Variety (Dec 1934)

Tu^sdajr^ Dieceiiibier 18, 1034 RATI VARIETY S7 For the Kiddlei, And How : After all these yearis the mag pub-. Ushers haVe dlficoyierecl that, chil- dren will rea4 mags written doy^n to ihelr Wvel. With the resuH that there's a lot of Activity current In tte juvenile inag field; ■ Recently ' announced Boys' and Girls'. New^papiar, Little HOme Plo- torlial and others are only a, ;few of the new juvenile publications to. come forth wllh the^ new year, Nu- merous othiers- planned or In prepa- ration,, ind the. exlsjtlhg children's •: mags are - strengthehing their posi- tions to resist thei onslaughts of the .■"■newcomers, ■■: ' Even a i)ubllsher llke.Irvlhg Don- enfeld; who Used to get out some sex lAags, Is ehterlhg the . Juvenile ;mag fleidi Has formed a hew sub- pidlary cbncer-ni the Playtime Pub- lishing Corp., to Issue a niag called ■•'■Playtime.: - Still , another forthcoming Juve iriaB is one to be called Youth, which ,' Richard Davis ind a; number' .of sis- ■ sbdiates,; inciudlrtg JPrliice Ser'ge JObolenskyi WlU publish. TO Strengthen its position aga,lnst cpmpetitors. Play Mate will be larged beginnlne with theivFebruiry ' number, at which time. the . jiubllca- . tlon will undergo a change In tltie to Children's Play Matti Magaziiie, Macy'i Starts ■ Hoiyyl Film and theatrical amusement companies, their' advertising and press : departments bombarded the T;. Mirror (tdb) with telegram 6i protest at. the Walter Winohell colu mn b^i n g' . ta Ken. out *bf .the amusement. paiges and r moyed lip front to: adjoin thii new Maoy's de patt?fnerit; store's daiiy full page ad, vMacy's,' long baliiing at jpla'cing copy with thiB Mirror^ : yras sold cL con tract, supposedly direct by Arthur /Brisbane, the new Mirror editorial Tsupigr^isori; wi viso that the Wlnchell column would adjoin. ■ ■;' Showmen's angle Is that ; any Broadway gossip column bielongs in the amiisemerit section; . bbjectlbii 4s' also made :t6. a :hew advertiser (Coming into the paper, like Macy's, and being .accorded, special con sideration as against the rcgula.r r.amusement adyertlsera vi^^h^^ ha,ve been .supiiorting.- the; Mirror righi ,'albngv'-;./. ■ ■ ■ Lorimer bitches Presidency : Qborge .Jlorace: L down ais president of the Ciirtis Publishirig Co., which Issues the .:^ateY.epoat:JAiaong, other : .pu^^^^ tions. : Bebomes cha.irman of :: the aboard, following the _actjon; of the ~iafo"' Cyrus''HriC7"Curirs, "whb >a rvcated^ the postvdt presW to *tialt6 room for Lorlmer In tiie top spot of the Curtis organization.; ' Walter p. Fulior, first vice-presl dent, :a,utomatlcalIy moves, lip to the . iwst relinquished by Lorlmer. : •. Explained by Xorlmer that, his : actioni. is. to relieve himself of some of tlie responsibilities. He contln Ues ai edltor^^f. the Satevepost, -ihowe-vervr— '—. — . . •' ; - ■■ 2 Mags Cut Prices Bs^p: teeter.. While some publishers are upplng their prices. Claiming in- creased manufacturing; costs,, others are cutting,- due inOstly to competl tlon in the same field. ■ West, one of the few mags re maining to Doubleday, Doran, will lop- a nickel off its. saleig price; be ginning with the February^ number, to sell for fifteen cents. Street & : Smith also chdps a nicitel. olt; Clues, making .It a dime a copy; ■ - Stil! a Verbal Matter ; ■ Beported plan of' Harry^^^^ ^hd Harold. S. Goldsmith, of Popu- ■ ^a r . ' PubllcalkiiJB, Uie liiag clialn, lu efo. into.; bpoic publishing,, not; alto gether-Bet"y,et;" ■ Steeg^ -smUH y stlli-; ita,lklng It^ over/ ywlth Hurd Whitiiey, of Morrow, ^Ittihg in, .li idea goes thrbtigh, Whitriey will . .probably direct the .Popular book afllllate Steeger-Goldsmlth: book idea is to Issue a volume, k week of' the light fiction type ;suita,ble tor circii ■lajlrigvilbrorles. T~~ V v'^ Proiii Vets Sherman' BilHhgsley re- bpened tlie Stork club, New York, last week, with .the', newspaper bunch and -otiier special, guests rebeiyihg Invi- . tatloiis which r®2id| •Veterans ■ of . Prohibitibni ^ Stbrk Clui> Post, invite you to /Join them for preview of the new; club . siop : hb . patssword needed this time cbine early Stiiy iiate and bring ybur own ^-sponge;'■.' ; It was signed by. Heywbod Broun, commander; , Joe WU- llkms, past comnriandbr; ilark ; Helllnger, futurb cbmmander; Bill Cprum,; youngest major; , Steve Haiinagan, private; ; : Wood and ihb Guild > World Telegraiii,:'New VYbrk, . still has women's pkge trouble,; so niuch S^O thatv Lee Wpod; the ih,eii prbr poses to place a man in .charge of the. department, -Laltest incumbent was' Evelyn, Seeley, whose columnr Ing was oicay. but it seems her ac- tlvitiesiwith ti»e Nby/spaper W^ Guild got into Wgod's ^ hair and after, a.; series of argumeiits she walked.. ' Likdt Bumnier Wood was ribbed plenty after engaging Vivian Shljrf ley to do woinen, then discovering she is the wife of Harry Nasbn, Jr., m.e. of the Post; the VS^orid-Tely's pet iiate. .: At present, the Wprld- Tely has gUest women columnists. Mlsi. Sejley^ls married jto^ Kenneth Stewart. of the Literary Digest aiia" brie tiine instructor , in Jburnallsm at Stanford University. ' That Guild an^le ^ pn Miss ^Sfteley has the lads, around town woi:rled: Wood's trouble with ; Heywood Bro.un rbcenly was ' diagnosed the same.-way* • ■■> ■ Paris Trib. Settles Staff of the Parid edition jof the. Chicago Tribune has settled with, the management on salary claims^ and matter will not be taken into court. Grows but of the: merger pf the Trlb with the Paris edition of the . N. Y.; Herald. Each man made separate wage: claim adjust ments, according to length bf .time he had been pn the- paper's staff, average being about three months', pay per man. Accbrdinfe to French law. anyone ' discharged from any job. Is entitled . to. ohb . month's pay at firing time for each -ybai- he has., served his employer. ~ V ■ Several of the boys have found themselves: Jobs,; Will Barber, Copy reader, goes to London to Assist John Steele in the Chi Trlb bSlce there". ;• Joe jEiavbtto, who wrote epp^ts, has a Iegma,n's assign- ment with* IJ.B, in Paris; Bob Sage, copy reader; goes oyer to the Herald. .Most of the inen are still, ■jpbless.-^" --:-^'-.;.' -i --.vy~: r'- r-r Some pf the: .fabys are.;'ainuslng themselyes by- getting out Paris, Tribune, a he\v Weekly. ' It carries some of the policies of the dropped daily, notably May .Birkhead's' sof ciety- .column - arid.. Herol Egari's bar gossip, Jimmy -King, .racing expert, is. runninjg: it' In his pyvn name;. Alex Small,: whose column was; one, bf the /big: draws of the daily Tribune,' contributed to j the first issue of the new weekly byt has beien out since. He ha,s gone over to the. Chicagb Tribune for-' elgn service. . . : Paris Herald Is .unchanged 'since the merger exceiJt for the addition of the name on the front page, and JJlfi.-Jfaeluslon- of, the—Gumps—and. Mopii Mullihs cartoon strips. : Anvil Moves Up . Utilizing, the services bf llie Cen- tral Distribution. Bureau, The An- ya, with ■ its'.hinlh Issue, graduates: from the . 'little* maBazine category and enlargeia its local sales outlet from '20: bookstores and newsstands to 200; Boom for.: this: pirolbtarlari fiction mag, which Wm Jack. Conroy ahd Walter.; Snow:, a;s a pibiieer in Its field in 19,33,: results from its; repeated citations ; in Ed- ward J. O'Brien's 'The Best; Short StorlesJof;.1934.': j::,.;, ;, Not only was it tlie' only radical mag to have a stbry reprlhted in the ;0'Brl«ri_;. cbilectlonT-^ouis, Mamet^s •■The Pension'—b ptiiers oFits" regular ■contributing staitt won li&t- Ingfl on""We~tlifeeHBtar" "RTJll'^br Honbir.-" Mafe ns^'^edlted from—Str Louis, Mo. - Police Gazette Resuminfl- -; / Police Gazette, which passed from the control of Merle Hersey via thfe' baniiruptby routb, will resume again tinder Hbrsey guidance. 