Variety (Jul 1930)

44 VARIETY VAUDE HOUSE KEVlEn'S Wednesday, Jnlj; 16, 1930 R-K-O UNIT SHOW (4 Acts) R-K-O Is now breaking In Its 4- act Intact (unit) vaudeville bills around New York, before they start on the regular western route, opening at Syracuse. At present the first break In point is the Mad- ison, Brooklyn, with the Chester, Bronx, both R-K-O houses, for the other half. The purpose of the Charlie Free- man-booked units is to standardize a rotating vaude show into what R-K-O appears to have adopted as a slogan, "Always a good show." While this virtually does away with a headliner or a name act to each unit, yet the intacts are billed ac- cording to their vaude if not local importance. In cost the Freeman shows run around $3,000 weekly, perhaps $200 more or less either side. If a draw name within the . limited salary range appears, it is used, but with very few vaude turns listed as box office draws currently at $2,600 or less. ■ The "good show every week at R-K-O" if taken up by the various cities these Intacts play must eventually become a better drawing card on that reputation alone than any possible act or attraction going In for one week could be. No doubt the feature picture Is calculated, with the "good show" expected to figure as balance or stand off to a weak picture pro- gram. If the feature talker is a money picture, so much the better. But while the picture end may wobble or totter, this week hot and next week cold, with the chances It will be four weeks cold to one week hot, the vaude of a standard brand coming in weekly without deviation and pleasing, becomes the sustaining and permanent part of the whole show. heretofore these Freeman in- tacts have been assembled In New York, first Joining as a unit at the opening stand of the route. With the New York break-Ins, there is opportunity to~handle the bill be- fore It starts, cut it down or pad it oat to the approximate length, usu- ally 60 minutes, and effect a vL^hange In due time IC required. In ^bis way and with the show pass- ing the R-K-O bookers before com- mencing to rotate, there is a fair guarantee that th^ bill of four acts . Will please in the large majority of tha stands played. That a vaude show has four acts leaves It more suspectlble of that universally picking possibility than a large bill, such as six acts which might be unwieldy as an Intact. Again the slx-a.ct bill could sub- stantiate the former vaude belief that no traveling Intact can please every town, especially, as that be- lief always held that each town had to be Intimately known by the booker and dealt with accordingly. That may have been true to an ex- tent in the former big time days when 40 or 60 towns In the U. S. played a bill of from seven to nine acts each, costing from $4,600 to $8,000, twice daily. They had been educated differently to the present- day combination audience that dis- regards names, preferring enter- tainment and not caring much who on the stage furnishes that enter- tainment If It's there. That appears to be the Freeman logic, as It has been borne out to date. It's evidenced by the first half bin at the Madison. The Madison is rather* a superior the- atre for the average neighborhood It is in in Brooklyn, known as the Ridgewood section. A capacity au- dience Sunday evening, much larger than might have bSen looked for 1ft the baby borough on a pleas- antfSunday, liked this show with Its 90c top for loge seats, where smoking is pern\ltted. The vaude ran 70 minutes. It held Carl Ra;ndall and Virginia Watson, topping; Bob Robinson as m. c. and doing his own turn; Five Honey Boys, male blackface comedy sing- ing quartet, and Sandy Lang & Co. roller skaters. The Randall- Watson turn did 25 minutes: Honey Boys, 14; the skaters, 11, with Rob tson doing 16 for his own act and takin g up the other four with a n Clips can be macLe nouncementsT with the Randall and Lang acts to cut down to 60 minutes. The skat ers open with unnecessary moving pictures of various dances, kind of theme for the turn but wasted: Roblson is doing the same turn he has done with Gladys Blake and Daddy Cunningham. Miss Blake is the straight and Cunningham, an aged acrobat. Is claimed by Roblson to be 74. If so, and with the chances ^that Cunningham Is a member of a ■former vaude turn rather than the stage doorman from the Palace, New York, as Robison announces, he can't go very far at whatever his age is doing these hard pratt falls for a turn-over. His other acrobatics are sufTlcient. Robison's turn runs neatly enough. He's a fair chatterer, but in one routine has four or Ave gags In a row that suggests he will not pay any money for