Variety (Oct 1932)

54 I. ITER AT I Tu<;a.di[i7, October H, 1932 Golumniats on Wane Whether the Broadway column; Is^s are slipping 6v not,- wl)ich seems to be a -fifrowiner opinion, their-care lessncss' an^- manifested ',graye' In accuracies may achieve that'.nes*- ative ol>Jectiv6. Taking long chatices is no .secret in the columnlzing rou- tine, btjt the-manner'In which they; carelessly bandy names and places h^s become so obvious that with it has come an evident loss in in terest. Besides which there Is the number ot cpliimnlsta' both in. and out of New Tbi'k, and " this multi- plicity can also be blamed. ' The peep-hole appeal of the av- erage Bro^way column ;m'ay be loa in^ its grip becauise top many blat' ant errors have occurred, with the result It's shaking confidence in the generar authenticity of the gossip, Eavesdropping or keyhole pefUing la only good so long aa it packs a wallop and fortlifled, In the main, by a modicum of fact. But when the facts go awry,' the 'kiok' Is gone. ' >. •. ■ - . . ■ Alreiady there are,; rumblings among the journalistic cognoscenti as to whether or not the rft'ont epl- dekhib of books, Ulins ttnd pliiys con^ cerning. the jcolumnist hasn't done much to chill public interest in and By^lpathy for the personality cbl- uriin conductor. ^ . But having its greatest nefcative eftect is the general thinness of/the "news,' and the staleness or gen- eral' insipidness of ^spme of the items. This haa become^ so. notice able during the past few weeks that mahy^who avidly peekjed over their favorite columnist's slioulder ■ for an inside eyeful^of what's going, on are , now. totally . disinterested pr blase abput it;- Thi? newspaper buhcli that knppks arovlird Brfjadway i^npws how de- .pen,dent are some.-of. the printer'a ink gosslper^ on th^Ir]fr}ehcliy altle? fot. tip-off stuff.Such allies do not exclude ptess , ^ige^nts ^ \yh6 retaU gags 'Jind sundry; ad^6hda in ex- chahge for a friendly rnention, or the use . of a personality's naihe in conneotioh. That these p. a.'s'haV* been crossing, some oi the column- ists' jby siipplhg 'em' slmultahebus newa, .so thalt it appiikra eoincideht- sM^' Xn tWo or moVe coliiinhs,' has been another-setback tor th'6'col- umn' conductors. "While . It's triie that .once they're bitten, the col- umnist is 'oCC. an unriBllttble source, that . has happened, from , divers sbut?ces, quite a bit of laite. ' Irr' a -measure, 'apart from the p. a;^s; the'rti are Certain volunteer ueWs tipsters wlio ttang around the nlte spots, '.sptiaki^, laandwlctaerles and'restaurants where the column- ists-teiake their nocturnal rOur.db, and too-often the same aulp or gag or ibife .of gossip is tetalled to soy- eral people In the course of the same session^ or same evening. As a result, more than .one profes- sional gosslp-collectop' encounters the same items;, Perhaps the paucity-of BUfficI^nt- ly 'live' info has been another deter- rent. But all' in all the columnists have been reaching so wide, and not being pfivtlcular about what they spt^r, that there Is the matter of two columnists 6n ,o'ne pagre with ona. Baying 'yes' and the other 'no' on .the same, item the same day. The greatest detractors of the col-', mnists appear to be the people whom they mention, usually in a favorable light. Though flattered, these individuals go out Of the way- •to let everybody know about It and hp^ far from fact is the fltory. imously to turn oyer the major lemgue scoring in '33 to niembers out of work: An amendment to the Associa- tion's rules was necessary to effect the change and has the approval of Commissioner Liandls and the pres-^ Identd lOf ' both, major leagues. The scorers usually are Chosen by the club presidents in cb-opsration with the Writers' Association. Their salary la paid by the league, which, in ;turn, collects dues from the in- dividual clubs. . Kreuger Still There Je^s Kriieger Is still writing for the, Chicago .'American,* ellthough his oblumn Is out. It was previously reported that he was les^ving that sheet. In another six months Kreuger -Will have been with Hebrst aS years, trnderstobd that elimination pf his ootuhin may only -be temporary. Bbftt Sellers (■•' Bast Mller* jFor tihe w«ak'ehdin|)'tOot;.8, as rapoi^sd by the ' ; - . American Nows Co., Inc. ' ■ ■• ■Rfctioh ' 'Sons' ($2,601) 4> >;...'