'The Her- sey .who will publish ..the revived mag is DProth y M. He rsey, who will haye Bernard Frank associated with her.-:;.;.^ .."■ ■; Fitte of: the other Merle Hersey i AIlii_L_—lUl diUsJ dAl them: was to have been a feminine counterpart, , of Esquire called Caprice. •; : Making 'Erh Laejk . Wear and tear In tlie; circulating libraries is such- that; publishers are experimenting with all sbrts of book-jacket's to keep . books' fairly: durable. Knopf belleyes it has the best bei with ' a," Bocalled . ^mbtal' Jacket,;' Make up of heaiVy aluminum fpil, It's claline.d to supply .the best pro- tection vyet .devised for a book; Knopf win siipply it to those of Itis books which get a..hea;vy :circuiatlng \Fan: Mag .Chapges■ ■;';■:". As a .result ;• of : the purchase of .Mptlbn Picture Publlcatlbns by tbe Fawcettaj several changes are. being made on editbrlaivstaff, Motion Pictiire Magazine will be edited by Patricia .Rellly, formerly with Red. Bbok and Cbli.ege Humor, arid; rb- cently ^Ith Esquire Magazine. ' : Mbvie Classic, will be edited by Murphy ;i^cH,enry, former editor, pf Screenplay. Screenpldy will be edited by .William Gaines; formerly with Photoplay Magazine. Screen Book will'. be edited by Carl Schrbeder. > ' ■ ■ :'- .■';•-.■" ■■■' ; Hbliywood Ma^tazlM ahpthef of the ^FaWcett string, will be edited by James: Reld, who has been on the edltbriat-stacff of n Motion Pic- tures IMibllCatlons for several years. LaureiiceReld, former- . editor -of Motion ;Plcture8 .publle«.tlons, be- comes managing bdilorbf thb cbm- blned_ ijrawcett_; eastern. _.e.dlto_rl_al Officb.^-'.'. ^'-VV-.'. : ^ :.-';v' v.; Bbst Sellers Best Sellers for the week;ending Deie. 16, as reported;by the ; American News Co., Inc. . '-. Fiction '•■■'' ■". '■;' ';.•■' •Good-Bye Btr. Chips' (?1.2B) ..;.: .....^ Hilton •Forty Days of Musa Dagh' (?3.00) ............. .By* Franz Werfel •So. Red the Rose* ($2.60) ............,..... .By;Stark Young •Lost Hbrlzons' ($2.50) .....,,...>..,; .". ..By James Hilton 'Mary Peters' ,($2.50) ..........................By Mary Ellen CJhase 'Lust for Life' (|2.50) ............................By Irving. Stone • • ' • : -': ■ Non-Fiction ' > ■;' :-V ■■■;.:; •Why Not Try Gpd' ($1.00) ; ...... i....... -By Mary Pickford •While Rome Burns' ($2.75) ......... .By .Alexander Wobllcott '42 Years in the .White HousbV; ($3.50) By Irwin H. Hoover •Wine Froin These Grapes' ($2.00) ... .By Edna St. Vincent Millay •City Editor* ($3.00) '..',;......... :'..'......."......... .By Stanley Walked . 'Experiment in Autobiography' ($3,00) ,..'...; . .... By H. G. Wells; Book Reviews The 'Barnum' Script :; First .screen play, to be published in book fomi; in the U.' S. is 'The Mighty Barrium,' 'by" Gene Fowler arid Bess Meredyth (Covlci-Frlede;:. $2). Whether it Is going to be- come, as the publishers and authors believe, a new form of literature, is dpubtedV but It will get attention and this first sample, bugbt to sell weir on its own. ■ It's a racy, fast and iriterestlng yarn and, as told. by Fowler here, maices Interesting readlrig, although one gets the impression it would rather be read' in original book form, where it wouldn't be so ab- bre^Iatell~Trna^slf«^ greatest kick lle4 In Its novelty of presentation, but the Idea Itself Is not likely to be too successful.- Even plays in book- form are hot tp.o .easy to read, frequently, and screen plays; because of the numerous asides, directions dnd technical terms, are even worse. Omnibus of Crime Erie Stanley Gardner; almost wrote the best whodunit of the year in his newest •Case of the Curious Bride' (Morrow; $2). It's another; •Perry Mason' yarn and its 'only trouble is that it's a bit top much along the same lines of 'The Case of the Howling Dbg' in situatlph and. unraveling. But it's a fast. Interesting and human yarn, nevertheless, and well worth addi- tion to mystbry shelves. Warners is making It