Variety (Sep 1932)

l^^fi-Se|»temb^ 27i 193iS Stockholm Situation After a' yearj: of trying? ; to; publish smut booiilr'iri Eri£i*isi^*r#m*^ris publishers, it has been decided, in Stockholm -to raise jhe-• price,,pf .all these publications fr,ohr ; 4fc ; to. 92.00, Decrease In tourists made the ven- ture unprofitable untet s larger price wae£ v a££ed.;' In many Insffinces th$ shoe string' publisher^ are refusing works of all authors who cannot bear part or all of the expense of the publication. The Obelisk Press has been the largest experlmento'r ' and .now Lawrence Drake with ; his 'Books from.Paris, is entering active mail order competition. Beginning au- thors jump at the chance to pay for. a publication of their works. The publishers then get together with the New York 'Herald, 1 the. 'Daily Mail' and Chicago 'Tribune' (Paris editions) and for insertion of a small ad are assured book reviews. The 'Herald' reviews 'favorably as does" the'Mall* but the 'Trib^wlth t^av- erley : Root iri charge of books and' himself a publisher, is often truth-- ful wlth a iofc of the stuff which is being published; "" " ■The-other two leading publishing houses, in ) Stockholm of books , in" English are Albatross, which is try- ing-,, to ' beat-; out ■■ Tauchnitz and - has gained a wide circulation ail .over Eurqpe already,\ and . the Crosby Continental Editions ' which In some cases'; are. clashing with the Ameri- can, releases of. a. book. 'Both.'Night: Flight', and'Year. Before Last' were: issued by Mrs. Crosby slmultanet ously. with the Aemrlcan editions.* Her . books- cost-48c as against: the $2,50 .of the t New,York issues- Some-, of-the bookstores are. annoyed.vby-' this. arrangement as', the buyers arei beginning to. think they can get any- thing in English for the lower prices. . Off-Spain'*, Coast Balearic Islands, Joff the coast of Spain, have suddenly become the prime haunt of wandering literati.: Majorca is the chief Island, with, quite a number of writers and art- is,t*T settling there. ■- Among them are Martha Foley, Whit Burnett and others previously well known in Paris'-; Latin. Quarter . and New York's Greenwich Village,; On one of the . other islands is Bin llott. Paul, .Boston novelist, . ajid Allen Updegraf,another writer with a. half dozen .books, on his list. " dribblers hayo ! discovered thai- It's about the cheapest place theylve found to live with enough, color for their temperament. " " " . ' Best Sellers k - Best-Sellers for the week ending Sept. J&f as' reported by tha . ,, ./• . ' V" .V '.American News Company : ■'' •• '' . Fiction ' '. " ;: /■■' 1 ■" x 'Sheltered Life' ($2.50)............u tt ;^v;.«;/. : .By'Eilett Glasgow 'The Fortress' ($fr;60) V»i>. . . .....-.-..li v** .**.-./By Hugh Walpole-: 'The j^biihtain',{f2.60),,........ .-^w, .v-*». .By; Charles Morgan . 'Inheritance' ($2.60) ... J.. ...^ .**<...».. By Phyllis, Bentley 'Self-Made Woman' ($2.00) ^.....Jm............By Faith Baldwin • 'Faraway' ($2.76) ..................; '. . . .... V««. .'.By jf.*' Bi' Priestley Non-Fiction 'More Merry Go Round' ($3.00) ,,....'.......,'...... .Anonymous ' 'Van Loon's.Geography'. ($3.76)....By Heridrick ^llhelm Van:Loon •What We Live By* ($2.60) .. ... .By Abbe Ernest Dlmnet '20,000 Years in Sing Sing* ($3.00). .............. ......By.L. E/*Lawes , 'Epic of America.' ($3.75):■..... ...., ]\ IBjr, John TrWow Adams •Princess in Exile' ($3.5X))........By Girand Duchess Marie of Russia his own producer and stage man- ." ■ , .; i :• . Well printed, the^ volume is one to catch lovers of the stage who will seek to M«/^;: : ill4lr^'y<»1i^etton.