Variety (December 1954)

P<** Plb€r 22 » 1954 LITERATI 61 Literati Can’t Take It, Eh? Randolph Churchill, author-son of the British Prime Minister, sneaking at the recent annual din- ner of the Edinburgh Press Club, ne . r ,° h ; DreS s which assumed a r'V.ht to criticize everybody, should not be immune from criticism it- "?;f There were many publica- tions in Britain which were ai dis- Irue to the profession, he added. gl He believed the main reason for that was that those who daily Jshed out criticism of others, and K them up to the mark, were r0 ; criticized themselves The , ht or nine men who controlled he national press were no worse uul very little better than other monle The provincial press was a redeeming feature, but they had very much less power now than thev used to have. t ; riticisni of politicians was frontpage news, but if there was criticism of a newspaper it was soft-pedalled in the press, Church- ill claimed. Fred Allen's Book Little Brown says Fred Allen s ••Treadmill To Oblivion,” which it publishes, is a sure bestseller de- spite the ‘’lists” which are fre- quently behind, especially during the Christmas rush when dealers seem to automatically reprise titles without much thought to new ones. LB points to ad agencies and ad- men in general going for the book in large orders as Christmas gifts, among others. , LB also publishes Elsa Maxwell s “RSVP”, a $5 item, as against Allen at $4, and while the former got on the “lists”, it has been on the market three or four weeks earlier. Allen’s sale has now topped 25,000 copies. The Bob Hope and Groucho Marx biogs. incidentally, are „ bucking the Allen book, and in be- tween Hv Gardner’s “Champagne Before Breakfast” (Holt) has now gone over 10,000 copies. The big surprise sellers, how- ever, are Grantland Rice’s “The Tumult and Shouting” and Ben- nett Cerf’s “New Encyclopedia of Modern Humor,” both $5 books, and both quick on the bestseller lists. Ed Sullivan’s sports salute gave Rice’s posthumous memoirs a terrific sendoff. and Cerf’s Dou- bleday publication (the Random House prez prefers being pub- lished by his competitors) has also suddenly caught fire. Daniel Blum’s 10th Annual Daniel Blum’s “Theatre World: Season 1953 - 54” (Greenberg; $4.50', marks the annual’s 10th an- niversary. While it does not syn- opsize or digest productions, it is still the best of the yearbooks for the researcher, and visually the most appealing with its hundreds of cuts of scenes and players. As usual, in addition to custom- ary production credits, the volume lists cast replacements, managers, stage managers and press agents. There is a thorough index. Plays that failed to reach Broadway are assessed. The Stratford Festival in Canada is covered pictorially. A section is devoted to players' biographies; another to obits. Blum selects as this year’s 'promising personalties”: Ben Gaz- *ara. Eva Marie Saint, Harry Bela- fonte, Elizabeth Montgomery, Leo Penn, Jonathan Lucas, Joan Di- nner, Carol Haney, Scott Merrill and Orson Bean, Kay Medford and James Dean. Book is dedicated to the late Vernon Rice. Down. most likekly to achieve a perma- nent place in American culture. Academy at the same time re- elected poet and former Librarian of Congress Archibald MacLeish as president, Mark Van Doren as chancellor, Douglas Stuart Moore as secretary and Deems Taylor as treasurer. Elected as directors were sculptor Paul Manship, art- ist Barry Faulkner, educator Chauncy Brewster Tinker, land- scape architect Gilmore D. Clarke and author-playwright Robert E. Sherwood. The court order required Munyon and the Pittsburgh outfit to turn over to the Milwaukee firm within 10 days for destruction all plates and other materials from which the disputed booklet was pub- lished. The Milwaukee firm puts out a mag called Ideals six times a year. Ben Cohen Retiring Ben Cohen, for the past 23 years editorial artist With the Chicago Tribune specializing in show biz drawings, is retiring from the pa- per at month’s end. During his stint on the Trib and an earlier hitch on the old Chi Examiner, Cohen has chronicled via his draw- ing board practically the Who’s Who of show biz. He first turned to entertainment subjects on the Examiner when in 1910 he shared the amusement page with Ashton Stevens who later was to become one of the country’s top legit critics. Although a “few summers” be- yond the 65-year retirement mile- stone, Cohen has no rockingchair plans. He’s branching out into the freelance field and plans to main- tain a Loop office. New Writer-Pubs Twist New twist on author-publisher relations was revealed this week when writer Tanya De Gamez