Maud Lambert and Ernest R. Ball held forth in the deuce spot in rather flippant style, after the orchestra vamped and re-vamped a couple of times. Per usual, Ernie Ball’s medley of past pop hits k.o.’d them, although the spot was very early for the reputation of the act.
Miss La Cross was a likeable blonde young woman with a fine high note that won ready applause, but she likewise was minus a laugh. The “production act,” No. 3, had comedy possibilities but they were not developed and might as well have been absent as far as getting the proceedings well under was concerned.
Sansone and Delila, opening have an interesting routine of equilibristic feats with many novel angles and, for an eight-minute turn, deliver value. The man of the act should by all means devise some sort of substitute for the Tuxedo or sack coat worn at the opening over his gym shirt and white flannel trousers. The nondescript combination is all out of order. The woman dresses neatly and both members of the partnership work with good acrobatic style. This was No. 1 without comedy.
Along at closing Burns and Frabite delivered the kind of strong comedy element the Bronx, house wanted but by that time it was too late. The day really had been lost during the later numbers of the quiet first half – lost beyond remedy.
The first real laugh was Miss Juliet, on No. 3. She was a veritable riot with her impersonations and the preceding special numbers. The house simply couldn’t get enough of the imitations. Miss Juliet could have gone on doing another quarter of an hour, but she begged off.
[New Act] Dialect Monologist, 12 mins; one. (Dec. 20). Explaining he sneaked on to sell hats to the audience after canvassing back stage, a monologist carrying a hat box goes into a selling talk anent hats.
Taking a Scotch Tam out of the box, he explains the dialect goes with it and follows with some Scotch stories and song.
The same procedure for an English character and last a Cape Cod fisherman with a recitation.
The characters are far from class cut and need modernization. The method of introducing them is deserving of better follow up material.
George McKay and Ottie Ardine with their inimitable talking and dancing offering in the third position were easily one of the walloping hits, sharing honors with Kranz and LaSalle who one removed from closing intermission tied the show in knots. McKay kidded the audience and Walter Davidson the orchestra leader until he had every one roaring. The delightful dancing of Miss Ardine served to accentuate the rather amateurish efforts in too work earlier in the program.
Rule and O’Brien delivered a corking No. 2 and placed later would undoubtedly have nabbed a full sized hit. Most of their songs are new and all given rendition in different style than the usual. For a sample, they opened with a New Orleans number, then shot one over. For the number a flock of old tunes were dressed up in “wet” lyrics to excellent purpose. That was the true of an Irish number and it sent them out to heavy returns, the men well earning the encore.
Al Lydell and Carleton Macy were assigned the next to closing spot. They vamped off at five past eleven with the house loath to allow them to depart. All of the old laughs are still there, thanks to the irresistible old soldier. Perhaps that character put in a new one when he explained that a humdinger “is a man who can make a deaf and dumb girl say ‘Oh, Daddy’.”
Harry Lester Mason with his waiter monolog took up the running after the “Topics of the Day.” He was extremely hoarse but stuck to his task with excellent results, passing up only the finale song. Mason has added a dash of up-to-date color. He talked about the football bunch on Thanksgiving night invading the café and calling for “their quarterback” and “their half-back.” His mention of one of the girl frequenters as a “bimbo” too produced its giggle.