-'. , 'At a 'cost of 62Mi cents' a "play," it's a bargain. Just Limericks Under the innocuous 'title of •Ninety Five Limericks,' John. Fal- mouth hew- produced, through the. Limerick Press/ a group of the best known' limericks of the day. In a ponderous'preface he argues that the 'folk sbrigd- of a race are the only true index to' its times, and that the lih\erick 'is today the direct' successor to the ancient productions' df'the bards. . >/ ■', " /• j irhe'sfelive;'liners arte 1 mostly of the- type 1 'requiring a succession "of X's where the . prope^-T^dr';• improper:-^ Words' should appe&tf forming a not too' difficult missing word contest. Should find "a place In all collections' of erotica, : and' be : liked by . non- collectors. - . Knopf's Loss; Macmiljan's Gain • ! Macmillan stands to profit nicely by. the build-up glyen Charles Mor- gan,' . by.' Alfred, 'Jl . kjiopfKnopf, when laat abroad, ' acquired . 'The fountain 1 from. Morgan, who is Eng^. ljsh, ,and tuiljt, it into a best-setter. ^Obk' has Bojid' more [ than ' 75,000 Cobies to' date and it's Relieved it \ylll do twice that before the de- mand is exhausted; ■ (hi the, strength <>f 'The Fountain' sales Knopf even re-Issued a num- ber y 6f Morgan's' dld' :) ifooks; : arid tjhose are going 'nicely,' too.' In view of this, Knbpf has been looking forward to Morgan's new book as a cinch . sejler,' and now learns that^Morgan,; aia.JE^^ back as last January,^ sold it in^dvance to jkacmlllan. Gives . Macmillan the oppbrtunltjt tO; proQtvt>y Kfi^td en- terprlse'»'^ith' Kribpt'plenty put. : out about the matter. ' . Morgan, when not writing fiction, ls~ the.tLbhdpn 'Times'' drama critic. t7-nj^i'j} < T^e; Fountaitt.'; .appeared he was utterly''unknown'*over here as a novelist. ,;;.EnVpty' title : , About the, moat enticing part of Nancy Hoyt's 'Three Cornered Love' (Doubleday, Doran) Is : the jacket advertisement which reads 'Three young' luxury hounds in Lon- don fall in and out. of modern mar- riage;' The three are two brothers and a sister, Americans, exiled by their, affluent father .to' keep them out of trouble. The sister and one brother are divorced,., .with the younger yet to qualify. It's all. very intimate, ' very chatty and very formless. A' good title but just nothing to tell; Denver,Motions Two motions filed in the $200,000' libel suit of F. G.-Bonflls, publisher of the Denver 'Post,' asainst the 'Rocky Mountain News,' Charles E. Lounsbury, editor, and Roy Howard and Robert P. Scrlpps, executive heads of Scrlpps-Howard. . First motion asks that references to'activities of Howard and Scrlpps be stricken; other aslcs that notice and subpoena to take -BonflVa de- position be quashed; win the motion to quash,- Bonflls offered to give the deposition if Howard and . Scrlpps Would appear in the case. They have not been served with' papers in the suit, as yet. .. .Judge. E. V. Holland ' took the motions under advisement. Goldsmiths Active • - Much' activity among, the Gold- smiths, leaders in the pulp mag pub- lishing field. On top of the announcement that M. A. Goldsmith, who with his as- sociate, N. : iu; Pines, .will .get out a couple of new pulps, it is learned that . Harold Goldsmith, who Is paired with Harry J.' Steeger;'' is for- mulating plans for no less than thrte hew pulps. Goldsmith and Steeger have formed a subsidiary caUed American Fiction Magazines, and will Issue the trio of new ones under that label. Titles nor policy not yet decided upon, but it's hoped to get out the'first of the new ones around November. Mrs. Lehi's Novel . ;i Lore .Leni, ; wife, of . the late, film director, Paul Lenl, has published in the Berlin '8 Uhr Abendblat' a hovel called 'Engaged for Hollywood' ('Eri- gagiert nach Hollywood?) which has' met with considerable public atten- tion. Translation into English fe planned. Negotiations are qn. with ah American publishing'"company, through the agent.Hans Bartsch. Helen ..Starr's Travels Helen Starr, . former scenario writer at Universal and Goldwyn, is crashing a wide range , of maga zlnes. Miss Starr has for the past two years been in Nicaragua/ Pan ama and other naval stations with her husband, Lieut. Commander Lisle Henlfin, but is now back