Gutierrez brought a $50,000 dam- age suit in N.Y. Supreme Court Monday (20) against R. D. Cortina Co. Inc. and Doubleday & Co. Inc. Mrs. Gutierrez, who specializes in Latino subjects, charges that in April, 1953, she was pacted by the Cortina firm to write a 250-page book about Mexico and Cuba. But after delivering her mss. to the publisher, Mrs. Gutierrez as- serts, Cortina and Doubleday brought out the tome in the spring of 1954 under the title of “Mexico and Cuba On Your Own,” with one Arthur R. Pastore given billing as co-author. She doesn’t know Pas- tore, she complains, didn’t work with him on the book and didn’t consent to the listing of Pastore as co-author. Many of the script changes to which Mrs. Gutierrez objects, ac- cording to the complaint, “con- tained errors of fact, as well as errors of literary construction and statements of questionable taste, all to the serious detriment of the plaintiff and her reputation as an author and authority in the field of Latin-American affairs.” More- over, she charges through her attorneys, Gottlieb & Konove, designation of a co-author without her consent was “false, misleading and unlawful.” Van Beuren’s Cue Deal In one of the unusual magazine deals of the past several years, Archbold Van Beuren, the pub- lisher and major stockholder of Cue, the N. Y. weekly entertain- ment guide, is taking over “pro- prietary interest” of the mag for a period of five years. No stock sale is involved, nor will Cue Publishing Co. go out of business as a corporation. Instead, Van Beuren is paying the corporation an annual "rental” for the privilege of publishing the magazine him- self. Van Beuren, who is also a di- rector of General Time Corp., Promenade Magazines and the N.Y. Convention & Visitors Bu- reau. is confident he can make a profit for himself out of the ar- rangement; “otherwise I wouldn’t have gone into it,” he said. Reason for the arrangement, which is called a “lease" deal, is that until the past couple of years, the mag had gone through some difficult periods and still has some long- term obligations which the assured annual rental would meet. At the same time, the stockholders would get a return from the rental and Van Beuren would stand a chance of doing nicely for himself. Past couple of years have been good ones for the mag, with circu- lation currently at an alltime high of 100,000 weekly and ad linage for this year within 2% of the 1953 total. Deal, while for five years, has option clauses which could extend it for several more. Van Beuren has been a director of Cue since 1936, a year after it started. He became treasurer in 1937, pres- ident in 1944 and publisher in 1949. While he’s the principal stockholder, he doesn’t hold a majority, and the rental agreement will be presented to a special stock- holders meeting next Wednesday (29). SCUIJ.Y’S SCRAPBOOK ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦»♦♦♦♦ By Frank Scully +-»♦♦♦♦♦»»»♦♦♦ Naughty! Naughty! Publication of Penrtpix, monthly humor magazine put out by under- grads at the University of Penn- sylvania. has been suspended fol- lowing the release of its Christmas issue. Franklin Society, composed of student editors of four Penn pub- lications. banned Pennpix because of off-color material. Society board said Pennpix w’ould be permitted to resume after its editors have shown a definite plan for “refine- ment” of the mag. New ’Catholic Lawyer’ Quarterly The first issue of The Catholic Lawyer, national quarterly “of legal affairs with special reference to Catholic interest in the practi- cal as well as the speculative or- ,, ider,” will appear In January. Pub- VT d T< ! lished by St. John s University William E. Lamed, for 19 years I School of Law jn Brooklyn, the the trade book veepee of McGraw- Hill, has shifted to E. P. Dutton & Co. in a similar spot. It’s an unusual move in light of Larned’s longtime standing in the business and longtime association with McGraw’s. Upcoming Femmes in its January issue, Mademoi- selle magazine profiles four young women writers whose first books in this country will be making lit- erary news in 195fi. 1 bey are 18-year-old Francoise S'T-ian. whose novel, "Bonjour Tnstesse,” won the Prix des Cri- ;if|ucs and will be published here ln February; Elizabeth Jennings, pinner of the Arts Council of t.i oat Britain’s award for the best JV q nook of original verse: Shir- i, v v nn Grau, whose first book.of short stories, “The Black Prince,” JJ-nopf will publish in February. ino rV u^ 0e Settle, an American liv- ,? ad whose first novel, “The Tnlu iust PwMIshed in it and. will be brought out here DJ JIar Per s this spring. N>w