Variety (Jul 1930)

-^t^adf^Tf Jnly 30»' 1930 NEW ACTS VARIETY 79 BENNV RUBIN - ,. 14Minfc;.pne -i^tw wltti a film *e|>, -hiasn't Sed tnuch. out th6M he lea(rned w^teUt about his pictUfeB; Ih b !i«^r^ Way. but sOH talMiig about Sf^^ BUt be diaii't folfget how to S*"' . vsSde act ' At the' Palace 4ubSi wSloped them with a "nut" Si-pTnln?.' sealed . theta with JhrM^Hebe dialect fltorlcs Iji, 'suc- ISnfoii whamnied them with, s6mie SSS talk, also m dialect, their. tooSfed them cold with A tap dance ^oh' both Bides of his own turn Ttublh'te.c.'d for the other acts on the bUls. also participating In an after Dl'ece wUh Dora Maughan and Hairy Bichirtan. He didn't waste a Soment, getting a laugh every time he tried to, and he trlfid often. Bubln has Jumped to the toj) fllirht oir stage cpmlds, with dancing Sfd w« Siting ability wdded. to m comedy dcllveii^. He's velcom^ ^ywfiere yaiUde can Jplay fcl^. MITZi:9 ROYAL DANCERS (.9) Qgncek ■'' ' " 19 Min*."; Full (8pM)iaf) ' Just'a fair dance'flash." Carries eight girls and one boy. Just .who Mitzl'was ceuld not b& traced foi* a cetttilnty, 'buf ft was appa,iffently the bl^Vjde glrl who iworked ' Wlth thpb'ojr.,'■'; : . '''hree daihce tableaux humbers, first Dutch, then; Oriental, -With BussIe^P number rounding Cut the turn." '.Tout girl's domprlBe; the p6hy, chorus tiiit'fail to evo'ke ihuch bn-' thuslasiti.'" Boy and girl work as team and are best In turn. Capable tap and eccentric dancers a'nd vaiy with a parody ballet. . ... Two other, gflrls, wprklng as sister team, .-do. a'fall* little cpmefly dan,ce and ai[i9ther femme, .during, ^the QrlT. ental.'.number, solos with a-contor-, tlon. - Latter is supple, and eye-apr pealing, but in these days-of numerr ous benders her work is below par. Another little girl with long hair takes the solo ohqe^wlth a . guitar and does a Nick Lucas. Just a cute girl with a voice of like classifica- tion. Tomiand Ray. RQMAINE (5} "Noivy Neighbors": (Skit) 14 Mint.: Three (Special) 86th St (V-P). ,- ;..The! .^omalne t^ylns; hf^ve , ,b.een. Iliiiound. before.. Tills la a neW ;rou-> tine, book by J. J. McNally, Jr., with Eateile Cawthqri^,: liyirilfped Pean and Jack Ball: in suppor.t. - . "NbfeyjKelghborsV, title; tells the story:,- The Ijtomalnes, arp song- wrltei;§i, an^ their, tln^pannlng. dis- turbs! ..Misses, CiEtw.thom- and i)ea'n across.'^9. hall. -$et is. a' cross7 sectldn. of .b.otl> apalr'tpients. with a hall ih between, ipcludlng ; a . prop Uft lt(.,the jrjear ;fron>. whence Jack Ball,,, as. .'the house spperinti^ndentt pops iip ever apd anon to quiet the aoise.;; . • . . Usual win4-Up of tli<Q 'song being a alt. the two couplei^ .getting ac- quainted, not forgetting ithe usual , taqulrijBs h6>y is each jgirl to tell the Bomaines iapart, and all gping out to dinneh Lightweight' but pleasant skit, likeable and likely for the family trade,'In the sanie groove, No. 3. FIELDS find GEORGIE (4) Comady Flash 19 Mini.; Two and Full (Special) Jefferson (V-P) Pleasing comedy act with a goodly quota of comedy talk. Supported by comedy' dancing and a bit of war- bling. Idea is catchy a'rid easily lends i'taelf to air manner of buf- foonery. .However, it takes too long before the kick of the turn is de- livered. Act runs too long and can stand speeding up. A few minutes could' be cut.' ' Plelcla and Georgle are two clever boys with a fast line of cliatter. Also do coniedy dancing. . Supported by three singing aind.dapcirig girls Another ma,n also included, in turn, Action hinges aroui^'.the..three f/"5'-tJ?e.boys bripg abroad the bat- iieahlp and who dress as sallojjs. superior officer is unaware of this fna believes they're new recruits «ntU finish. Can easily weave a little more fun around the idea. DANNY SMALL with Harry Mays gono. Dance, Talk « Mins.; One Palace (St. V.) ^J'all and his partner. Mays, coi wed team, should Immediately ob- w»n new talk material or drop most oi What they now have. How the faiace let them in with their chatter il?'' stands is a mystery. It so that the Small and Mays PtUr f and dancing is strong enough to react favorably enough "gainst the gab. but the latter is ""^i®" for any turn to tote, enw*i • ^^omedlan with several past ^oiored shows, and in vaude on and an^^^fore. is a combination of song ^",.,°*nce. Mays plays piano and f.V"*?; and