in New York. Ferguson on His Own With the sale of its religious list y Long and Smith to Harpers,, of which he. had charge, Charles W< Ferguson has left, the fprmer firm to . organize his own book house. Previous to his connection with Long and Smith, Ferguson had charge of the religious book d.e partment at Doubleday, Doran. On his own, Ferguson will Issue iroUnd a dozen tooks a. year on re igious and sdclaloglcal subjects under the imprint of Round Table Press. First of these books will come out Nov. 1,' with one monthly thereafter. .' Milne's Plays Putnam has a new volume of plays by A. A, Milne to add to its three previous issues. . In this are 'Michael and' Mary,' 'To Meet the Prince,' 'The Perfect Alibi' and 'Portrait of a' Gentleman In ■ Slip pers.' These are prefaced by a brief introduction. It is Milne's ingeni- ous argument that if you have seen any of the quartet acted you can live again that performance in the flesh. If the plays have not been seen, the reader can enjoy being ■ Brooklyn's Pojitical Mag <3roup of-Brooklynites are project ing a political magazine to be called !The Democratic Outlook.* To make its Initial appearance about Nov. 1. Pending the selection of an editorial head, material for the first issUe is being selected by S. I. Smithline, one of the sponsors of the proposed pub lication. ... : Present plans are to' limit it to .the New- York area, though it may go national later; • - Runes'- Books Dr. Dagobert D. Runes, who gets out 'The Modern Thinker, a monthly devoted to controversial subjects! will enter the book publishing field this, winter with a series of volumes on the same topics as contained in the mag. Subjects in 'The Modern Thinker range from .science to politics, most ly of the debunking .sort.. . Full length manuscripts ..covering those items now being read. Weekly on Stamps H. L. Ltndquist getting out a new mag for stamp collectors, called 'Stamps.' It's a weekly and in tended for international dlstribu tion. A number of mags devoted to the hobby of philately, but 'Stamps' is the first weekly in the field. pons. Idea is for- authors, as well as members of the'.br^aniiatioh, ton share in the profit*;,'or losses pr& rata, along the line of co-opeartive theatrical^, productions.., . „ .. .... : . Principals' of the' Equinox Press are Lynd Ward, John Helns, Albert Heckman, Henry Hart, Belle Rosen- bajum,-Evelyn Harter and tiewis P. •White. White, is a printer and will do the, physical publishing. The new concern is utilizing his- plant as' its, headquarters. . . Nom,in'al, head of. tha group, is Ward,, with,.all seyen. ta : pl^ in on editorial selections. Other duties will be divided among .the septette. Initial book to be issued, will be one by tdewelly Powys, called . 'Now That the Gods,Are bead.' Edition will be limited, as will be most of the Equinox publications. A Deletion Subsequent : editions ' of ' •Molife' Merry^Go Round' will be prihted minus the Item which has made the biggest hit in Washington. Live- right, publishers, have agreed to delete the item about Eleanor Pat- terson, editress o!f Washington''Her- a.ld,' and Ralph D. Palmer, ex^man- aging. editor, of Jthe. 'Daily News;'.,ex-. tolling Pf'.mer's effort to discover if Eleanor v '. actually did , po^se^s peach colored sheets in her bdudoVr. ■ Editress, longed' for the sheets, in story; of'her experiences of spending a nigljtjijL Salvation Amy .rooming house i.n ; seai-ch, of atmosnherp. fpr a, yarn..,"' Recording to ''Merry-^.o, Round,' turner intrigued, palled, on hec'.id. see : ' t; phenoraenon. Miss Pat- terson has put up squawk and. ail'-- thors have, agreed to cut.it. . New Comic • 'Pastime,' subtitled 'not an imlta-. tioh of Ballyhoo,'- has ma.de its bow. On the stands' Oct 1. Edited by W; W. Bcott, formerly of 'Life;* ahd published by' Charles. Howard arid Scott as the : . Howard-Scott Pub. Co.' Howard is the chewing, gum manufacture