Variety (Sep 1935)

58 VARJETV LITERAYI Wednesday* September 11, 1935 Light Fiction Slumps New trend li^ Action Is a drop- off in the sale of so-called 'library' books. Mostly junk which had sold well In the circulating libraries, but today Isn't gettinff the break that It used to. First result is a switch In publication plans of several pubr Ushers. Elr.st__to__.t9Jt©..—the—hint--^ae- Macaulay's, one of the leading put- ter-outers of the light items. Lee Eurman,. head of the firm, formed a isubsidiary, Lee Eurmari, Inc., to is- sue serious items, with the old . ]brand,;.atic.l£lng .ioc ..time .bslas for pops. Now Alex Hllln^an, Sam- uel Curl and Bellamy Partridge, execs of William Gbdwin, Inc.* have decided to follow suit and organized Hillman-Curl, Kiic., for tfi'e same purpose. Best Sellers est Sellers for the week ending Sept. 7, as reported by ths American News Co., Inc. -Htnman-curtnB-llre-^5iid hew Oodwln subsidiary. Godwin recent- ly began to sponsor ;^rcadla House to issue such light items as could . hot fit into the regular Godwin lls't; Hlllman-Curl im^lnt will, however, be used on serious works only, with four tomes of^" that kind set for starters this fall. Hlllniain, Who Is prexy of Godwin^ will hold the. same position in Hill- man-Curl.;/Curl, who is sales man- ager for Godwin and Arcadia, will . be V. p. -of ^Hlllman-Curl and Part- ■lidge w^lli serve as secretary. _'_ ,Jh^X^!^9:^^!:A!(!?M). .f.--.\-• •.,?:?.•.!•,*,• • •.• • T.'.^T. WlHa Cathep 'Vein of Irion' ($2.60) ....... . ..v.... ....'., '.By Elien "Criaegbw 'Honey in the Horn' ($2.50) ...............>.........By H. L. Davis 'Fair As the Mopn' (i2M) ....,..i...,..i.......,.By Temple Bailey 'Green tiight' ($2.60) .........^ ;.....By Lloyd C. Douglass 'Inquisitor' ($3.00) .By Hugh Walpole 'North to the Orient' ($2.60) ......By Anne Morrow Lindbergh 'Europa' ($2.75) '....i ....By Robert Biiffault 'Life with Father' ($2.00) ..-. .By Clarence Day 'Mary, Queen of Scotland, and the Isles' ($3.60)....By Stefan Zwelg >' ing Lehr and the (iilded Cage' ($Sr.00) .'.By iElli&beth Drexel Leiii:^ 'Asylum' ($2,00) .By WilHam Seabrook Book Reviews Cured William Seabrook, who has writ- ten a number of the leading ad- venture books of recent years, be- gan ■• di-lnking- Irquol'■ a • einiptB - lof • years ago and couldn't stop. He went to sanatorium and pleaded to be cured. They finally let him In and kept him eight months. Now, oiit and cured, he tells the world alTr 'abfora t' it* In" a • ijwk • t^Med- • 'Asy - lum' (Harcourt-Brace; $2). It's by no. means a drunkard's confession, or aJiythlhg of that sort. It: is, rather, aii accurate and 'Nother Best Book Prize ival award to the Pulitzer Prize for the best American book of the year has bieen arranged for by the Umlted Editions Club. Will con- sist of ah annual ^old medal to the author whose book published during the preceding year shall have at- tained, most nearly the stature of a literary classic. r ' Ian is to have> nominating cbm- jnlttee of 48 literary critics, one in .each state. Judges,' already seiect- i\i consist of Harry Hansen, Carl Van Doren. and Burton Rascoe. They, will plck.:the book from the redbnim'ended list by Nov. 1 of each Besides awardlng. jthe gold medal. Limited Editions: Club will Issue a special, edition of. the prlze-wlntalng book.. Pulitzer book award Is $1,000. Grovor Jones' 'Wheeze' West Side Asthma and Riding Club of Hollywood =now has an of- ficial organ, 'The Wheeze.' It Is edttcid, set'up and printed by Grover jdneB:ln. his baoic yard at his Pall- sades home near S&nta Monica. Jones has had the printing bug tot some time. When he decided to iihptype machine .which' he didn't know how to operate. Result was that after two wfeeks. of labor, the first edition made Its appearalnce at the last meeting of the club with the announcement where the meet- ing was being held. Rush Rogers' Books Rush on by a number of publish ing houses to issue or reissue what- evfer they have or can get hold of on or about Will Rogers. ' Puthant's had 'Ether and Me,' a slim volume by Rogers, i»rlced at $1; in which he commented on the hu- morous side of his contact with the medicos. Firm immediately gave It a reprinting and a new advertising campaign. ' Same pui>li8her had been- promised a new book by Rogers a few yearis ago, but he never was able to And time for tiie new volume. At least two publishers now have on the presses biogs of Rogers, with that Sponsored, by the. John C. Win-: ston Co, likely to be the first to apr peai*. fintltled simply 'Will Rogers,' it's by P. J. O'Brien, and will haVe a for:ewor.d by Lowell Thomas. Will sell for $1,. although of . generous size. Other-biog on the press is Roger Dakln's 'The Cowboy Humorist,' Robert M. McBride publishing. Price not announced'as yet.' Charles Sessler Dead .Charles