hoofs quite a bit himself. th„ „'*®,<lanclng finish, which saves ih® ^^rks after Small's Blnglng ju-* ft^p^^anages to hold that talk Et|iEL NORRIS (2) Singing 16 Mins.; Oifte" ' Madiaon, B'klyn (V-P) ' The No.'Z aet In the third of the R-IfliO unit' shows starting from the iMadldon,'Brooklyn, and a thor- oughly ple&^lng act with enough punch. • ' • £lhel l^orrls has appeared in va- rious musicals, among them "Rain oi: Shine" from which she borrows Ori Baby" fbr 'the close that ordi- narily should pr.ovoke an encore. Bid I here, with "Somebody Taught Me to Say Yes" taking her ofT the stage with the right impression left. Miss Norrls. directs a portion of "Oh Baby" to a musician in the pit, gathering a couple of chuckles through the way It's done. The singer attempts to get away from a cut and dried rep. She opens with a special number pointing out favorite tricks of Eva Tanguay, Helen Kane, Fannie Brice and Ted Levi^is, then proceeds to signify her trick is ''sighlng'f by doing a num-i ber .called "I Sigh/' Second is her idea of newly weds at the breakfast table, with a ballad straight to re- lieve'before going Into "Oh Baby.". Miss Norrls seems slow in gaining paee at the' start but winds up nice- ly'With her audfeACe nearly In hand. Id^AUookeE-and-ha«^^aH[>leasing-man~ ner [of- selling material. ■ ' !Mjale pianist carried • merely ac- companies, doing that capably. ' ■ Char. 'KN.ICK-KNACKS (7) Dances and Songs 14 Mine;; Full. Jefferson '(V-R)r: '' Woeful . dance.' flash. Appears he wily, framed and is staged poorly. No I push at all and nothing in it except a few comely girls. Dknces prevail^ with songs by the' boys toward, the end. Dances were weak I enough; but the sinking worse yet. Four girls "Aiy chorus work. One good routine,' a toe number. Two boys lack personality in their work and: their "drunk" dance should come out. It's just a waste of time and lacks what they strove after, comedy. Another femme takes the spot now and then. She has one re- deeming toe dance, quite capable tapper on her toes. .Entire act ai^pears in the need of Additional rehearsals and rea.r- rangement of running. POLLY' PACKARD (4) Son^8, Pianof Dance 14 .M'no.;. Two (Special) BSthi Street (V-P> Thlis Is a family group comprising two I sons, a daughter and the par- ent's. ' Opened the'' show here: on six-fict layout to go over • flying, but 1 worth better spot and good all th<i iway. It;s good principally from, the angle pt a^ ivhole family singing or dancing and doing it in a pleas- ant mannor.,', The two boys are ex- cellent, especJally. with their har- mc.ny and mugging comedy. The turn opens with the mother and daughter in song as the. boy- plantd' in the audience interrupt.- They'comei up after one song and later the father does a single dance and another with the boys. Act's suffering Just now from slowness. But as It .goes along it ought to gather momentum. Movements and speech ^re now too deliberate. Harry and Dorothy DIXON Dancing 1Z Mins.; One ' Palace (St. V.) . Tall young couple in an acrobatic and eccentric dance routine, placed in the sock class by the girl's un- canny split and ' contortion work. Countless fails along the way, most of therti takeh by Dorothy, and all quite hard. In the burlesque tango they mpp up the stage. Miss Dixon, while In. a spill;,, is pulled all over the rostrum by one. Ipg. At another time she. falls heavily Into a ground split from a.control position with, one leg straight up In the air. "The John H?ld. Jr.'s, of Vaude- ville" is their billing, and they assaj the tyre( biit their weight is too much against that to make it ring true.- With, any sort of billing, however, this is an act. Bige. "MELODY PARADE" (9) With Caesare Ravoli Musical 9 Mins.; Full (Special) Palace (St. V.) Feature of this good musical flash Is Caesare Ravoli's comically faithful Impersonations of famous composers In the pit. On the stage are eight singing voices, equal as to sex. Mounting, dressing and staging- all good. RavoH, on the conductor's plat- form In the pit, announces the first number, an operatic arrangement of "St. Louis Blues" by the en- semble. RavoU's . specialty sepa- rates this and the closer, a Victor Herbert tribute. Each of four pedestals holds a singing couple each pair ' representing a Herbert .score. Backdrop raises at the finish