new material. It might be a good investment, safer than trying to stand It off by sotto-voiclng as he does, "I hav6 older ones." The Randall-Watson act has a piano player who gets a chance. To emphasize his one-handed ability to p^ay. the pianist, male, eats nn apple with the other hand. If he would try eating a watermelon that might be a trick. Otherwise and until he does that, Just as might well keep the other hand in the air and save an apple a show. Randall has Inserted a magic dance to replace his cane stepping. It will '>e all right on the road and something new, but was done as a chorus number in "Simple Simon," which copied it from a Paris pro- duction. Miss Watson has appear- ance as her best asset, with a voice as weak as might be expected in anyone thinking Helen Kane is a salvation, and she dances nicely with Randall. Randall, always a gri.de A dancer, retains his person- ality, and while now not so well known i.way from Broadway as in other days, has put out a turn that will uphold this unit. The Honey Boys sorta mix In a minstrel first part without the for- mation, while singing their solos and ensembles, trying a few gags that are good enough in themselves to make Robison want to do better with his, and the blackface group pleases. Their names are Tommy Hyde, Irving Karo, Bill Cawley, Dan Marshal and Nate Talbot. From the commencement and throughout the show Robison em- ploys his little red book to propa- gandize that he is Introducing. R-K-O vaude. At the fl.nish he re- quests the audience to tell their friends that they can always see a good show at the R-K-O. Some- thing similar incorporated into each stage unit might impress this upon every town as these shows shift week by week. One secret of these 4-act units Is quality instead cf quantity, with the other secret how to put them together. Sime, 81ST STREET (Vauc^fllm) Par "Social Lion" on screen, meaning the vaude was booked around the picture. Stage part struck a nice note in entertainment, giving the house no name of in- dividual drawing merit, but a "good show" stamp as the vaude b. o- bait. Film figures as 75% of the pull this first half, anyway. On both sides of the marquee the only stage, act mentioned in the lights Is. Ethel Merman and Al Slegel. That's the topplngest sort of headline bill for a vaude turn and quite unusual since this act Is but a week old. On the same bill but not billed In the lights Is ja standard vaude comedian with a rep built on years of playing and known to all audiences along the route— Jack McLallen. Inside. McLallen was given 30 minutes of the thea- tre's time to run away with the bill, but outside the names were Mer- man and Slegel. On the same in- side, McLallen got a reception hand and Merman-Slegel didn't. Miss Merman Is a comely girl with a nice voice, a style and prob- ably some yet undeveloped talent. But In all the raving by the ravers no one has stopped raving long enough to see a single blemish in this new personality. It has occur- red to no one to mention that per- haps Miss Merman needs a bit more experience, maybe she needs ma- terial—and maybe she needs her partner, Siegel, and Slegel's piano playing. If Miss Merman wades through all of this Times Square back-slapping without suffering the usual effects, she can also be credited with possessing some sense. And Just as that headline billing in lights on the 81st St. marquee in her second week on the stage isn't- fooling the neighborhood Into swarming into the 81st for a look. Miss Merman should not be fooled by it either. If someone is after the "over-night" thing with this girl, they may be spoiling a prospect. Caught by the same reporter. Miss Merman improved somewhat in her 2d week over her first day on a vaude stage, when previously at the 86th St. That improvement was sufllotent to bring a sizeable hand at the finish and more than enough for an encore at the 81st. Slegel again contributed a strong Uem in JWH_RLanQ_fi.oJa.JHfi. Is the on ly piano PALACE (St. Vaude) Song and dance at the Palace this week; also Old Home celebra- tion. Also not as expensive as the average 11 or $12,000 Palace bill, an idea in conservation which Is In keeping with the ace BKO house's general reaction to the season. Molly Picon at $3,000 Is the big end with Anatole Frledland's new "20th Century Revue" (New Acts), clos- ing the show, runner-up at $2,760. Little better than half capacity opening Sat mat with the Picon draw evident In a measure, but not as fluently as on previous occasions, A clever artiste, that Picon girl. The favorite Yiddish soubret on the East Side, her transition to Broad- way and 47th is heightened. If