Variety (Dec 1934)

58 VARIETY tJcdi-Kt^ Tr»'Vi)r has auain ox- l>laliwtl , th« New York Sun'H All- fwk^Hatos. It'ii an asnlKn - ment which ho hag handleil retfu- larly the past few yonrn. and no Hiiiall job. II" tak<-s ii ft w days U'viu llji" dally .stint to do it. lA^iid- ing up to the obsorvati()n that Tr»>- yor 4o<>» it >V^U. Re- gftirdt#i>(t *ltPther the reader anil ■-•s witti the Sun's scloftions, wUi,"h iiititU's tho players to «*n- gravi'd gold watohos. Trevor in- yttrlabj> I ■ It ifitot'eatlnjsr and As a matter of fact, this 8ttti Btuft' nionilHM- < un.slstonily writes the lM>st f()i>tl>all stuff in New York. That goeii . £«r the Byndlcato lad*i, too. ■ AUlioiwh lirlrt^stpiily uddlcted M Bljr Thi ee Bames, hin klii6w|«4i|?, pf, f6ot1)all, a!;ainHt the bapkfirPduhd 6t Princ ti.n, Vale and Haryard grid- iroii loro. with which he Is very fftnaIIhvr, makes him t;ood reading throughpitit tli»y falU Trevor also ' ■•per talizSiiff Ifiplif".a,lia^' <M^w,v ■ftiid; ■ sci*ms as adept on golf as on fcot- ball. Other than a penchant for lengthy one anil two paraj^raph teoJorVleads. which his regxdar refid- >W ■ha'^* i*r^ fearnedi Id ;iki|>; Trevor fl^'uros to rate anion^ the best of the sports wrlterrt ott his sul'jerts. His .Mi'tiilax- revi«\v.s of a Saturday game are particularly ■;Worth^■\v^^tt#,l^fe|^l^^^ moxitm ' The a nil thi^siti to Tifevbr, for ba< !;','r(,iin(l, is the World - Tele- gram's Francis Wallace, a Notre Dame alumnus with a couple of fooibaU |)i0Vii»l# io hl» credit, , otte of tt'hieh •<NriiJ» y - Into « picttire. Wallace also .inows plenty of foot- ball and is strictly in his owii b.Tckyard when pounding it out KbQut South Bend. He's a Notre '::bv^-', :'r*»4 - •'^■midwest'■-■ adyocate '■jlirtw J|h Inherent scorn for Big ■ Tli^ie football creeping across his tjirp^writer every so often. This fall hp V;?nt the hard way for Pltts- iKtii^. >nd when last, gleaiied he :i|riM still trylni to write hti around the Minnesota game. But Wallace Is another example, and there aren't many of those who really kno<nr tpotbali «hd can write shbtrld be broadeaiitinff aranili «^er the air. The Herald - Tribune stands out With Stanley Woodward's football . ^rlttogii and RIchdrdt yidmer, of the iniiiti paper, Is n^^^^ far behlndi, > while AUi.son Danzig occasionally shines for the Times. These men about make up any first team Ojl football writers as regards 1^ i««w iTorH dallies. It |^itgl» tip the «1A legend that Boston papers have the best football writers In the eountry. Maybe that doesn't hold true any longer. At lea.st it •eerrti- subject to challenge. Jii^-^'fbt'mfiBft:- ot* those lads who are ftlvofed With twd-ebiumn meas- ure on the sports pages. When September comes around It ap- jiears to mean for ^ them a three jndi^thf' search fpr ^ idsM. In 'bthet* words, a flimlftff Reason. J^^ more at home with boxing, ' biaseliall or racing, you can see them per.^pire in print during the . football trek, and it's tough digging. ^ Sometimes they dl* very wetti at* thoush It's an idea first and then football, but certainly over the past autumn the best grid stuff in New York was to be found set single '■'vV:\|lirifci|' C«ntinu«s . Nuw»pitper auUtl'yi> N<;wark< i» strike flgainst tho Npwhi»k S>dger is still a Mexican stan.loff. with the Ledger publlsliiii;: daily, I'Ut carry- ing only As.'