Variety (Aug 1932)

'VARBETY i: I T E ■ % T I tb^flNjaf, August 2,1932 Biddtir* 5,00(MMW That loag, ^i><>r.ted plaa by which tho newi9Stand0 will take oh ,bop>E3 In addition to other readlner mattor hets bom fruition through Sidney M. Bidden, oC the former book house of Payson & Clarke. BIddell has formed The Mystery League for this pu I'pose. Through an arrangement with the Eastern Distributing Corp., which hitherto has distributed periodicals only, BIddell will placei on the news- stands the equivalent of $2 books to sell for 60 cents. Blddeirs undertaking Is a preten- iit^y.i one, inasmuch as his distribu- tion arrangement with Eastern will give hlni 70,000 retail outlets In con- trast to the regulation bookselling outlets comprising some 9,000. book stores only. • Necessitates a first printing 6C 100,000 copies for Bid- den, By his. new publishing set-up ]^idr dell will Issue a new book a week, thu^ putting bh the| newsstands 5i003,000 books a'year. It's a,, stag- geriiij figure for this or . any other period of the book trade. The first d6=e:i books will be mystery hoyels. under the: Mystery League imprint. Thereafter straight fiction (ind other subjects will be added. : Value to the di^lars is thait the books will be issuod on a retumabli^. basis. While the bobkS:wiU carry' rib (late lines, unsold copies will b^ pullsd In at the end of-their sales perlodsj to ^be replaced by 'the suc- cct^cling ones.'.'. ' All the Blddielt books will be ne:w works. never before - published, Ami^ng the scripts he has lined iip so iar ^e sbme from the late £dgar Wallace, Acbatied Abdullah, Francis Bcbning, Sydney. Horler, Seldon Truss, -John. .'Hjawk,' Oebtge Oood- cliild,-. Walter ' I<lviti:*tlton« Gweh Btrlstow* and Bruce MaQnlng. De- spite, the 60 centi^ retail price of the books, the lOOiOOO print order makes It attractive to scribblers.. .Previous to his newsstand ,boolE'' pla h BiddeU published a. series of: mystery stories for exclusive sale, through the United Cigar Store chain.. ..OlalnlB to, have dlttposed of >,090,000 ; YbIumea diurinff the period of, his tie-up with those stores; '' henbe the mor^ extended liewMtand undertaking.'.: . ' at other times It Is very graphic- Withal It presents aa interesUng picture of colored - show life, in which Muse was a prominent par- tlclimnt before going to Hollywood to win a reputation as a character actar of his race. Published in iEIolIywood by David Graham Fischer. David Graham Fischer is the one- ti.ne picture director turned printer and book publisher. Fischer, who specializes in the works of picture, people, has published such books as Jimmy SUrr's '366 Nights in Holly- wood,' Hugo Ballin's 'The Woman at the Door,' and otherSf i'.T addition to 'Way Down South,' Fischer .will .issue this month 'Growing Pains,' - by P. Hugh Her- bert, and Al MarUn's 'Jail Bait.' Riplii on the Boat Ne:v' York 'Dally News' (tab) as- signed its sbbbie, Grace Robinson, to sail with Greta Garbo on the <Grip- sholm* and wireless back a dally column on the voyage, centering around the Swedish screen star. It's the first time that any paper took thls>:reverse English to pub- llcizQ a show persbnT although Gar- bo's aloofness has been front page news right along. The 'News' enterprise on specur lation evidenced itself when Jack Mile/, who covers BrpadWay among other things for the 'News,' drew nifty assignment-vacation to Palm ^pringSi Cal., at the time Mayor Walker went to the Coast desert resort on a vacation two winters ago. At that, time Mlley; too, was sent ahead q. t. just in ceise the >Iayor toolc one of those flim e:cec oCters about which there were rumors. Remarque. Goes Swiss .' TtiVbulent conditions In Qeriuahy ha>;'e-led two of Ita foremost con- tetn))orar7 literatenrs, Shflch