to reveal Ravoll In a statuesqut- impersonation of the late composer. Different. Bige. BERTRAND-LEVAN and Co. (2) Comedy Sketch 14 Mins.; Tvvo (Special) Jefferson (V-P) A - good little comedy act, with plenty of that hoke surefire. Just borders on burlesque, the hoke Is so low, but manages to swing over to a sidetrack.. Plenty funny and a cinch for any neighborhood house. Bertrand and Levan, two men. ex- perienced in their work. Shorter and stouter, doing a semi-hebe, ap- pears, as though he has had bur- lesque experience. Turn starts oft with both men in front of a drop representing a hick depot called "Itt," 20 miles from Ni- agara Falls and from a town called "Watt" Laughs are derived from the boys questioning each other as to their whereabouts, with the "Itt" and "Watt" towns balling everything and everyone up. Pretty old, but got something here. Later turns out that the boys are Vaudevillians. A woman asks them to rehearse In a "Salome" bit, the snake to be a prop. Boys agree, but -when another girl makes her ap- pearance with the belly walker, it is a live one. During this bit a lot of hoke . oriental dancing and antics woven in, also $l- comedy dance by the entailer fellow, quite strong here. ■ —Two—womeh-assistr-doing ar- llttle- slnglng and acting as foils. DONIA and CLARK Talk and Songs 11 Mins.; One Jefferson (V-P) A mixed couple with the man do-. Ing a wop comic. Latter appears to be the same Donia who was pre- viously teamed up with a man part- ner. Mack, and who in that act worked along the same order as in this. "Nut" patter is foundation of act. They laughed at it heartily here. May not be such easy sailing in other..districts. . Talk is first woven around the Job she offers him and later about the manner in which he would kiss her. Donia does wop all through talk, swerving to straight only for the songs, which he duets with Miss Clark. Latter is a nice looker and was gowned in eye filling fashion. MACK and STANTON Comedy Talk and Songs 10 Mine.; Two (Special) Jefferson (V-P) Amusing crossfire. Two boys, one playing hobo with a swanky line of talk and the other a copper. Drop represents the outside of a jail. Act is Just one gag after another and only as strong as the gags. Luckily, the' chatter Is breezy and so all goes welf. Quite a bit of the stuff used, though, verges ion the "blue." Copper is the feeder with th^ hobo delivering the punch lines in parlor English. A pop song is soloed by the copper while the comic is off- stage. THE BACHELORS Male .Quartet . 12 Mins.; One Special 58th St. (V-P) •Classy singers, who know their harm'cny and okay for fuiy bill as is, although they could go better if they worked up a little comedy that didn't take them too far from their present singing angle. Enter in toppers and tux with black sticks. Do about four num- ters, each okay. Stage is set with a settee that serves for at least one number . when the four gather around to sin; as one of the boys strums a guitar. RECTOR and DOREEN Aerial 9 Mins.; Two 86th St. (V-P) Mixed team. Man is upside-down anchor man, perched aloft, iron- Jawhlng or holding the suspended props. On these the woman per- forms her whirls, pirouettes, etc. Lots of fast whirl stuff with special props. Neat opener. Abel. EMBASSY (Continued from page 77) the case, but spotting Of some of It in other parts of the program would seem wiser than running it all to- gether about the center. The "theatrical" material Is sep- arated rather than run in sequence style, with that routining making it seem there is less of it than ac- tually exists In the real. . Besides sports stuff at Atlantic City, that beach resort gets the benefit of Fox-Movietone recording Ted Weems orchestra and the Norma Schutt dancing ensemble going through a brief routine. Other vaude-type clips Nipponese gals doing American song and dance numbers In the Broadway manner; the Madan-Troupe in Calcutta, fea- turing a Hindu soprano who's solo actually provokes laughs, and Al- wyn Bach, who recently won a ra- dio announcer's contest, demon- strating what a proper speech Is like. Bach is on too long and nearly spoils things by having to repronounce a simple word himself. A marriage in a pool at Rock- away, music and all; girls in a ca- noe routine at Sebago Lake, Maine, good every year, but with singing this