^ociateil I'ress and little local news. Meanwhile, headed by lloywoo«l Kfoun. the Qui Id Is going ahead with its plan* for a beMCnt show for I.e(lger o'dlt<>riai enipltiiyeos at the IMosciue theatre. Ih Newflirki on .Sunday niglit (0>. attild's •trlke headquarters in XewarJiE are Irt the buiUlirtg rleht iilbhgslae ib« oii» oeeupled by the i.e.iuer. 0C;th*;;;f<i^\j9«.;t^^ 4?,are on ■strike. ■ ' Royalties—If Any Collaborative authorship of 'Take the Witness" and 'Cun Notches (constitutes inost of tho community property ibf i^^biieph arid Ruth Chls- hoim. and in, th<& latter** suit for divorce Just f.v III Lbs AngeleB. she devotes more space to a pica for proper disposition of future royaitfw than to recitation of the alleged eMl¥> of her husbaiid- Both hbblrtf '^' wei^ co^am^ with Al Cohn. Joe rhisholm .shar- ing the by-lines. Mrs. Chisholm particularly asks the court to pro- tect her literary interests in case of sale- tb^-iifot»«MN(i.^ ■ ^ \ : Shifts Twb ImiKMrUnt c)|«iigfMi were «f- i<>cte^ iii th« BiiirtMHi thMtrleal critl*-. Who died Dec. 1» C|«or^ lUinton lleale. In recent years closely associated with Crosby, re- malnii on the Post as right-hand man io Kbff^^, Ni.rton. who hrts 4lMtl!iguUhed hlins(>lf as a writer of theatrical feature stories, steps into the olllcc Of E. ilarold Crosby, veteran stage crUte, reported to be critically ill- Ue«»i8fo Brlntbh Beale, in recent years closely asiipolatr I wltlhf CM«- by. remains on the I^ist. M l^glllt- hand man to Norton. Crosby was the last of the noted Hub trlHlbVimt^ of drajttatic critics in-" whl^il 'h<ir" ttltkisNi'; 'j(iAint.ry-wide distinction with the latf ;H, T. CHell-to-1'ay') Parker, Tr^ll||etll*'*^^*,;«|«^|■:I«^ the are not all VVoodstock Relief Group S^t'tbbl«i^s continuing to orgahlse at various points to secure Feder.il relief for Indigent members of the profession. Latest la tho formation o( the Woodstock W'jflters' Associa- tion, orgaiilTOd liilat. #i*k artiong the serlbbter residents of 'VV'oodstock, N, Y., one of the foremost literary coHonies in the east. Constc Drels elected secretary of the new group, and' Carl Eric Lin- den, Robert Whltcomb, Drels and Henry Morton Robinson named on the executive committee. Head of the group if, Henry Mprtpin Robin- son!.". ■ ■, Woodstock Writers* Association will work with the N. T. and other wrltera' organisations for national wr^lbltrC relief. The New Palestine, a fortnightly ma*g, becomes a weekly with the next Issue and undergoes a change In format to tab ne\Yspaper. In- creaiihtf Interest in Zlb«ilftt afhftirs prbmptedi the changea(;;:--,-'\ .'■■V;:' ^bitcfiitlbh l« sponstrtwd' by the Zionist Organization of America. A new mag called The Jewish Frontier makes Its appearance next month,, spoi^aored by the League for it^ib^ IwNMItlMi in for Jewish «itti!j^b^;'';4;C:'i^>ii»t<^^ scope. '■ ' ; Trust Fund for Poets ; jjHerttOrlous American poets td;; itewlvt: flwqknoiai , rpwwd otHftrwise^ iivai!able. pt from the publication of theli^ poetry, from the newly organized Acatlemy of American Toets. Idea of the Acadeiiny la, to. create a tru.st fund With ^irtbh to 4SBidPw prbinis - Ing rhymesters wlt^;•iMH'* a year, for a one-year pertoijl at a Owaiitoer ^0t tfcp Acadeniy •f ..; - \%'Vi:: i jy-i:i/'i,tf:'.'-'.■••Mf /,;....- of David Fromo In from London. J. B» Priestly lHM^r<|t^ji:^ '^a S-' .?*•)' ■:^..