BCaria Remar^iib and Emit IitidwIg, 'to ap- j^Iy -for Swiss citizenship. Reasons for thelr-actlons were nationalistic in oAe instance, and'religious in the (Bther; - v With the publication of 'AU Quiet bn thb Western Front,' Remarauo waa labeled a pacifist by the mili- tarists ~ in Ills' country, and : they made it uncomfortable- for him. Fihtt version of the story made con- ditions worse, with the result that BemaroLue went to Switzerland to abay. ' •' '■ ^ .lu XiUdwlg's oase, the miatter has bean a religious one. Emit'iiudwlg, commonly acknowledged to be the .ere:\test of living biographers, was born Emll Cohn. Although accepted as a literary lion everywhere else, Qolably in this country, where he h&3 been feted by. the highest, liud- wi; has found a different feeling for Ulm in his own country. , 'Incbrppration Game' > A new idea being worked , among scribblers is the 'Incotporatlon game,' with many of the writing craft known to have gone for it at a cost of. 1160. Pror-iotion 'is by a New York at- torney and his assistant. Assist- ant gets after novelists who have retoently had books published and expresaes an interest in the book's stage possibilities. ' Self-styled promoter then sug- gests incorporating the project, the scribbler.to pay the fee, with the incorporation to be performed by his' lawyer-employer. Corporation fee is always put at $160, and the difference between that and - the actiial incorporation cost Is net for the law>'er and his assistant. . Ifraneo Suspect* Qhesta Abusive ghosting used by the Acadcmie Franciiise Is drawing se- vere comments from French: public and pr6ss:on ihb official body.' Now bein'g' sfiid that' not 'bnly ah edition of a French Grammar, supposedly authored by the Academic and in which was found many mistakes, waa the work of a ghost. Same sus- picion hangs over the French, , dic- tionary, . always the AcadeihlclahB' main Job. The , French public bought nearly 200,000 copies of the (dictionary directly It' was put oh sale. Best sellers for .week endlnd July 80 reported by tho Ameriean Nowr* Company, Inc, and BrainehM, Fieilon ■ The Fountain^ (12.60) 41*. ^... By Charles Morgan 'The Store' (IS.60) .«.^....^.«x»«>f^*«>i.>.By T. S. Strlbling kittle liostOlrl' ($2.00) i..;..«>4^:*..tn».By Temple Bailey 'Keeper of the Keys' ($2.00) n.* • ^ • • m»jM*j>\ .By Earl Derr Blggers 'Robber's Roost' (|2.00) 7,;.,uEte%«..i....-By S:ane Gray 'PromeoAde,Deck' (12.00) ........' .i.... .^.Mt.;.... .By IshberRosS Non^Flction 'Twenty Thousiand Years in Sing Sing' ($3.00) .....By It. B. Xjawbs *A New Way to Better Goir ($2.00) By A. J. Morrison 'What We I4ve By^ ($2.60) .r... 1^...>......By Abbe Ernest Dimnet 'Only Yesterday* ($8.00) .By FrederickXewis Allen 'Thirty Years in the Golden North' ($2.60) ........... .By Jui Welzl 'Once a Grand Duke' ($3.60) ........ i .By Grand Dhke Alexander Sordid Side One of the few voluincis of Holly- w:ood fiction to ;lceep its implied promise to get hot is 'Reclcless Hol- lywood,' by , Haynes. LiUbou,, ad- mittedly a nom de plume. . It is the sbmbwbat hectic story of a minor flayer who turns to the fan mags and who ties up with a stunt aviator, but he tires of her, and the . story ends with the girl back in the grind,. It is one phase of Hollywood, the sordid side, but it is not badly told and should ap- peal to that claas of readers who prefer the words- uauaily politely, represented by ■ dfishes. - -Here; they are not only spelled out, but ampli- fied. Published by the Amour Press. Kidnap Story Amour Press is one of the first in the field with a story of kidnapers to capitalize th» recent news value. A child abducted, but. this id Inci-. dental to the mystery-diBtective plot of a secret service 4)peratlve who la loaned by the government