into a film arid it should be okay* ; v ; There's a lot of action and con- siderable excitement in 'Eyes of :Deith'';(Cr.lTnB-Club^—$2);—by-Jchn-" Bentley, although the solution is; pretty; obvious very early In the -book; For a Scotland Yard yarn;, it has an exceptiphaliy good set of: dialog. ;; Npt for films. Autho.r«,_6ulld_Talk Merger , Proposed afflliatlon between the Authors League and Newspaper Guild looks warm. Respective or- ganizations have appointed cpm- mlttees to talk it oyer. , .. Authors League cbmirilttee con- sists of Elmer Davis, Homer Croy, Arthur Richman, Sidney Howard, Ralph Block and John Howard JLawBon. .Oii_the_conQimltteeiJcepr.e.-. senting the Newspaper Guild are Heywood Broun, Carl Randau and Paul Fredericksen Eberhard's Specialty Go's. ; Couple of specialized book proj- ects being undertaken by John F. Bberhard simultaneously. One is the Catholic Book Co., and the other the National Medical Book Co. Two organizations •will be housed In one ofilce. '■; - ';.■ Nature of the books to be issued by Eberhard indibsLted by the titles of his two companies. On Law : Morris Hirschmari an<^; Abraham Bpokstein, reputedly interested.- In the Central Book. Co., will issue-ar : Tin Pah Alley Inside .Best" thing about 'The Facts of Life in Popular Song' (Whittlesey Hbuse; $1.50) is the opening chap- ter of the (same name, -frbm which Sigmund Spaeth developed the 148 page booklet. Most of the rest Is pad ding, albeit arithentic and written in an engaging, gobd-humored style, without attempting to be tpo smart- alecky; and . yet . achieving an authenticity that substantiates Doc Spaeth's keen, insight into the machinations of Tin Pan. Alley. , Apart from the few laymen in- terested In pop songs the field must be. llriilted for this book; for tiie others; it's rather old trade stuff. Songwriter s don't care about mixed inelaphors, wrong • , tenses, poor parsing, welrd^Riymes "anaTKeTclri^' dred little things Spaeth dwells on, so long as the song sells. Title piece was a sketch in Ameri- can Spectator. Other portions have appearbd in the New Yorkeri, Growing Up Carman Barnes, who made some- thlhg, of a splash ■with •School Girl,* goes a step ahead with •Young Woman' (Claude Kendall & Will- oughby Sharp; $2.60), In which ml- Drad f-ordr-anotfaer of; thos Southern beauties, tackles New York with Just what results no- body knows, since the story ends on..a.note.,of suspense as. Naomi takes her first licking. Story ' will interest theatrical readers since Naomi hooks on to a famous ■ producer —of girl shows. He will not give her a chance, since he fears It will make her Independ-. bnt of his bounty, and doles but small bills from a la.rge bankroll, with, the continual protest that he cannot spare even that. Eventually he tires, bf her and Naonil, locked out of her hotel room and tossed out of her benefaetbr's,. goes out lnt» *>"=^ p.nlfl street pre^mably to CHATTER : . Martha Foley doing a historical novel. ■ ■■■ -, ■:;•..■ ;'^ .'..;/"":;.■'.■:- . Francis Stuart has 'written hU autpbiog. ■■■■•-,■ > Valentine Wlllia.ms back fromi England. . . Naomi Mitchisbn gets here in.. February, . •' ' ■'':, .'' ; . ■ Archie Blnns will go to Florida ti .write that neW novel. : ^ ; Harinish ; Hamilton, London pulw listier, has gone home. International Publishers obsery-!. irig its 10th ariniveirsary. " A. G. Macdonell back In N, T. after a quick" tour of the country; Literary Guild choice for January Is Anthony Thome's 'Delay in the sun;' --^—■''-•: -—:;v-: — Joseph Hergesheimer tired of -travel——Will istay - ip-tpwn for- thfli- wlnter.- '; ; '- — ~r- '• ■ r^,----.- Real name of R. Pliilmor^, author bf. •Journey iDownstairs,' lis Herbert! E. Howard. .'.'/;" • , Barbara Nolen one of the very few ciilldren's book editors with 4 child pf her own. ' ' '.'; Authors League issuing personal appeals to more affluent members to aid Indigent scribblers.; . ' ; ' Hatcourt,, Braca_haa_taken_Rufu«_ King ; from Doubleday, Dorari—but D-I> has taken Thames Willlamsoa frbm_H-B,. _.' ..