^:IH|I!,I|» vHala; Dba4 V " ^ ■ :i»hi!l^ jfttlilii^^^ the best .knawn niusibal .cpiiimentators. in this cotintry. die* tit Bp|itbi» Kby, He studied law and was ad- mitted to the bar In Albany, N. Y., in 1S7:). but never pr.icticed. In- stead he went abroad to study . Ort his return he became Boston correspondent of the N. Y. Musical ('curler In the early 'nOs, at the time when James Huneker >ya8 Its ^Muiiiear ycafs he was the ahitb'Mtpr pf the. prbs^tns p| the ' nbstbn Syniphony Orehcstra, and )io Joined the staff of the Doj- ton Herald In 1903 as tnusical and ■■.idrnniailcodltpri.'' Z.J • Fffrmal Quits ■■ Formal, the mag,' which ran Into money trouble, has suspended pub- lic;ition, but likely to resume )$hortlyf Publishers, have; ix^i^de an agi^meht with the ei'edtiofii lhat there will bo no sale of the asset.s until they get an opportunity to raise .idditional capital to ,t:et it go- ing again. They- have agreed, how- •vei^, that if thpf rfffbat ffib mag there will ''^.jba IIH<t«v;<i(^ operation. " ■■ Assignee of the mag's as.sets, iliacpb Newbouser working with the •mart* TheM «fapanM« v Japftnetie trade inVaslbfi has in- tended to the book field. Hokuseldo Press, one of the largest of the Toklo publishing houses, has ap- pointed G. B. Stechert, N. Y., sales agent ''£pr:.-ft..iiumiMiir' bt''t«ir«tjrn'' puW: Ushers, as lt« Aitieriban repreae^^ tive for varipti* .voluiitibs in Bngtlsh which it will get oUit fpr Ainerica in particular. The Iloku.selda books will seU fpt $1.50 here, deaplte. high duty^t. *Iio* Japahe»e |ttii|il(iMifiii4ltg^'«^ thiS'PiCHMtrili. " ;v'. Jfew rMilladelphia book publi.shlng hoUse, the Centaur Press, gets .'darted with a book by Sherwood Andersoh. Ande^fon haa given ontaur a^ vbhiitie calTed *Nb Swank, and Other Moving Pictures,' comprising short studies of 17 im- portant personages. Centaur Win publish the l^ook in both a r#i|i«ilar traded '■ii»l^i!i^'^iaiA'» INmHed aiitiHKrapliied •dltlon;^^ ^ Richard I"!. Gilbert has resigned as editor of Metronome and taken over the lielnri pf Pbpulai' Sopga. new Dell mag; •ISongs,' a sort olf fan mag On sheet-music, claims 370,000 clrcu- i^tipn on its first issue, the October nttftibeif. Dell's has ordered 460,iM)tO pf>p«nli«fi«ai> Wriikiifig Afain George Oppcnhelmer, story editor for Samuel Goldwyn pn the Coast, loaves that organlzati0# j^^^^ resume writlnft. Before J^lnliii; Obldwj'U Opi^ heiM\l!riiik;'||M>^^ » Kathryn Dougherty, editor of I'hotppiuy, haa. been upped to pub- li0h|(^'''<j»f..'-fi^•'';aa|air.<;^^ .'Hair 'liioni' lt««:«#tbriai 'IBmliy' 'Dlcktiiabii''mM|elit im^lftx^ abroad. ' . ■ Joiin Buchan looking those Unit- ed States over. Victor Robinaon tl^ new editor of Ltterar^r.WdrWfc.. Third edition for Mary Pt<^pi'-d^s book, 'Why Not Try God?' Upton Close, author of 'Challeii*<»i', is really J. Washington Hall Louis Adiiamlc haa delivered a novel to his publisher. Harper. Gertrude Athertbn is now a trus- tee of the San Francisco library. John Strachey and the family come over next mpnth. Will lecture. Matthew JosephaMt ^ oiitt, lita Conhectleut farm for'ttie big tbwh Too cold. Henry F. Prlngle In Washington for data torMiiiimmfm^fimm«9^- ard 'Taft.. '■'■■■:Z Cf£s8 Caafle14» HaohlNft'a prea. p^^ tied James Ha»titOn« fi»4t|Ml) i^^^ Friday (30). Hal Hode of Columbia Picts has authored 'Boomerang,' in the Dec ( issue of Roto. Edward J. O'Brlbft iaUlng back to (Oxford Dec. 1 ileni «oni« hack next year to lecture. Bobbs-Merrill moving its New York office to larger quartei*. «||af 20 years In the one location^ George S. ttellman liaa changed publishers, going with Doddi,i|l|*lMl when he completes his next. Harry Carr, Los Angeles Times columnlat« baa a book pn the Hough- ^ li^lfttiik Iiat eatlb* Hi«H|» the Tiger.' Daphne du Maurler has sent the script of the biog of her father, Ger- ald du Mauricf, to Doubleday, Doran fpr'.iil*J*g-"i«W^ Real name of Hans Fall<tda< ati* thor of •Little Man; What Kpwr and of the current 'The Wwld OUt- Ride,' is Rudolf Dltzen. rlWanz Werfel's 'The Fprty Days of Mitaa Dagb,' simultanaotts ielectlons by the Book of the Month tnut) and the Catholic Book Club. Harcourt, Brace has taken Rufus King away from Doubleday, Doran. where bis booka w^.re published un- der thb Orthia tSlub imprint; Upton Sinclair promlsea tp tell all in 'I, Candidate for Govcmbr: And How I Got Licked," which he Is now writing for January publication. ':'^'.Mari^:'''Ctoffl^orn got ■ t9 fVance Ktrltb leiss tban 1120 in her pvirae, but managed to turh btit that iiovei, 'What Mad Pursuit,' novertheles.<». Becauite femme names don't sell books for :boy« In Englana, British printings of Agnea t^^t^mfM'- books carry but her ttst f<ro MMl^ as the author. Anne Rowo has contracted with Alfred H. King for her'next three nbvelaK 8ha was previpttsir algned by Ma«*atiiMy'k Her ttrat tor King. '.Men Arc Strange lAtlUp,*\wtll-':h*, published In February. ^ Harcourt. Brace brlnglnf: out a poathumottii cpUecti,tfn ai tJ^a pouni bf Biniettt Wafllfc WAtih tiied tb ei..t This Quarter, in which Hem- ingway and other present-day lit- erary notables first saw print. Jacquea Lory la writing a weakly jn^lumm irit plctiira ipersohjpaitr cIMt' tMT out of Hollywood for the Parls- Solr, under the heading 'La Vie a Hollywood.' He will also contact players and dlrectpra for KlgMtured comment on pleUmii tbelr|*arlii Ciinter on Ziegfeld | Published serially as 'Ziegfeld and Ills Follies' In Collier s, Kddle t\an- tor and David Freit'dman's story of tZieirfeld/ the lireiat Gloritier' (King. |2>; Is better ihan most subjecti pf; this kind but hot as good as It ebuld and should have been. The come- dian who is so obviously proud of beinc( one ot Zlt>K^'y's alumni will explain to his .Broadway pols iu.per- sbn that he Was: 'iii^l^. ilraps In view of (I) the facts tiiat Blllie lUirke, Ziegfeld**i Widow, and Patricia ZleKleld, bis daughter, are Very muph alive, and (2) tliat bis own flbp Mg^ard for the sliowman ■k Mttint ■ bi(i'-':tbb' /fri^^.tl'''i>!%.; 'Akain proving that biography, located ob- jectively is best fashioned than if bandied aMbJectively,:. Cantor does not. let zieggy oft too easily and does get a("roiss In highly entertaininK fashion, the fac t that SSiegfi'ld was the spendtlirlft that he w^is; lh 'a,ch}eVing the ultimate in show yaluea, and yet quibblpd over petty itenwi. ■ There are .'inc'cdotes galore which. up until . such till)© aa a more eiab^#it' ■ .■' 'Wbif V ■■ .of.-^^iSMegfeld- is authpi^d, will aervc as an niuthorlty on the Great Cjlorlften Jt's easy natiin^: but It's not bosh or senti- mental slush. Both (Cantor and i-'reedman have heeh tpi^.a^Mrt' permit that. ' •. " r Augmenting the 166 pages of text arc some .10 i)hotogiaph by Alfred Cheney Johnson of the.mc»re famous Zicgt*B*v*iiaiatta,- \ Zr ''^.'x:'-' Three Plays Arthur CJoodrlcli wrote a play. 