week, doubtful if the house will break even. Saturday afternoon there hardiy were 10 completely filled rows on the main floor, with the most meagre attendance the house has had in a long, long time. With this the second week of Saturday open- ings for the house, the switch from Sunday Is responsible for that much difference. With the current bill cold, draggy and punchless throughout the first section. Weaver Bros, and Elvlry were the only smack In the .show, but rather late. Original handsaw musicians, who have since gradu- ated into an ensemble, stood out. They closed the show, following their regular routine with a dove- tailing afterpiece entitled "Home Folks." This last bit capped every- thing for laughs, and very badly needed. The Weaver brothers bring- ing out a chorus of corn-fed musi-; clans, followed by Elvlry with six florodora" gals in homespun, was a plain riot. Llta Grey Chaplin, framed by an exquisite set, with Roland Becker and Pat Casey at opposite pianos, was in flftl^ position, closing the front part. Charlie Chaplin's ex- wife shouldn't worry about her present vaude jaunt as long as she . keeps wearing those dazzling gowns and that s.a.-smile. She's a dream in looks that can't miss anywhere. Her singing, a soft, crooning style. Is not bad, either. Somedhe should pin a medal on her for Ms^ using a single line about Hollywood friends. Joe Laurie, trailing in four-spot, did a smart monolog that ap- parently sometimes was too smart for this audience. Laurie's easy- and shawmanly delivery, though,, was something they all got. Mrs.- Laurie, as usual, foiled for a good share of gags. Janette Hackett, heading a color-^ ful and spirited dance flash, -fol- lowed recess. Palace lately has had a number of good dance acts. - Miss Hackett's offering, while not excep- tional, Is good entertainment atid very attractively dressed and eflCec- tive. Jose Shallita, Dan Hurwyn. and Wally Davis are appropriate, partners for the nimble and daln,ty^ dancer. Dick Henderson, an Englishman who bills himself "the conledlan who sings," was an unnecesseiry and conflicting booking oh tlfl? bill. With L,aurle doing his mono- . log Just two paces ahead, . Hender-' son's harangue of chatter did'not help the former and meant nothing for. Henderson. On top of that, Henderson got mixed up with' the . daylight savings time In this town - and kept the two-spot waiting for several minutes. Henderson's forte was a couple of ditties He did well and should elaborate on while drop- ping some of bis feeble gags- and ( jns. Rigoletto Bros', (subbing for the mini Singing Band) sold their ver> satlle material to good returns in the trey. t> But here again some of their material conflicted with that of the Weaver turn. RIgolettds, as- sisted by the Swanson Sisters (In the family), were as standard as always. Their stuff, while plenty ■■ old, still pleases. Heras and Wallace, comedy aero-- bats with a musical opening, started'., the show slowly, but built for .'a ' stronger flnlsh. Loop. STATE (Vaudfilm) Typical State bill, delivering aver- age entertainment and without stando.ut novelty. Applause honors to the Taylor-Randall adagio group ' in the No. 3 spot, rather out of the : ordinary placing. <3ood sight show modeled oh the booking office formula and only de- fect is short measure on low com- edy. Material framed for best Xif, suits from what was at hand. Five Mounters, three men ' arid two girls, sightly opener. Routine out of the usual. Four tables are' pyramided stepping up by means of four chairs and on the terraced ar*' rangement two of the men do strlk-- ing handstand feats. - Dcmarest and Dclahd, No. 2, broke the comedy ice witlx clowning inter-r .Uide--,.op£niiig.,_ffiyh_.burle83ue of grand opera,singer for a good if art." Dcmaijest's travesty piano playing get.s laughs and for change, of pace - girl sings numbers straight in agree- able soprano. Finish has comlo playinfr his own piano accompani-' ment and doing tap dance at same time. Bit of hoke roughhouse, but (Continued on page 42)