time; Long Island ducks in a quack chorus; Marlon Talley on her farm In Kansas, and Fox Movietone flying over Washington are among the clips of no particular news im- portance but real human Interest Just the same. Miscellaneous items, Secretary of State Simpson Inspecting cavalry troops at Ft. Myers. Va.. with a poor speech following; C. E. Lock- wood, last of Civil War vets at Stillwater, Minn., toasting comrades that have gonci and more about Ghandi from a London reporter, George Slocombe. who interviewed the Indian leader in his cell re- cently and through F-M hands out a lot of stuff about him. Except for Australian football game, Spain's bullfighting carnival and motorcyclists trying to nego- tiate hill, program is nicely photo- graphed. Some of the shots, prob- ably through plenty sunlight lately, are unusually clear, notably those taken in this country. Recording satisfactory throughout. Program has 26 different clips, with divisions between Fox and Hearst ,13 each. Char. JEFFERSON - (Continued from page 78) real acrobatics. Miss Starr works mainly on a web, twisting and con- torting her body to varied posi- tions while on it. Fast opener. Grace and Coly Worth, No. 2, tried- hard but had nothing to put over. Act needs substantial ma- terial. Grace is a looker and knows how to work, hut is using it t>n the wrong type of stuff. Chatter lacks fire. In one Instance they wasted two minutes in telling a flop gag. Closing bit Is strongest, dance number with Coly showing some oke eccentric stepping. Bertrand-Levan and Co. (New Acts) started off the comedy and got results. Turn carries two men and two femmes, all doing comedy. It's plain hoke, but suits. That nimble fingered harpsichord player. Boxy La Rocca, surprised by doing as well as he did. Roxy soon had the mob acconipanying his harp music with whistling and vocalizing. Plays a large and va- ried selection of songs, classic and pop, excellently. In many instances strives for comedy and, with the help of the drummer, gets results. Joe Marks, at the end of his turn, announced that he was playing right In his own backyard while here. It looked that way from the manner in which they received his turn. His Hebe dialect, plus the help of TIddlsh Idioms, couldn't have a better audience. McKay and Ardine found it easy on the wave of good humor. Cross- fire is quite snappy and Miss Ar- dlne's Polish accented delivery helps. Weave in ia little comedy warbling, plus some individual story telling a.-.d top off with some danc- ing, with Miss Ardine proving quite light on her feet. Knick-Knacks (New Act6), Just another dance flash, closed. Very "Hell's Island (Col) featured. Wallack's theatre, on West 42d street, former legit house, opened Sunday ( 27) as a -ta.lklri g picture theatre devoted solely to" shorts. House is operating on a continuous policy. Average program will be composed of 10 to 12 shorts, running about two hours. 58TH STREET (Vaudfilm) This house is trying a two-bit Saturday and Monday matinee for women and kids, but last Saturday showed off biz at the second per formance. -That means something wrong and not altogether the weath- er. Feature was "Hell's Island" (Col), which carried the draw. Vaude had a six-act layout on a 2-2-2 basis, and was laid out wrong. Sextet of turns, each of which figures about even on spot and calibre. Hot weather and dry. One and 2 were musical turns, 3 and 4 were comedy, E and 6 were musical and songs. It's easy to see that when the show is past the lay- out gets warped at the ends and bulges In the middle. Taken alone, eaoh act okay but overrunning on pleasant time limit. Show ran 201 minutes, of which the vaude end toolt<-9«vjvithout an overture. This means an average of 16 minutes for each turn. "Hap" Farnell and Florence. No. 4, showed a faster act than when previously seen, cutting five minutes of his turn to do a 20. and went Just as well, and could go Just as good if not better at 16* by a bit swifter patter. Received big here. The act followed William Kent and Co. Still doing the drunk wheeze plus two other settings, tak- ing the stage in full with a stock setting. On a six-act layout, com- ing after two song and instrumental acts. 20 minutes is a long while for the customers. It's like handing the patient too much medicine. What actors sometimes