•!;..•...•>.,'.....'., . .By Pearl S.>.Buck 'Sheltered Life' ($3.50).Bjr BUen Glasgow •The Fo.uritaln' ($2.60).......,......;...........By Charles Morgan 'Inheritance' (|2.GiO) y, .... .By Phyllis Bentley 'Peking Picnic' ($2.60).V.By Ann Bridge •Three Sheet' ($.2,60). . .. ,V................By Tiffany Thayer ; Nbh'-Fiction 'Death In The Afternoon' (3.60)............. By Ernest Hemingway •March Of pemocracy' ($3.50)By James Truslow Adams •More Merry Go Round' ($3.00). ........................ .Anonymous •Epic Of America' ($S.76)................By James Triislbw Adams •Van Loon's Geography' ($3.76)..... .By Hendrlck WlHon Van Lbon 'liet's Start Over:Again' ($1.60).................... .By Vash Tbung ' Hli! Own Book Ageht Albert : Sitevens ' Crpckett' wrote Old tValdorf^ Bar' Days,' a histol-y of the famous bar including 491 cocktali and mixed drink recipes. It was published a year 'ago. Crockett Is how out with' a" cir- cular in which he tells that- he ob- tained a judgment against the )jub- llsher for'royalties but was un'aibile tb cpHect because there, W4S no ca8H...>' .fite Is" offering the $3.50; b.pok for $2 in the hope of being able i;b sell a sufficient niimher to be able tb collect the -judgment, Previouis books were 'Peacocks On Parade,' •When Jaines Gordon Bennett w:as Caliph of Bagdad' and 'Revelations of LoUlse.' Says he' has another t)ut wpn'rtell the title lest that be taken'-before' he can arrange pub-* llcation. - >. . . Liquor Recipes - : On^ of the -most practical likker recipe books of Its sort is the More-. rae-Sihith company's publlcatibn of The ' Art of Mixing' (76c, by James A.; Wiley, in collabo^tlon with iXelene -M. Griffith. It's, a sim-. ple and concise booklet listing 235 recipes and it's as simply explained as it's breezily written. It's designed for the home di-ink mixer.iand not the professional bar- tender who never wants for the va- rious props, London Critic Bowa Out Dudley Leslie, one of the youngest stage' critics, left the 'Sunday Dispatch' film and theatre desk Oct, 1, to take a trip round the world for a year. Leslie's health has not been good, and he has literary contract^ which require attention. His desk on the London 'Dispatch' will be taken by Cbnnery Chappell, who did the fllm page (^n the paper the previous year, giving it up tor a copy' tray. Last named, who was with. 'Variety's' London office for some years,, has a flrst novel just coming out Review Dr. Mayer's Book Following is the bobk review irom the New York- 'Times', (9) on Dr.- Edward Mayer's •The Cu- ratfve Value of Light,' D. Appletpn & Co., $1.50. Dr. - Mayer is In charge of th^ National Vaudeville Airtlsts* sanatorium at Saranac Lake, ,N. y. v . J . '.'This small but .authoritative booic comes at a timely moment ;and ought to exercise l^ . whole- some influence in the controlling and' the subjecting to reason ahd knowledge of tho craze for sun- bathing, sun-tanning, sun-lamp treatments, nudism and the al- lied fads that are sweeping.. the country. Dr. Ma,yer, who is 'di- rector of two Adirondack san- atoria and connected as consul-^ ttint in his specially' of light therapy with; several important hospitals^ began .studying this subject and experlmcntlnpr , with sun and . light treatments twenty jrears ago and jias ^continued the work ever since,; lie, is tjie author. .of a comprehensi-ye ind technic-' ally .sc.ientiflc book on 'Clinical Application of Sunlight' and of an account o£'The Present Status, of Light Therapy.' When a' man $0 well quallfled to give advice on . ihe curative -yalue of . light writes; a book about. It/for popular read- ing it is surely, time,for the peo- ple who .have .been brbnzlhg themselves at, ^ the seashore an)l are now examining . the sunr lamps for sale eyerjrwhere, with thoughts ■ of purchase, to ' stop, look and read. ur. Mayer puts . his sclentlflc. fao.ts.. Injto a sim-< pic, - concise , M.nd.! readable style, that, neverliheless, ..does ^ot lessen their autbpritative'. character. He sets forth the^ yalue and the clangers ef the jsun^lwtb, explains the action pf sunlight on. the body tind discusses . tlie effects to be gained by the ^.un-ilampi He in- quires into . the . value of light treatment in certain diseases, has a ciiapter cn -yltamlns and an? other Pn ' irradiated substances. In a, section ,on the sun-lamp versus sunlight he deals in detail with the sun-lamp, describing the construction of the various kinds, their values and dangers, dosage and manner . of : application.- Throughout the book he stresses the. advice- that the reader inust understand what he is doing and must not forget the possible dangers of light unskillfully ap- plied. mags -already claimed to be con- traoted fdr the sorylce,/ •Monthly . Literary .Service' will take contrlbs from outsiders If - ki keeping with radloa;!'thought Nb payment; hQwevepj.tjie-contrlbs ijeV Ing. strictly In aid of^ the cause. . ' It's also the p}an of! the Revolut- tlonary. Writers' Federation to holp In the formation of similar groups in other large centers throughout the country, the aim being 'to co- ordinate proletarian literary, actlvl- tlbs.' ■ ■■• . „■ ' ' . .A break for the •proletarian scrib- blers,' if the Revplutibnary Writers' Fed can make them realize it..And a decided impetus fOr 'the' cause.' ;City Drops Winchell Matter Waiter' ^[Inchell wis in ' some- thing of a jam p'ver a piece In his column which iricbd Licence Cpih- mls;^ibner Geraghty, ' ahd '/which fetched a summons f^m that de- piirtment for Winchell to submit to examination, as to the_.squrce of his nformaitlon. . , ' .. . Betnii: a municipal matter, it was taken up with Arthur J.' 'WT Hllly, the corporation counsel of the City of New York, who tore up the sum- nions-^nd that ended that. ^' Dahhy Ahearn Connects Danny Ahearn's newspaper story, 'Picture Snatcher/ has been ac- cepted for publication My Vntnt and I^lnehart. Due In book form about Jan. 1. George Bye did the contacting. Story tells of the extremes to which papers go to secure photo- graphs and. some other inside not heretofore in print ■JTarn is unusual In haying been first submitted for pictures before A try being made for publication. Delayed By Illness Continued illness of lOeneral. John F. Dahlell la holding up that pro posed 'The Journal ot Fair Play,' plans for which he had been pre- paring before his sudden removal tb the hospital. Understobd that the. magazine was to voice the sentiment of the Army and Navy Club, of which General Danlell is one of the big gunst on such subjects as the bonus, armament and like matters in -^hlch the military and navjr men might be Interested. In view of General's illnesSi Un likely the mag will appear before the new year. Baseball Writers' Break Following the lead taken by the New York chapter of the Baseball "VVrlters' Association In selecting William Hennlgan, of Macfadden'a defunct 'Evening Graphic,' as bf- ilclal scorer for the receiit World's Series on the New York end, the parent prganlaation, at its annual meeting in Chicago, voted unan- German Papers Merged Milw:aukee 'Herold,* German daily suspended Oct. 1, has merged with the Sonntagspost and will be op erated as a weekly beglnnlnis: Oct 9 by National Weeklies, Inc. The 'Herold* was 72 years old. It suspended once before when the whole staff went to the Civil War. Schaffer Sues Smith Suit has been filed in New York by Rosalind Schaffer, coast writer, against Frederick J. Smith for $620.80. 'Writer Charges this Is due her for material used In Smith's for publlcationi 'Screen Weekly.