when the Purple Bead kidnap the obiet of police^ , " Albert EL IJIlmaa tells a rather fantastic yarn thoogh he knits his incidents cleverly, holds suspense fairly well and carefully avoids de- tails which reformers might con- demn as'giving too much Informa- tlbn to would-be snatchers; YoMnB*ter*' Quarterly Another of those lit<)rary ttuarter- lles, the latest the project of a couple of Brooklyn lads, . Charles Hodes and Aaron Rosen -will call their publication 'Preface' when It makes its first appearance, around September. ■ 'Preface' will be the voice of the youngeir scribblers^ and' the younger contributors. of film rights is reflected in the practice, just started, of sending producers the titles and nameai of authors of new atbrles. There are other angles, also. Hiinch is that the film comi^anies may be suffl- olently interested in the title alone to bite. Many storlea have, been bought on . that ground Alone. Publishers much'cbiieemed pldklng a title that will selL with Dell's Radio Monthly Bell piotting a ne.w mag, a radio fan monthly, to. be. oiaied !Radlb Stars.' ' Will make its initial ap- pearance about Sept :t, Ernest y. Heyn and Curtis -Mitchell co-edit- ing. Will be printed Via rotbgravure, in keeping with-the Dell plani to get away from wood-pulp. Since .'Bally- hoo,' Dell has been inclined to give wood-pulp the go-by in faVor of smooth paper.. New mag will-carry radio featutes of all types but programs. Mbnthly piibllcatloh precludes that.. Steady «06,OpO , Reported that 'Bcdlyhoo' hM set- tled to a 600,000 circulation. Comic monthly was up to 2,000,- 000' at ohd time'despite a fiock of imitators. Of the latter 'Boloney' (Elawcett's) la still' runiier-iip, both bsfttUng for prior issuance with ir- regular monthly release dates. They come out together or a day br two apart, with the exception- bf. the Sept. is8u«, on which 'Ballyhoo' has the jump br a wide margin. IO0 Shorts New 10c fiction magazine, "Short Short Stories,' will be on the stands shortly from k new firm headed by Thomas M. Kelly. Kenneth E. Olson and Fred C. Carlson. Stories will not exceed fiye- minutes In reading time." Antoinette Fawcet^ of Minneap- olis, wUI distribute it as the second of her proposed string of period- Icalp. FlrJt la the 'Calgary Bye Opener,' which she has taken over. A Mag Meraer Dpubleday, Doran, which has been disiviaylhg custlvlty of late In its mag division, has disposed of one of Its oldest publications, "World's Work.' Buyers were the. Albert Shaws, Sr. and Jr., > publishers of "Review of Reviews,' who -will combine "World's Work' with their own mag. "World's Work' was established about 30 years ago, ten years after 'Review of Reviews/ with both mags covering the same field. .Best known editorial figure to be developed by 'World's Work' was Walter Hines Pa 70, who became Ambassador to Mnjland. Break for Unknowns A break for the unknown fic- tionedr Is the decision of the A. S. Ban^es Co., publishers of books in specialized fields, to extend Its ope- rations to Include fiction. According to John Lowell. Pratt, viee-presldent of the Barnes con- cern, who will haVe charge of . the new fiction department, he will read Ihc works; of unknown or compara- tively unknown scribblers. What this means Is gleaned from the fact that many of the book houses won't even read first novels, ; Pratt bars mystery tales, bther- wlsja he will read and publish aU types of fiction. Negro Actor's Book. The first book by Clarence Muse, colored film player^ composer and intellectual of his race, is out. In a beautiful and costly limited edition oC 1,000 copies. Book's title lai 'Way Down South,' and David Arlen lil use's press agent, is down as col In borator. 