any- thing, by her Broadway material and further presented In cameo re- lief by her own charming person- ality and style. Miss Picon has a couple of. new numbers, both clickers. Her inter- view with "Mister Ziegenfeld," wherein she Introduces Dolores Fatima Goldberg In an endeavor to put her in the glorifying business, is a pip. Considering Ziegfeld and $6.60 a ticket, Miss Picon opined that "the Shuberts can wait." A request repeat was the "immlerrant boy" number and another new one was "Kiss Me Again," following censorship. «'Tempermental TlUle," one of her talker-recorded numbers, was also reprised. Joseph Rum- shinsky, the 2d avenue Irving Ber- lin, is program-credited for all tunes, with Miss Picon perhaps contributing her own lyrics. Mur- ray Rumshlnsky Is the pianist. The many floral tributes seemed the real McCoy. The flrst half built up to Miss Picon, closing the front ■ section. While comprising. a succession of likeable turns, the general same- ness and the dearth of comedy In dialog form soon palled generally. The second half let down even worse. The Agemos, Swiss rlsley team, opened nicely. Their stuff pars the best in that department. Casa and Lehn (New Acts), had a preten- tious'flash and merited better than deuce. Frank DeVoe with Jimmy Stelger at the ivories sold his pop stuff well, although that closing "Power Over Women" number would be heightened in effect if sung in the third person at Steiger's e:(pense instead of in the manner DeVoe did it. It let him down and out after a good pace throughout. That clos- ing number with some of its lines abopt "my personality In a bathing suit" and "grease my back for a .channel swim," etc. also open to question on the lyrics. DeVoe Is otherwise an expert song salesman and with Stelger foiling In more than average manner at the baby grand. It's a strong hook-up. Will and Gladyif Ahem, back In vaude 6Mt of "Simple Simon," are substantially the isame twain with Ahern ad llbblng &ome newer top- ical gags. He had an Earl Carroll crack, as did another act on the same bill. Ahern perverted Mark Hellinger's "Hoover flag" gag Into a "Hoover suit" story—pants with- out pockets. Dan, the brother, as- sists per usual, Gladys Is a classy trick, shapely, comely and a per- sonality. The Diamond Boys (Hughle, Tom and Harold) reopened after inter- mission. It's a real old-fa.shioned vaude sock act. The younger two knock about hokum made for the heavy laughs In contrast to Hughie's foiling. Fannie and Kitty Watson return after two year's absence, disclosing Fannie even laore aiitple and more amply kidding herself. They al- most did an Eddie Leonard, over- bending and overstaying. Anatole Frledland's new flash closed. Abel. accompanist of any vaude two-act working on a darkened stage who is always under a bright spot while his partner is in song. What Siegel means to this combination is ob vious. Another piano solo by another man up ahead in the opener, Daro and Costa (New Acts), could have been omitted for the betterment of both the act and the bill. LaSalle and Mack, comedy tum biers, deuced to complete the show, McLallen's 30 minutes were spent at the far end with his two conspira- tors. But for a new Sarah, this one a pretty girl with a good singing voice, act is about the same, in con tent and punch. There's a lot more to Jack McLallen nowadays besides his table dance or roller skates Business very light Saturday matinee, and has been at the 81st since the start of the summer. The house, with all of Broadway be tween the Pialnce and Hamilton theatres—six miles—to itself, has no coolinf plant. Four or five straight picture houses in the 81st St.'s territory are equipppd with cooling systems and doing the biz. while the Slst. only vaude theatre around. Is dying from the heat. Rige he cut opt the English working man which enabled him to speed his act up a bit. The JefC buiich seemed to like his Imitations. "Step by Step" Is a dancing turn with everything else secondary. As a whole entertaining with the adagio work liked here. Block and Sully clicked nicely. They work splendid- ly together. A pleasing combo, lit- tle light In some respects but hav- ing a routine that Al Boasberg Is understood to have written for the neighs. And they sure get It Marshall Montgomery gave the show some further strengrth with his ventrlloqulal tur«. With the woman who assists him in crossflre' with X\xe dummy, Montgomery gave evidences of his mimicry which has made him one of the showmen of vaude with the voice-throwing skill. No faster exchange ever worked out with a dummy than the one Montgomery has now. ' Surefire here. Billy Glason was next and he