Academy Honors thor-!lffi Ser T Aaron Copland, au- hiMri’ 1 1C A M 0seph Wood Krutch, libi oMist w H n — Vins and P° et to t[ ’ Auden were elected in 1 A • — — V* V V » X* V- A. v V* & i , H Ame , ncan Academy of Arts the\,S» ,ast week. Election to slim tl , for which member- stitnJ", l* 1 ® la rser National In- cmjsj.p °( Arts & Letters is a prere- as < i!) onor ? ^e new members ■ a n e artists whose works are Pitt Evangelist Clipped Federal Judge John L. Miller in Pittsburgh last week ruled that Jack Munyon, local radio evan- gelist, plagiarized from the work of a Milwaukee printing firm and “pirated” its poems and art work appearing in a booklet published as “Selected Poems of Dr. Jack Munyon,” which he offered for magazine will include book re- views. “Bingo, Morality and the Criminal Law” is the title of one of the four feature articles to be run in the initial edition. CHATTER Veloz & Yolanda completed their autobiography, titled “Break Their Hearts.” Frank W. McCulloch, Time-Life correspondent in Los Angeles, will be the new head of Time’s Dallas bureau. He replaces William Johnson, who transferred to the Boston bureau. “The Chartered Libertine,” long a bestseller in Canada, will be pub- sale on his broadcasts. „ _ . Judge Miller granted a summary ■ lished next spring in the U S. by injunction in favor of the Ideals St. Martin’s House. Novel by Ralph Publishing Co. of Milwaukee. Allen, editor of Maclean’s maga- which had brought a copyright zine, ribs a not-entirely-mythical infringement suit against the evan- millionaire radio - station owner gelist and the Latmer Printers & who employs the first crying an- Lithographers, a Pittsburgh firm {nouncer and owns a femme ball which printed Munyon’s booklet. I team called the Queens d’Amour. Slap Contempt on Press Photogs Columbus, Dec. 21. Ohio’s Supreme Court, which has been getting tougher lately on court photographs, upheld convictions of three Cleveland Press staff members because they took a photograph of former Probate Judge Nelson Brewer during his arraignment in Cleveland on an embezzlement charge. . ...... The three were City Editor Louis Clifford, who authorized the taking of the photo, photographer James Thomas and reporter Sam Giaimo. An appellate court had sentenced Clifford to an hour in ’sheriffs court and a $500 fine. Giaimo was fined $100 and Thomas received a suspended sentence. The court in the decision, said a court in session is under com- plete control” of the judge whose directions must be obeyed. The Press published the picture despite a court order against it. “Deliberate disobedience of such orders constitute a contempt of court punishable under the statutes of this state,” the court said. t ■ _ Palm Springs. Dore Schary says that originals are by no means poison in Holly- wood. While not as high as they used to be, Metro, for one, is still buying 40 original stories for every 60 that has made the grade before pre-tested audiences. _ That’s a better gamble than Vegas, meaning it is time for us to toss some more free plots into the hopper for otherwise discouraged authors to pick up and run into Christmas money. Read ’em and reap: Old Tit’e New Title STANFORD’S DREAM WALL HOW TO HOLD UP A BANK Stanford Beige, an architect, wrote a piece on retaining walls for the Do-It-Yourself page of his hometown paper. Some smart-cracking copyreader titled it, “How To Hold Up A Bank.” One paragraph ran, “In holding up a bank, the reduction of capital involved is always an important feature.” Before the day was out Stanford was a marked man. The cops grabbed him and gave him the lie-detector test. Bankers checked his account. While the cops were working him over, gangsters moved in on his home. His wife was frightened and rushed for the phone. The line was cut. “Come on. kid, wher» are 4he plans?” Happy Hooper demanded. (He was called that because he had a rating as an escaped three-time loser.) She brought out b.ueprints of retaining walls for hillside homes. Bright Boy Blotch smacked her across the mouth. “Smart dame, eh?” “Here, none of that,” ordered Hooper, booting Bright Boy in a part of his anatomy. Just then they heard approaching footsteps. It was Stanford. Worn out from his hassle with the cops, he had come home for a shower and a good stiff drink. As he entered, Hooper yanked him past the door. Cops in the squad car which had dropped Stanford at his home heard shrieks and scuffling. They staked out the house and called for reserves. That brought shooting all over the place. Hooper and Bright Boy escaped in one of the unguarded squad cars. The chase made exciting footage. It always does. The gansters w r ere stopped by a road block established at the state line by fruit inspectors. “Marrying any grapefruit?”