'Mr.. Grant,' mmie t'"'** -iK"- I' was held for a while by Sam Ifarris; bttt hot produced, aitd now Radio owns It for films. Pub- lished (McHride: $2), It surprises. It reads .so well that It is hard to understand how it avoided pro- duction. It o^i^ti ib make A apMin- 4ld'-.llkpl»' Most ta|ii^l>'i»i*^ current sea- son play i|' .♦j^ Hour,' by Lillian Hellnrinh (Knopf; $2). Head- ing it presents an interesting ex- pesrliiient. The title seemii Just as wrong aa It dobs fbr tfce a^ ducticjn, but that last act dpean't annoy anywhere near as miieh. in fact. It reads quite easily and com- fortably. There are some good light lines which haVe beeihr;loist In the play. Perhaps for .staging It was necessary to underline It differently, but reading it allows for a lot of thought on how It might have been dbtMa'; \'. "When ClemenoeDane undertook to adapt 'L'Al.glon' into English she handed her.self riuito a task. Ro- stand's play has been done into ICnglish twic e before, but Miss Dane tried tp dp it difCerently. She gave ft a cortplete'iy libw' adaptation, changing the number of acts and much of the actual staKing. But she either didn't go far enough, or she went" too far. Result is heltherr in;odern, hpr old-fashioned. Miss titana haa a eoiooqiatiid ot prose that is intriguinpr, but she hab too much inclination for writing Jingles. This version (Doubleday-Doran; $1.75) win not 8ta,ii4< «CI^ the. :.pl^er :adaptatiQiMib ■' VV - f Ruth Lampland did a series of broadcasts over NBC for the Y. M C. A. In which she discussed tho hobbies of famous people. She's takilip'itliesb talks now and worked thein ov:<!V Into a book called 'Hob- bles for Bvbrybbdy* (Harper**; $»). It's a different type of book, well presented, and deserves more sue- cbaa that! it!a Ukbly to barb, f Miss Lampland lets all her heroes tell In first person (generally ghost- ed by her) about their hobbies. Then she has an addenda for each paragraph of reference books on the subject. Among the things she d Is- clobcs are that Rudy Vallee special- izes In amateur motion picture pho- tography; that Fannie Hurst col- lects cats? that Fred Waring rol- lecta bln^etts: il^hteni, ahd tbat Ihg. ■'.•■rV-:..';^;V- >;,; ''V r;;- Another 'Little Man' Hans Fallada writers about im- otbcr 'little man' in bis n<>w book Tlie World Outside' (sillmon <fc jJvhuster; t3.6«), it'f;*^ with a lot pf yery honest and gooU writing, but it's ftot going to be ;inywhere near the success in Hi,., IT. S. that'Little Man. What No\v attained. ■ > >*{aUMti|; ^^ajcea for bia ihehie ittt the ' neiv work ithe struggle of 4 man who w.mts to be honest aft,.p- .serving a term in prison, l»ut can't, Tlie world kicks him around uoi" much .^Ihfi^t. lie 4lnally ilnds iuWce only by ffbtnig^^^^^l^^ to jail and watching tb»> world uutsidc; f.niu behind i)rison bars. That's bei>ii done before. Perhaps never beforn so graphically (>r hpnestly, hut, nevertheless; It's been dbne.' ■ In the original Cicrmau version, a preface explains that the.se ccuidl- tloiis were pre-lliller and couldn't exist any more undcjr the, ^^•w ^fov-: errin»enl, That's wl8^; 5p^ Iby the:Amc!riicnn publisljers, O. Henry Winners Short stories have corttc . to, thp' (oro rathef a.trongly in tho iHist yejav- due largely to the impetus given that field of