tied them into a knot. He makes him- self heard, has a flippant, breezy manner that garners laffs. Cran- dall's Brazilian Circus closed. "Bra- zilian" means nothing. It may have emanated' from Brazil but that means nothing In present day Amer- ican vaude. The boys riding the horse with their bodies suspended to a. line operated by one of this men with the outflt productive of laughs. Show packed enough comedy to make the audience satisfled. Marie. STATE-LAKE (Vaudfilm) Chicago, July 12. An rather uneven bill that closes better than it opens. It starts with La Belle Pola, monk act, which needs the active assist- ance of a hot femme hoofer to make it look like a vaude turn. Old stuff for the most part, and only goes over with that part of the audience that thinks any monk is entertain- ment. Audrey Wykoff and Co. is a two men and one girl dancing turn, an- nouncing as grandfather, father and daughter. Best in turn is the gal, nifty looker. Raymond Bond and Helen Sulli- van company, three, for some rea- son failed to click In their usual style. The comedy skit of the newlyweds in the hotel room is usually played to plenty of returns. But at this show act failed to de- liver the old punch. Jennie Goldstein followed and got across nicely with the lullabies of different nations, and brought into the house the second bad girl m as many weeks. Previous week Nan Halperln had done the Harlem shady lady. Miss Goldstein's bad girl is much more sentimental. Closing was Slgnor Frlscoe and his six-men Marimba band. Troupe showed inclinations to remain on the stage over-long. Can't blame them; heat terriflc on the streets. "Flirting Widow" (FN) feature. Biz oke flrst show Saturday. Loop. JEFFERSON (Vaudfilm) Jeff may continue Its gag of run- ning some old silent comedies with such success that other R-K-O New York and Brooklyn theatres may TdlTbw -suit; "Anyway Il'a' worlTi watching. The JefC last week used an old Lloyd and it went well, followed by Chaplin "Sunnyside Up," Just as funny. On the strength of the Lloyd and Chaplin chestnuts which can be bought for a song, the Jefferson seems to have started something that is more than adding to its screen fare. It unquestionably has a reaction at the b. o. So between Chaplin from the dim post of sllents and Jack Oakle in a new Paramount talker, "A Social Lion," there was no kick on the lure of the celluloid funmakers. Oakie's name down here is considered the draw as the straight picture title didn't mean a thing. On the vaude end it was some- thing like yesteryear in layout even to opening with a fast skating turn and closing with a "dumb act," a turn of the old school of riding acts In between were the oldtlme patter, hooTing, monolog and a ventrlloqulal act. That's old vaude enough Summer time saving, probably. The Thrillers started. TViro young men oh rollers. Leslie Strange sec ond. His turn has been changed around considerably. Down here 58TH STREET (Vaudfilm) Inexpensive six-act bill on the stage and Par's "The Social Lion" picture. Three of the six stage turns, "Memories of Great Com- posers," Easton and Howell and Miller and Marx Revue, undfer New Acts. Opener, Alexander Troupe, Is a standard and but for the reduction In .feminine members from three to one, remains the same through the years. The Alexanders work mostly on a teeter-board, an Instrument not often seen In vaude today, and they perform some gasp? grabbing stunts. The best, and best staged, is a triple (2^) somersault by one of the men from the board to a shoulder-high chair. Very satis factory starter. Allan Reno, versatile single who adopts an English accent, held the deuce well enough, doing a little Jugging, singing, flddling and talk- ing before setting his flnish with a dance. Reno's white spats with tuxedo -is an Idea-of- what the-well- drei^^fed man may wear in vaude, but nowhere else. George Fisher and Honey Hurst had no trouble No. 2, ad libblng for their own amusement between the lines and leaving enough lines for the audience. Miss Hurst wais In form vocally. The trio of New Acts followed in order. "Memories of Great Com- posers" is a flash act of class de- sign and scored. Easton and Howell, colored two-man team, fared passably on the straight man's Instrumental work and singing but much room for Improvement In the comic's material. This would be a combo to cope with had it the proper gag lines. Miller and Marx Revue, stage band and specialty act (13) featuring the hooflng team, closed. From the deuce on, and skipping only No. 3, It was fiddle week at the 68th. Reno used his violin con- siderably, a woman In the class flash did nothing else but slide the bow, the