Evening star., 1950-03-02

at liberty to try to prove it. The
amazing thing is that he gets
takers nightly, which may, of
course, be a tribute to the dance
ability of the Donahue music
The Champions are, to borrow
an overworked word from the
movie ads, terrific. They are even
sensational. They undoubtedly are
on their way to the sort of fame
in the entertainment business
that will have you saying in
very short time, Il remember
them when"
The dancing duo, who went
from supper clubs to television
to the movies, recently were
signed for two pictures a year by
Metro -Goldwyn- Mayer, which is
operated by one of Hollywood's
more sensible citizens, Dore
Schary. 1t is probable that Mr..
Schary, being nobody's dope,
knows the nature of the gold mine
he has here. If he isn't fully
aware of the Champions. how
ever, somebody should tell him in
a hurry that M-G-M has a con-
tract with the two people most
likely to succeed Fred Astaire and
Ginger Rogers.
If you habor a shadow of doubt
about this. all you have to do isl
get around to the Embassy Room
and have a look. The Champions
are as refreshing a dancing pair
as you will find. There is grace
about their dancing, there is
humor and there is originality
And they perform with an expert
ness and a youthful verve that
make them true joy in a world
full of hydrogen bombs.
The movie cameras, should
M-G-M agree that they are the
logical people to take over in
the Astaire- Rogers niche, should
give the Champions no problems.
Marge is a pretty girl-at least
that is the impression she leaves
with you-and her face is wonder
fully expressive. She can look on
Cover, and in some of their En-
bassy Room dances she does, with
the moonstruck gaze of a teen
ager on her first date with the
school football hero. She is quite
a gal, Marge is.
Cover, leave us face it, is not
as pretty as his wife and part
ner. He is a guy with a crew cut
who looks like, well, a guy with a
crew cut. This, of course, is no
drawback and, in fact, is refresh
ing in a dance team. 1t would be
equally so in the case of a movie
dance team.
There are hints in the evidence
that MGM does know what it
has here in the Champions. Their
first film, for Paramount, was
Bing Crosby's recently completed
and -soon-to-be released Mr..
Music" and they don't have a lot
to do in it. In their first picture
for Metro, however, they will have
roles that run all through the film.
This one. which calls them back
to Hollywood after their week at
the Statler, will be "Show Boat.
On the list of possibilities for
the furture is new script of
Roberta" which, Marge says,
keeps the dress shop and the
music, which are the parts that
everyone liked" Predictions are
rare around this department, but
it does seem safe to foresee wide
movie fame for the Champions.
Watching them dance is a rare
treat and watching them dance on
a screen should be, too.
x X X
The word from the Latin Quar-
ter of the Old New Orleans is that
everything is fine there. The new
Latin American show, put to-
gether by Daryl Harpa, whose
orchestra makes high quality
Latin music there, is lively di-
version. 1t is a novel one, too,
since it is authentic rather than
pseudo Latin American.
The featured performances in
the new entertainment are Los
Chicanos, a top-notch trio who
come here from Cuba by way of
the Copacabana in Rio de Janiero.
Their south-of -the-border songs,
sparked by the dances of the men,
ber of the group named Lupe. are
lively stuff and their version of
Brazil is one you'll remember.
Another import at the Latin