* the inspectors asked. “Oh what a spot for Cagney!” cracked Bright Boy. By the time they were checked out, cop cars from two states were on all sides of them. Out of ammunition, the gangsters surrendered hands up. Soon all of them were back in the can, the Stanford Beiges included. This time the architect was so nervous he flunked his liet-detector test. He had to be cleared by A. L. A. officials. After that the F. B. I. praised him for trapping the three-time losers. It all worked out for the best because the notoriety landed the architect a contract to build a retaining wall for the new state canitori- um. “But don’t build it on an angle, with holes in it for flowers,” the warden W’arned. “Build it straight up, solid—30 feet high and six feet thick.” “Yessir,” said Stanford, who by then was so cowed he thought he was back in the infantry. THE PILTOWN PRESS New Title Old Title SHAD1E THOMPSON Chick Dana, an anthopoidal editor, hated dames on his staff. If they came in via the publisher he gave them the kitchen beat of the saloon set. They got so sick of hearing “Whaddeyuh hear from the mop?” They usually quit in two weeks. But not Shadie Thompson. She hated sunlight. Niteries were her dream world. The publisher sent her to Dana because Dana had tur. i down a chance to hire Polly Adler as a gossip-writer because Poiiy refused to put everything in the first par. She said no highclass dame worked that way. When he tried to give Shadie the old razzle-dee she said, “Listen, kid, just because you and I belong to the two oldest professions and they’re bolh being ruined by these eager amateurs, is no reason for us to pitch for old age pensions.” Dana looked her up and down. She looked good. “You’d look pretty silly,” Shadie went on. “if I wrote a book instead and you had to pay as much for one installment on the second serial rights as you now have to pay me for one week of keyhole-peeking.” “Say,” said Dana, “you’re a smart chick. Sign here.” What she signed gave him 50% of anything she might subsequently write (even after he fired her.) It was a smart move because he had to fire her two months later because she slipped in a blind item that obviously referred to him and his latest cutie. “I thought this was a free press,” she said. “If you want to work for a free press, get a job on a throwaway,” Dana told her. “We sell our papers. We give nothing away free, except advice, and my advice to you is to get a place of your own. keep your mouth shut and your ears open and write that book because, re- member, I got a share of you.” “Of me?” “Well, the syndication rights on your book.” “I could call you something,” said Shadie, “but it would look better in a book.” — Her book publisher met her at the door. Old Title New Title SHOOT THE WORKS ALL FOR HOKE This is a science-friction feature about Eve Eden and Adam Atom. Eve could not stand the radioactive bragging of Adam. Ever since the bombing he crawled around with such a superior air. He kept saying as he lifted his cocktail glasf, “We who are about to die wouldn’t bother to salute you!” He was head of a clique known as the Bombed Brahmins. They were forever singing the Whiffenpoof Song. Off key. They surely doomed that one from here to eternity. Adolphe Heister pointed out to Eve that Adam was not worthy of her love because those who wanted to live were obliged to kill those i who w r anted to die, if the philosophy of the survival of the fittest were not to die out completely. “You mean I should kill Adam?” “You most certainly should,” said Heister, “and marry me." “Very well,” she said, ‘and may Darwin have mercy on his frag- ments.” She gave Adam a Fuchs cocktail — 10.000 volts of hot uranium in a beaker of prussic acid. When Adam realized he was going, he smiled for the first time since the bombing. He dietf singing the Whiffenpoof Song and at the word ‘doomed” he expired. “Kiss me,” she said to Adolphe, “before the next radioactive bomb blows us into oblivion.” He took her in his arms and wrapped a cloak around her. “It’s a magnetic shield.” he said. She thought his dialog was pretty heavy too, but he kissed like a lover instead of a husband. “Let’s go underground,” sTre^ urge d,” and forget the whole mean business of living like people.” “Are you getting discouraged?” Yes,” she said. He hated to.hear this. It meant only one tlHng. He would have to kill her next, if the will to live were to survivals. But before he could feed her a Fuchs cocktail, 'a^omb went off. It blew them both to bits.