straight man in the colored two-act placed much Importance with his violin and one of the band numbers in the Miller and Marx ^tct was devoted strictly to a fiddle specialty. Bige. PALACE (Vaiidfilm) Chlpago, July 12. ' Rearrangement' probably would hc^ve Instilled heotvler spark into thl« Ave-act layout, but trying to shove the Runaway Four Into the deuca and Eva Puck and Sam White from No. 4 to closing, probably would have caused greater dlfRciilties. That prejudice against the No. t and closing spots ultimately should disappear, when flve-act bills and four-a-day become as automatically standard as the No. 2 spot was for Its type of act, and especially in the better houses. ' Swan' and' Lewis Revue of seven girls, five a ballet combo, and two boys as a dance team, opened. Waa effective throughout, excepting weak In unnecessary singing momenta when the girls pose on a ladder trellis drop. Girl acrobatic duo did some commendable work. In the deuce, Rotqe and Dunn, male harmony team, werv at a loss in their opening ballad, but flnlshed well with their grand operatic satirical medley, although this, as a previous number, was dragged. The "Pull," skit on a girl In Idve getting her guy, played by Claiborne. -Foster, another girl and a man. eased along trying for sock comedy until the last three or four minutes, when It flnally delivered with a clean wallop on good dialog and acting. Puck and White, next to closing, got a running start In their 1890 apparel and kept up, having no trouble charging through with com- edy melodrama blackout, and were a double encore. Closing came the Runaway Four, the quartet of acrobatic-singing- prancing-low comedy sailors, who were a riot, whose dancing was not dulled by previous dancing. The little stooge with blank face and sisterly-boy look Is a laugh climax. "Shooting Straight" (Radio), and Pathe shots. Business fair. MILLION DOLLAR (Vaudfilm) Los Angeles, July 10. Fairly good bill this week con- sidering opposition being presented by the other houses spending sev- eral, times the amount this house budgets for its stage. The Million Dollar has been progressing on quality of acts lately, and the re- sult is apparent this week In a well balanced program. Proverbial acrobatic opener, strong arm boys known as the Herculean Three, tossed one an- other about and landed solidly with an audience preferring this division of vaude anyday. Comedy was sprlQkled freely through the next three acts, and supplemented by the specialties In each. Black and Fanchon acquitted themselves well in tap routines, their stair dance highlighting the act despite its lack of originality. DeBee and Hudson, xylophonlsts. Indulged freely in hoke and got by well enough. Sands and Doone combined a mixture of songs, com- edy and dances. As Is customary among kids, Kenal McDonald, a five-year-old boy warbling Scotch songs, eclipsed anything else on the bill in the opinion of customers. His voice really is good. Edna Torrence, introduced as one of the stars of the "Desert Song," with the aid of her brother Johnnie and Mary Dunn, presented a varied song and dance act. It was fair. "Young Desires," first run Uni- versal feature, a Paramount novelty and news reel completed. House nearly filled opening night (Thurs- day). STATE (Vaudfilm) Around 2:16 Saturday it looked like one of the worst days of the season, but by 4 p. m. the lower floor was Jammed with standees. State is giving its pipe organ more of a standout, with Marsh McCurdy featured. Marsh does real well by the organ. Statfi__jj.s.lng_Hearst Jletrotone . (sound) and gone completely are the Metro sllents which Loew has been using in a mixed newsreel In some of its houses. "Shadow of the Law" (Par), on screen. Elizabeth Brice is laying more emphasis on her former stage partnership with Charles King. She seems to flit into the N. Y. houses for awhile khd then almost as quickly out Miss Brice, with Arthur Green at the piano and Matty Mack, youthful vocalist as- sisting, did well enough in a way, but she lacks a colorful bullseye number. She has personality, but her routine seems to Just miss. The youthful Mack works hard enough, but has to pack a lot of expectation with an audience reminded that he's following Charlie King. That alone is sufficient to floor him, but he's young and may Improve. Bellclaire Bros, opened the vaude section. Still a flashy pair of athletic showmen, not overdoing. Rlchy Craig, Jr., is in and out the show, doing an m. c. trick and later appearing with his monologlstic specialty. He deserves a medal for trying to make his voice be heard In this huge house, Clralg worked up (Continued on page 54)