'Way Down South' suggests it Is autobiographical o£ Musie's early show days. ^Principal figure is l)Uflty AfcLaln, Sho-w owner on the T.O.B.A.. circuit, and the tale takes Kolialn bn, a swing around the filotithCrn colored show route. ' The writing is sometimes naive Water Kelly's Memoirs Walter Kelly, known in vaudeville as 'The Ylrglnla Judge,' is at work on his memoirs which will likely sea print this autumn. Book >irill encompass the monologlst's experi- encies during his world travels and the acquaintanceships he has meule among, all types and cleisses. Not generally known, is that the veteran perfbnher's first stage part' ner was Marie Dressier, the two doing an act known as Dresslw and keliy back la '01. ^ ' Another Racketeer Ansle Simon and Schuster will publish 'Gumshoe Racketeers,' by William Fi Kay, in the fall. Kay; currently on the Coast, writing scenarios, has just finished a collaboration at Paramount on 'Lusltania Secret.' Best Short Shorts Lilonel 'White, publisher of 'Short Shorts,' and his editor, Paul Ander- son, will collect an ahriual 'Best Short Shorts of the Year" for Put- nam. Will be similar to the O'Brien Best Short Stories of the "Year.' The White-Anderson selections will not be limited to those appear- ing in their mag, but will be gar- nered from eyery medium using that type of tale. Second Issue of 'Short Shorts' will appear soon. ■ ■ 1 'French *Merry-Qo-Round' French politicians have been treated > to; a boiling aimllixr to that siippiled by the anonymous 'Wash' ington. Merry-Go-Round' In Amer ica. But author Of the French book haa .fiigned his work. He is Bdmond Wellhoff, who has a political job but who is mainly a journalist. Book is dbemed very amusing and is drawing abundant complaints from its subjeots. Helen Starr Henefin's Return Helen Steurr Henefln, one- time short story and feta mag writer, who has been In the Orient for two years, has returned to New York to resume fan magazine work. Mrs. Henefin is one of the few fan writers working in New York, Practically all writers selling ma terlal to the fan publications are in Hollywood. The Title's the Thing Latest effort of book and maga- zine publishers to. efCeot a quick wi te l ' ctlui faMd atto.rne>a. . Repeal Weekly Newest of many publications aimed at prbhlbltloii repeal is a weekly newspaper; published out of Washington, called 'Face the Facts^* Understood to b^ subsidized by one of the varlbus repeal agenclea, with a couple of ex-he\vspapermei| edlt- ing^^ and keeping under cover. Surprise sale of the .weekly, which goes for a nickel, has. decided thjb American News Co. to take It over for national distribution. . ' As Boxholders Charles Brackett, novelist and slibrt story writer, and Bud Fisher, cartoonist, will mingle, with society ab bbz holders at the Saratoga nice track next month. Brackett, a son of the late Edgar T. Brackett, famous Saratoga lawyer and a po- litical power in the county. Is a native of the Spa. Fisher hsis been a irace horse owner. • Marian Spitaer's 'Briefs Marian Bpiltxer - (ICni, ' Hkriatf Tlit>mpiton); has taken to ' shott story writing on the Coast. Her fljrsti a dissertation on tho Pacifld .film colony, appears within a couple of weeks in the 'Sateve- posf 'titled 'Out Where the Blues Begin.' Holtzman Goes East After titree years in lios Angeles :as hews edltoir of the Pacific Coast edition of the "Wall Street' ^Jour't rial,' Louts F. Holtzman has re< turned to New York to join the eastern staflC of the pai»er. Paul Sed-« berry succeeds to Holtsmah's jxtst. Real Names of Authors Francis Seeding, author of 'Mur-^ der Intended,' is the combination of John Leslie Palmer and Hilary A^ Saunders. B. M. Bower/who wrote 'Rocking Arrow,'- is Mrs. Bertha SinclalrrCowan. Vtngie Eve Roe, responsible- top 'Wild Hearts,' is Mrs. Raymond .C. jLawtoh. . But