fail to get as well as management and bookers Is that much of applause is perfunc tory and cannot be taken as a guar antee of entertainment. Opener was Polly Packard and her family (New Acts). Mother and dad of tho turn looli experienced, but the three kids are beginners Comedy should have followed here but instead a good male quartet. The Bachelor.s, looking like old, but not In the files, turn out to do about five songs in 12 minutes. (New Acts). Bobby Folsom was next to shut. Same act and walkinK over News From the Dailies (Continued from page 76) Grimths, by the failure of the New Jersey State records to confirm her belief that she became Mrs. Griffiths In Hoboken. Records for three years, 1914, 191B and 1916, have been searched but the Registrar of Vital Statistics cannot find any record of the marriage which she is seeking to dissolve. Whereabouts of her husband is unknown. Theatrical Artists Representatives Association held a special meeting yesterday evening (Tuesday) at the Hotel Astor for the election of sev- eral new members who have been granted permits by the Actors' Equity Association. City of Nw York, flagship of Com- mander Byrd's Antarctic expedition, will be -turned lhto a showboat. . It Will be placed .on public exhibition Aug. 9 at 96th istreet and North River. Later it will go to Boston where it will play the waterfront for several weeks. LOS ANGELES ^ As soon iEis "frincesa Charming" Is set on Broadway Connelly. St Swainstrom will launch into the prbductioix of their first for War- ners. It will be. an operetta. Will Carlton, playwright, arrested for ringing doorbells on Compton avenue. Doihg a Paul Revere. Said the British wer| coming. Joan Chalmers, vaude, has sworn off married men. She recovered from poison, taken because Walter Miller's wife wouldn't divorce him. William Henry Burkhart was sen- tenced to hang for the murder of his wife, Ann McKnlght Burkhart ac- tress, at a wine reconciliation party in Hollywood. John Bowers forfeited $160 ball as well as his revolver, detective badge and deputy sheriff badge) rather than appear in court on an Intojd- cp.tlon charge. tV^en arrested he told cops he was the best shot In the country. They claim he was half-shot. Constance Bennett announces she Is not interested 'in the Marquis Henri de Coiidray de la Falaise,' Gloria Swanson's husband. An ordinance to make miniature golf courses turn off their radios ait 10 p. m. and fold at midnight is being drafted for the county super- visors. City regulation .of the pee- wees comes up for hearing July 23. Gunther R. Lesslng, attorney who secured Dolores Del Rip's divorce from the late Jaime Martlnze Mar- tinez Del Rio, blames her for break- ing up his own marriage in an an- swer to the divorce complaint of Loula C. Lesslng. Leseing is also suing Miss Del Rio for legal serv- ices. He Says the. Mexican star called him "an ugly old man" and tried to get his wife Intp pictures. Frank C. Payne, editor of TPRA's mag, "The Quill," on arrival here, told reporters that the p. a.'s are campaigning for co-operation be- tween the Srlanger and Shubert offices and various local theatrical interests. Ian Keith got smacked down in the drawing room.of Raoul Walsh's assistant director on the train bringing the "Oregon Trail" Fox unit back from northern location. Just who hit him is disputed. It appef^rs he had riled several mem- bers of the troupe. The snap of his fishing line sud- denly released from entanglement in a kelp bed at sea, burled the hook at the base of Ralph Ince's skuU. AI Jolson's motor boat -rushed the director 18 miles to Santa Monica, where he was transferred to a car and taken to the Hollywood Com- munity hospital. Ince is believed out of danger. Tiffany's contract with Anita Louise, 13, got the court's okay. For blacking Vivian Duncan's eye, $50. Rex Lease paid his fine in Malibu court and left, abandoning his idea of a Jury trial. Ho claimed Vivian struck the first blow. Closing was Anna Boland and Co., banjo sextet, and a girl dancer be- sides Miss Boland's singing. About sjx or seven numbers In special two and three settings for 16 minutes, but not a clo.sing act. Better for ononer. 'Hf .st of program was made up in .small inter-act delays, a threc-mln- nf traik-r .md an abbreviated Pathe ncwsrccl of about four .clips—all