wiitliiK by Story maj^a- I'.ine. N'ow a new youngster is dis- covered wh«» may kick over tli^ short stidiry traces. Ho is Lou lit. lr«»ultA':.wh«.'': fiaSii'irtH^ '•■ tb<*:^ o. Henry short sibry pri/e. '<). lienry Prize Stories' (Double- day-Doran: $2..10) contains lit pii/.o stories, selected by Harry llauscii. It is a lino collection .of intftHbrn,, scribbling: First the»vi$ is PaMl>< Wtt*'^ ning yabi, 'NO Mor«V Trbuble Wir' ledwlc-k." lirst story written liy tbat youtig man and ''rst printed in Ksquiro. jU :to Very j^oP^ the least. Other yarns are - by a .Vai-jled' galaxy^ Ineliidinig Krskibe I'ublweli; Vardls Fisher, T. S. Strlbling ami .lohn Wexley. Tlu rc! is oven a storjf: by the ubi«iuitous William Suroy.'i.n. ,: It s .a good cpllectlon bf '^lKtiii^^ but mpat Ihtere^tlng is the' aoUrob of t<ie hjaterlal. Btpry Huppltod more than any other mag and tho .S.'iturday Fvuning Post Is the only pop represbntfid;' iHkd With piily pnb Rian James' 'DlniiiK in New York' (John Day, $2.50) is the fourth edi- tion of one the. best gastronomic uides yet. The hew Post^Iippeal edition evidences that despite the cx-r.rooklyn Kaglc's Broadway columnist's expatriation In Holly- wood as a scenarist, he has managed to keep, betijlea of the culsine-and.* vitigb.^ ''arouhd-;'. Irew' TotS' seemlngiy ^pM Intensive; hoctantat Jaunts whelk' coming east for bla periodic N. T. SOjourrtS. Book lb ai|rpala)NK)y complete, . plbtb and'ttmbly, w^^^^ new aealai^ wide-open mentions of the likker slttiatlon in each spot (heretofore guardedly indlPMcC; jpr addreiMbb omitted). \ ^ ■ • There are bound to be some erro.igil but these are because of poat<tjpt!b#; hibltlon rather than omls^lott-iMtbb many haven't thrived, now that It's legal, and some have folded, qthc^rs revised thc-lr policies, or otherwise modified previous, standards. Jamea errs especially when bb mentlona the attraptlohs—these are too changeable and hence dangerous tp inclttde In a^M^ an Okntbielepir. ^iihattan Don Marqtuls writes mild, some- what satirical, pieces and manages to do them Inoffensively. Hla lateat effort la called 'Chap- ten finr th« Orthodox* (Doubleday- Doran; 12.50). It tells of the curious experiences of Satan and Jehovah during a want around ManlAlttaD. A graat dftl^of n |« wniMtafi aM|» of It If HM^ tf M mmWmm^^ , ' , Qmnibua of Crime '^.-^ One bf titb bbit bbllibrs In ionitr time Is 'Murder Without Weapon' (Smith and Haas; $2), by Means Davis. Miss Davis writes llko a man and ha3 worked out a good, iinusual plot wltb an une^iipeeted twist, managing to give it i^ppd racy dialogue that is constantly moving. Not for films, however, unless a different explanation is found for the crimes. Carlton Wallace spina a laat ab^ tion thriller In the BrItJih niood In 'SI,nl.ster Alibi' (Crime Club; $2). It's a bit too fantastic and totally In the realm of tbe impossible, but tt moren imd-1$ axoltlnt. Tpo fi^ ' ir0M taali^ fpr mminfi^ ^ / Z:'i'i'< ' Regular Follit'^^-' '.'' Pranclne FMndley, who did a neat job with 'Traeleaa Edan,V lb back again With TThb firtgHt lllrro*' (King, |2), with less of an epH theme than the California tale but Just as tidy worlctnanahlp with clearly outlined everyday folk and a Jtebn inalght into i nentftilMb b^^ .ih|V|M.tiiniiJ*to^i!l|>i;iiiiiifliifi<.^'f', -.,.■■4 ■•■'.■)?,■''.' .^-y/^.. « -ji"'■'■. ' • ' ... ". r /a. .V. ■ . " ..J.