who is John Paris, author of 'Matsu'? - John Howard's Trip John Howard, sbri of Roy Howard (Scrii>pB-Hbwcu'd),' Li In Los Anw gelCs for the Olympic games. Af« tor the Contestii he will pack his car aboard a ship for the Orient and a trip around the world. He is seek- ing, copy for newspaper artibleB andt a book. Real Names of Auttiors John Goodwin, author of The Shadow,' iS' Sidney Floyd Gowing. Author of "Very Private Sin,' credited to Laurence Oliver, . la Laurence Oliver Brown. . Britieher'a Viewpoint Donovan Pedelty, who has been in California representing various English papers, has returned to London, convinced that most of the British colony In Hollywood will be following him soon. Hollywood, argues Pedelty, is no longers the actor's paradise it once claimed to ba " . London Dramatic iPhange Maitland Davidson, 3!rho has bieeii writing the dramatic departments for the London "Daily Telegraph' and "Sunday Times,^ retires from these publications the end of July. He Is succeeded by Geoi-ge W. Bishop, who occupied the same po- sition for the 'Sunday Observer.' v Sudden Fold 'National Graphic,* London week- ly, whloh started very well reoently and was a rehMh of an old publica- tion, folded suddenly. None of the staff hoA an inkling bf the finale. Earl Rogers' Life Ray Long-Richard Smith ^111 publish in Septembei; "Take j the Witness,* by Alfred A. Cohen. - Story is based oa the life of Earl Rogers, noted Los Angeles Chatter ' Mason Deal, author of TTh'e Hum- ble Murder,' Is the llteraify name of Henry Bitot, brother of Gl. T. . Eliot. Farrar 4 Rinehart has Collette, French fenime scribblert exclusively now. ' \, . Sara Teasdale to England fbr ma< terlal for. her hew book. Ishbel Ross: isnally got that tea* The high-hat Oxford XTntverslty Press Is getting out a book of .cross- word puzzle^-no less.' Alimony Club likes " Ar thuf' Train's 'Prlhceas .Pro Tem.' - Walter Duranty back to' l^ussla^ Bradford . Ropes' fbrtlicomlng novel, "42d Street,r starts and ends With the pro|iuctlon of a. musical ^medy.'- '. •. ; - 'f Burton Raeooe dplngv a study of tnb'.developmerit of literature'.from Homer to maybe Rlan James. Biight interest Max Miller to know that J&cksph Budd used to cover the waterf rbpti- too^the Lon-^ dori ^waterfront. EUery Walter married before starting on thiit trip to Germany, Madeleine Boyd, literary agent*, inviting unknown poets to cbntrib^ ute to an an^ology. EUen Glasgow In New York until her new book appears. "X,' who wrote "A Brilliant Fu** ture,' will wear a' mask to guard against dlscovelry when getting his radio Interview by Thomas L. Stii:^. Is "X* Kenneth CollUis? B. M. Delafield supposed to have been 'discovered' by Joseph Herges sheimer. Who: 'discovered' Herges Shelmer? Katharine Brush back from BUi< rope. John Day wUl fete Pearl S. BacK 'Good Earth' authoress, with a dln< ner at the Waldorf when she getflj here this week. • Sherwood Anderson in town tcl deliver his new book to Liverlght* Padralo Cloliim. will return to Ire^ land around September. Samuel . Putnam usurping . ESzra Pound's leadership of the Parisian scribbling set. Floyd Dell at his Vermont farm While Thomas Mitchell swelters in New York.. Ben Wasson and J^ok Ciiapmait are bosom companions. . More literary deals made at Tony's than any other spot in town, Covlcl-Friede has issued its first western, "Rustler's Paradise,' by William a. MacDonald. David Frome visiting London. Deems Taylor will complete that book while abroad., . Mar6:aret Ayer Barnes has de<<. Sertod Chi for the rest of the sum- mer. Charles Yale Harrison lecturing. The 'Collegei Humor* new ed, suc- ceeding H. N. Swianaon, who ha* definitely gone pictures, Is Patricia R. Foster. Leyla Georgie sailed. I Air i^erlbdicalB still selling big.