and backer of the mag. First issue is 32 pages, dated No- vember, a rather crude cover in red and blue with nine comics in a three square.. Inside; are several pages of- jokes, . four crossword puzzles, a labyrinth puzzle, bridge 'problems'; two knowledge quizzes (intended to be taken' seriously), a game solitaire and page articles by Don- ald Ogdeh -Stewart arid Robert Benchleyi ' General ^yote ot thanks to ail'cqnr trlbutors. suggests that capy tp.c, $h,e first issue, was gratis. Sells for'16c. First edition was 86,000 copies. ° Russian Writers and Visas . Rya Ehrenburg, Russian, satirist whose 'Julio Jurenito,' and. other hovels are known ..to. English- language readers. Is hack in Rus- sia..after ah absence., of some five years. Considerable interest around the question whether he will be let out - again—as visas to go abroad are not easy to extract from the Soviet authorities. . Boris Pilnyak is also home at Moscow from Japan where the Tokyo government Shortened his stay by refusing to extend his visa, Probably & book, on Japan will fol- low, his "O. K-." a D '<> u t Ariierlca and now in the hands of Farrar & Rine "liart, publishers. News By Thorie as Plug j Plugging of the Parts daily -'Petit Parlsien' includes 'a .onewa informa tlon service by telephone,, organized by Maxime. Base,, one of the dlrec torsr: '..-'' •.-*'■ ' I Any telephone subscriber can ask the exchange to plug him to the [Petit Parigien,'. and by palling for fhe. talking news service, ..get. over the. wire, free ; bf change,'.aU the news j>f;the. ; day. , v ,' •'. .. About 80,000 people.,,a .day . arc taking advantage of ;i tljis service, which necessitates very few em- ployees, and constitutes a great ex ploitation stunt for the paper. For the Unknowns Couple of young intellectuals are readying a new magazine as means of permitting unknown com- mentators on current topics to reach print. It's the latest of a num. ber of such publications ■ proposed, few actually getting under way, however. Sponsors of the newest are H. d Vlnocur and J. R. Young. No pay* ment for material—at least just yet —but a possible printing* when anl if. Title of the publication not yet determined. C j -Operative Publishers First co-operative hook publish Ing concern is the Equinox Preut formed by a group of seven- per Putnam's Crosby Essays Percy Crosby, the- 'Skippy'. cre- ator, can find a publisher for .hie Skippy' hooks, but has to publish his essays himself. Crosby's new one, 'Skippy Ram- bles,' will oe. published by Putnam, but that house is only distributing his 'Patriotism,' with Crosby as his. Own publisher for that one. Crosby himself published his previous book of essays also, arid distributed it, too. . Pronounced .prejudices of the car- toonist-writer in his essays believed to be the reason why publishers won't touch them. He's nevertheless determined to get them before the reading public, hence his publishing activities. . He doesn't have, to go to that length with his 'Skippy' pieces, however. . Chattar - Wa^ Pi'ess'brihging but the first blog of Jimmy Walker. Knopf is still-seeking on'e* ■ .... ... - ; • .. Van Wyck Mason, who's learn- ing to ride a bicycle in Holland, gets back early--next month if still IJutapV- . ,. .. : Graham- boys, ...Garjroll and J Gar- rett, who wrote 'Queer People,' have- plaoed A. naw one- with Vanguard, called 'Kings Back to- Back:' Stifles report that they _ have' gone their, separate .writing ways. ' . ; ' : Eleano^ l, Mercein Kelly back from- Jugoslavia, where she .visited every, body up. to the Queen. '.' , 'Fun in Bed,' which sounds that way,-isn't; •. ^ .' ■ HaJrold Sherman collabrig with BUI Tllden oh a. tennis yarn. 1 ' • Alec .Waugh marrying. . Floyd Dell, will lecture. Jane Littell sitting pretty with four film, options on aR many of her stories. King Features has the syri- . dicate rights. Scribbler getting . the - most at- tention .this month—=Hendrlk Wll-.j lem van Loon. • '• .Raoul Whitfield turning play-.