■;.___'.■ ; jonn a. Lynch ana vvuil&m Cun^ ningham have Joined the Chicago advertising ofilce of McFaddeni Women's group. William -Poole; has quit Putham to Join the McBride editorial staff, Tay Hphoff also added to the McBride organization, The Broad A (Continued from, page 1) soup. It's getting so . tough that some riiuggs with a Brooklyn ac- cent are yelling 'Stout Fellowl' and 'Hear! Hear' at the fights on Friday night in; uxiora as fakey As a baclc drop. The only thing that's missirig Is the monocle, but Hollywood is .not without the single eyeglass. There'* a few of those around, top. Affected Piccadilly Is the latest thing to denote class,- and everyone ; is trying to talk like Leslie Howard. Switch is made overnight, with lit- tle thought ' Of ■ the impression It creates. Locals start opt with .the broad A arid advance frorri there. - Accent is picked up at the Sunday afternoon cricket games where tho Englishmen congregate, and the schooling the boys receive from G.; Aubrey Smith, iBbrls Karlpff; Boh- ^ aid Cblman and others bf the English colony who fbregathfer to knock over wickets. . Thing has gone so far that moat studios have a rush to the commis- sary at 4 p.. in. for tea. With more and more availing themselves of. the afternoon rest period dally. iiorary piay. Bernstein Issuing Mag Reed Club's Writers' School ; The John Reed • Cljib "wHl '' in- augurate a 'Writei-a', .School next month at. its quarters.' Courses will include fiction, poetry, journalism and criticism. ; ' John Reed Club is named for the American writer Who died In Rus sia and was buried' in the Kremlin Membership obmprisee . •oribblers With radical toaatns*. Herman Bernstelni wlip resigned recently as editor of the Jewish Dally Bulletiri, . turning ;p with a niig which he . will edit him- self. Publication is to be known as Present and Future, and will cover general events rather than sectarian ones.- - ■ -v-;; ■■;-:■-■ ;-■-. ■ •■: :'; Bernstein has been a newspaper cprrespqrident, editor and American Minister to Albania. ; mag to be. called Small Items. Cen- tral Book Co. issues technical-vol- umes,.; ;.. . -: ^ '-■.-. Understobd that Small Items will dfeoil with legal; matters. . Gannett Reporting Europe Frank E. Gannett, head oit the Gannett chain, Is ;sending to his newspapers a series of. articles on the European situation, the pub- lisher now beliiEf on .a. tour of the Continent and traveling by plane, as he often does In .this country. 1 Storiea are elucKed "br' nfliU.' New: Femme Mag Another mag for ferames Is in the tnaklng, to be known as The Amer- ican. Woman; Sponsor is Edward F. McSweeney, who Is now assembling a staff. . m":'---..'-./:-" .;■ '• .■';...".' Publication of The American Woman will be monthly, and sched- uled to get going early next year. Kobler on; Ade ': A. J. Kobler, after his Hearst huddle 6n the Coast, Is back as general advertising manager of the eastern Hearst newspapers, leaving riis pbst as publisher of the N. T. Dolly Mlrm face a sequel. But she's still un- sullied except for a.,brief, affair In. her schbolgirlhood, so there; should jstiii be; hope.' tS^eil-.tbl£f ; ;: ■ ■ ' Unguarded Photos •Peppie on Parade' (David Keriipi $3) brings together several hundred, off-guard photographs as. snapped by Jerome Zcrije, first-nighter and free-lance; ' While many have graced ads and blurbs. :in. class mags, roost are reproduced for the first time. Camera creeps up on social I tos In New York, Ciiicago, Miami and other points. ; ;"' '•■'' Little of Broadway in the selec- tion,; although some of the best pic- tJures depict; Constance Collier, Dorothy Gish, Cole Porter and Tai- lulah Bankhead idraped around tables. Practically all photographed are drinking, "which wbars thin after m wfalK.;' '■ . .