* O'Neill P. A.ing Dems Joseph Jefferson O'Neill, former ew York 'World' reporter, who handled th^ pubUdty on the. Ford, Peace Ship expedition, Is now con- ducting the press on the Coast for Roosevelt and Garner. O'Neill, at one time with the Hays organiza^ tton, was recently one of the star men on the.L. A..'Examiner.' .. A Pout, After 14 Years Blanche Coltoii. Williams not too kind to O. Henry' upoa her retire ment from the ohttirmapshlp of the O. Henry J^emorlali A'waird Commit tee after 14 yeaVs in the post. Although giving as her reason her desire to work bn a biog of George Eliot, with the result that she can- not And time to supervise the selec tlons of the' pieces. In the' best 6. Henry manner tor . the Doubled.ay, Doran annual "anthology, Mrs. 'Wil- liams, upon stepping out, calls Q, Henry 'dated.'. . , Benohley Returns ■ Robert Benchley returned to New York Friday (7) from Hpllywood for another season a r dramatic critic of the 'New Yorker.' He had J[>een on the Coast acting and writing for Radio, flnlshlng, with Bartlett Gormack, a script for John Barrymore'8 next at that stu dlo, just prior to leavlngr. Radicals' Syndicate More flery members bt the John Reed Club, the group of radical scribblers; Rebel Poets and a num ber of similar organizations he,ye formed, the Revolutionary Writers Federiation. Idea la to get out what will bo called a 'Monthly Literary Service' from poetry to Action, sup piled pn a syndicate basis. Around 60 'proletarian' newspapers and Frame Ups William - G. Hpsle puts a. Kick: in his story of a <buban gli:l made' tlie victim of the vice squ4d. Eva Garcia, heroine of 'Sold' (Macaulay), hha a tough . time of It. Decoyed from Cuba by a white s'laver, she Is put in bondage in a factory tOwh near Harrlsburg, Escaping, she comes to New York where she gets a job in supper cliib.s, but she falls a victim to a fake raid and goes oh probation. After, the third arrest she gets in a jam -vylth a tough ring and Is shot to prevent heir.from tes- tifying after she has aided In the arrest of some of the. gang. / A sordid story but, tpld with a sihiiple power which grips. No pyro- t^olhnical protests against thb sysr tejth. Story gains its strength chiefly from the simple, graphic .recital of apparent facts. Rather .out .of the ordinary. Sinclair Connects • (Gordon Sindafr^ "S'botloose-in,: India": spld but on Its Arst edition o<, 2,500, (published by Doubleday Dpran-icnd .i(3undjr) In Toifontp-tfeai first-day. • . sacpnd .printing Wai sold before.'i^e presses Ija'd ati^rted tot xun.; - Reason is' the ; publicity . given Sinclair's travel articles which have been front paged in. 22 Canadian dailies. Sinclair had been staff re- porter on the Toronto 'Star' and corrospohdent 'lor 'Variety;' After four years on the 'Stair' ho' was" sent to Labrador and later to Eng< land on assignment. Fed up with routine palaver, he decided to write the way he' would for 'Variety,' the home folks fell for it and he's been travelHiiir 'ever since doing- 200,000 miles in,4(1, countries; Sinclair is now. the highest paid I'eporter in Canada and leaves for the South Seas In December. His '^potlpose' is one of the few books to get: mention on Hearst's Inter- lifitlonal News Service leased wires this, season. . Hlgest book sale ever recc^'ded Iri Canada 'was "AH Quiet on' the Western Frbnt;'^ of which 60^000 wiere sold. Every copy was Imported from England. Miller's Studio Leave Max Miller, author pf 'I Cover the Waterfront,' and currently Un- det' contract to Columbia, is on a six weeks' leave of absence from that studio to complete his new novel, 'He Went Away for a While.' It's the story of a reporter who had to write as the advertisers dictated. Miller Is doing his writlhg at San Diego where he formerly was ship news reporter for the 'Sun.' S-H Coast Switches Allah C. Bartlett "has left San Francisco (Scrlpps-Howard) 'NeWs' as m. e. In favor of editorship of San Diego 'Sun,' also S-H. Frank Clarvoe promoted from assistant to m. e. Job on 'News,' while Chris Lykke moved up from city ed's chair to. asst. m. e. Morton Sonthelmer new city ed. Mortimer On Telegraph' Lee Mortimer, former "Mirror' columnist moved Into the pages of the. 