- wright. Henry Holt wants Eliot Chess,' the pulp western scribbler 1 , r to do a , book. western. [Harry Harrison Kroll. Illustrated., his new book, too. .-, : • Val Lewton provided his. flrs't heroine with 'No' Bed of Her • Own A' No-W. he gives her' a., 'Yearly. Lease.'- : , J. W. and Amie* Tibbie have done ' a, biog. of John .dlar^tbe poet. ;Rbse Feld has, writtenra second , novel, between book-reviews. | Most of the village turned out for.- Juanyta Clivette's birthday party. ' .; 'The War of the Ghosts' is Thom- son - Burtis' 37th novel Hamlin Gnrland going to Hono-' lulu. . : JOhh. Gill colhtbing with Andre Ollv^roft on a blog ' of Pavlowa: • OHveroft danced with her!' The Lillian Glsh hiog by Albert Blgelow Paine will see publication this. winter after many postpone—., nlents. ■ • Caresse Crosby has gone back to Paris with a beaip of scripts in the trunk. James Poling, assistant to Her- schell Brickell, ait Henry" Holt, .awaiting the picturization' of hi». •Divorce Decoy.' '" Itay Cummings, the ''Argosy' ;flc- tioneAr, has written a picture script. 1 Norman H.. White, Jr., has sold Ailene Corllisp' tale^. 'Marry for Love/, to King Futures. Al Hirschfeld .' has , compiled a ^New York speakeasy guide whicb button will publish. Lee Simonson has wrltteri a his- tory of stage designing. . Stuart Palmer has finished his fourth mystery novel. "Murder oh the Blackboard,' a scholastic story.. No Libel ' L. A. 'Record' was awarded; $103 cost's' fri the $100,000 . libel"' suit brought : by C. C. Pyle over an article printed in the paper alleging that Pyle" was arrested for being intoxicated and for defrauding a taxi driver. No one appeared for the promoter- and the action .was dismissed in Los Angoles Superior court by default. 'Outlook' Goes to 300,000 Circulation'run of 'The Outlook,' magazine is reported to have been juriipod to 30Q.000 Upon the';, an nouncement that Al Smith would become its publisher. Due to newsstand orders two spe cial runs of 50,000 have been added. First Issue under Smith's name is due Oct. i. " Real Names of Authors Paul King;!; author of 'Greenhorn,' is Paul Klralyhegyi. Henrietta Les lie, credited with 'Desired Haven,' is Mrs. Gladys Schutze. Baroness Orczy, who wrote 'A Joyous Adven '.ure,' is Mrs. Montague Barstow. Patricia <Pat' Foster, recently ap- pointed editrix of 'College Humor,' "o succeed H. N. Swanson, once was llrii anq^serial rights sales lady for George H. Doran Co. I'm Telling You (Continued from page 40) threw it and missed the hearse hf. two blocks. Very Punny The first thing the average wise- cracker Or critic looks for when he •opening nights' is a pun on the title of the play. This season has been a cinch. For instance, 'Here Today' was a pipe for, 'and gone tomorrow.* All of which leads to the old say- ing: 'Rolling Stones gather the Shuberts.' Consoling Broadway is so consoling when a show closes. It almost collapses firom laughing. • In • cheering up- Lester Allen, who played two weeks' -ivlth 'The Passing Show,' one wag- remarked : : 'Never mind; : : Lester, floltz closed m ; one ■ Week without t ou -: " .: : ... i ... ... .. . Good Sign And in speaking, of old Chicago-, Jack Lait tells of a sign - that ap- peared in one of the tougher South Side spots. It read: The Girl You Come in With Is the Girl You Go Out. With. But it didn't say 'positively,' either. Ostermania.. : The theatrical season is certainly starting oft with a v Leblang. . .Mf you' get to yo ur dress rehearsal riow-a-days it's considered a run ... .Reminds me of Vlolinsky's crack, 'Will you loan me ten bucks till the talkies blow over?'....Al Woods, who presented 'Stork Is Dead;' went to another show on ,'Stork's' opening night,.. .And what ;worries me is, what happens when the hands of thj receivers go into itho hands of thep receivers? ARE YOU READING?