'Nbw York Telegraph' with a chatter column. It'll'be the first time, the 'Tejer graph' has used this type of column. ; . DibII's 5c Piilps . : Tho,9a, t.'wo new-aeparture mags sponsored by. Dell, details of which ' hnd b&en carefully guarded so' tfiat ' they would not be headed off, bow this week. A couple of pulps,. ' chilled 'All-Western' and 'All-Detec- tive,' their arrival will occasion nb little' interest in, the publishing fleld lii view "Of the fact that they .will'• sell-for.a nickel. ' Price Is a new, low for pulps, half the price, even, of the chain store niags one of whose strongest' soil- ing arguments have been .their price —i-a dime... ..r.; No tjuestion but that the Dell nicker mags 'will Effect the bther ' piilps;* Ten cent price of the chain-- store magazines brought many of the others down tp the same price level, and the new actipn Is virtu- ally certain to be repeated by the - pulps now selling for a dime and . even more; ■ • That Dell^ move will cause the • other pulp ' publishers to - grumble goes without' savmg. The sales " money is the pulps' subsistence, and . whether less specialized organiza^ . tlons tha.n . Dell- can niake their., mags go at a . nickel is a question. : Or, If they , can, it may be slim pick- . Ings. Den expects its nickel mags tb go Over In a biff way, so much so . that preparations are set to convert the monthlies Into weeklies. In shorjb:> order. Carson Mowire, who Is edit- ing the two mags, has sufficient - material on .iTi.-'.-l this purpose. ' Crops Saetion William . Faulknei;''s new book. 'Light, in August' is offered oh the ' Jacket blurb .as. 'less brutal than V Sanctuary.' It is, to a degree, but it is a grim, realistic recounting of southern episodes In which the male and female. protagonists are a white woman and a. mulatto who never . meet. More character analysis than plot, but vividly told in Faulkner's " peculiar, style which achieves such . compounded words as 'hollerwhls- perlng' and 'darkcaverneyed.' It does not, follow the usual pat- tern of narration but relates several intermingled stories. It Is a cross section' of life in a tiny southern town rather than a novel in the accepted sense. . Published by Har- rison Smith and Robert Haas. Hart's Revival Petcie W. E; Hart,' !Who. used to, get out a serled - of-: small books, < or 'narratstles,' on divers subjects, un- der the imprint of The Bibelot Brothers, has resurrected that pub- lishing concern. His first publlcatibn is a full sized book, a compilation of his own pieces previously published by him, under the new title of 'Long Life and Happy.' He . will reprint many other old works which he formerly published. Hart is best remembered for his 'Hart's Yarns,' published back' In 1901 when he founded The Bibelot Brothers. At the tim^Ji^ also pub- lished a mag called 'Ease.' Writes of 'Casey' Guy Fowler, of the Harvey Ad- vertising Agency, Is doing a bio- graphical story of C. S. 'Casey; Jones, to be titled 'Transport Pilot No.. 13.'' Simon & Schuester will publish, Why McCarde'l Waits . Roy McCardell tells Inquirers that the fui-ther'adventures bf his Aunt Angle and IJncle Oswald will not be related until people again start bTiyinff, books .at book prlces. He . argues thait all and sundry knbw; that he can write a book and he, does ! nof'see 'the necessity for giving further gratuitous demon- stration. Says further that' only the ambitioue are writing books now, since there Is nb money and little honot In being hawked over a drug store counter for less than It costs to manufacture the volume".' Chamberlain's Fiction Arthur H. Chamberlain, west coast publisher who Issues non- flctlbn books^ In addition to a couple bf> mags, also of a non-fiction nature, Is adding fiction to his book list First of his novels, to appear this week, Is a tent show tale, by Maurice L. Kusell and M, S. Merrltt called 'Marquee Ballyhoo.' Under his new set-up, Chamber- lain will divide his book list for the next year equally between fiction and non-flctlon. Typeu of stuff (Continued on page 53)