Sessler, 81, noted blbll ophlle ajid dealer in rare books and art, died Sept. 4 At his homis .In Merlon, Pa., near Philadelphia. In Ala quest for rare Items In art and literature, he made more than 100 trips to Europe.. He frequently spent large sums of money—taking $6^000.000 with him In 1931 and re- turning with IBc. and a treasurie in collectors'' items. His chief hobby was Charles Dickens Items and he was founder and honorary president of the Dickens Fellowship. He is survived by his wife, Caro line H. Sessler, and three children, J. Leonard Seissler, Mrs, Charlotte Loeyden and Mrs. Marguerite Gold iamith. Sew Up Crater Yarn Los Angeles dallies took a trim- tnlng from the Herald-Express on Maurice Kusell-Jayne' Manners di- .vorce allegations by the dance teacher that his former showgirl wife 'knew plenty* about the disap- pearance of Judge Crater in New York. Afternoon sheet had the gal hid- den out. for three days before the story broke,' and, with filing of Kusell's charges, kept popping ex- olusives. Other rags were 'out in the cold for several days. S. & S.'s New Pulp 'Street & Smith' entering the fall with a new pulp, Dynamic Adven- tures Magazine, Monthly Will sell .f.6r a'dime. 'Although, most of the Street & Smith action story mags are edited by John L. Nanovlc, Dynamic Ad- ventures Magazine will be edited by P.- Orlin Tremaine. Latter handles tlie editorial reins for a few other S. & S. publications. Two for Writers .At least two books of interest to the. scribbling craft will appear In the fall, both to be published by Little, Brown. One, desired for the prose writer, is 'This Trade of Writing,' by Ed- ward Weeks. He is the editorial head of the Atlantic-. Monthly Press, the, book tiouse afTlllated with L}ttle, Brown. tVdeks tellt. everything In his book, froiu h6w to write to how to sell. >- . Clayton Hamilton has written the other, entitled 'So .^Tou're 'Writing a Play,' and of interest to the play- .'■;(aight«':;:,^tfmUton-;4s-''¥esaTded--«s an authority on the stage. Plan New Reprint Mag New mag vogue Just now Is the digest, or reprint thing. Success of Fiction Parade, which in spite of its short existence has already been able to absorb Golden Book, High- lights, and others, prompting the publication of still another , of. th^ same type. Latest one Is to be called Modern Story Selections, and makes Its first appearance this month. Like itj contemporaries, will reprint the alleged best things from the general mag's and excerpts from the lauded new books.. yers Double-Dip East Two literati-creations have drawn Henry Myers to Now York. After neg:otlatlnig for a Broadway presen tatlon of his new play, 'Hallowe'en,' he'll swing over to publishers row "' and arrange for ia hard covering foi' hia -flrst-bdirn, 'The Children's Cru- sade.' ■'Due. back pnthe Coast In a few jWeeks ito resume his studio scrlvcn- 'ing. Duplicating Tags Decision by Edward D. Whittlesey to call his new publishing oi'^aniza- tlon the Whittlesey Publishing Co.. may cause some confusion between that and the McGraw-Hill afeillate, "Whittlesey House.- Whittlesey House gets out a line ot' no'n-flctlon books, Whittlesey 'Ptibilshing Co. will also publish bo'oka. Anti-Hearst Parade First anti-Hearst parade in Los Angeles ended up there (3) with arrest of , four persons and hospital- ization of one cop, who was slugged with a pipe when Communists and siympaihizers gathered in front of L. A. Examiner. Later same day power iCuses were blown at" Herald-Express, Hearst afternoon sheet, holding up one edition a half hour. Police blamed radicals. CHATTER James Stephens In N. T. from Ire land. Nearly 76, Hamlin Garland Is do ing another book. Sinclair Lewis has gone abroad with Dorothy Thompson Farrar & Rinehart readying a $2 edition of 'Anthony Adverse Carmel Snow, the Harper's Bazaar editor, back from abroad. Roy Howard departed on his an nual jaunt to the Orient First stbn Japan. Robert. Raynolds' forthcoming book, 'Fortune,' wUl be dedicated to Thomas Wolfe. Barry Benenfeld has written his first novel In flVe years, 'Valiant Is the Word for Carrie, . Edward P. Healey hd^ resigned from Review of Reviews to Join a competing mag. Forum., Julian Messrier with her new book, 'Death Is a Little Man.' Christina Stead in from London to pick up some data for a aew novel with an American locale. Day after he finished reading the proofs on his new book, 'Hokusal,' Gustav Eckstein hopped a boat for Russia. Lucy Goldthwalte has quit the publicity department. at Doubleday, -Doran to Join up with Current His tory Magazine. First literary party of the season in N. Y. was given by the new Hart- ney Press for Hallie Dickerman, in advance of the publication of her novel, 'Stephen Kent' Retirement of Kathryn Dougherty as pub of Photoplay "mag ups Ruth Waterbury to chief editorial spot. NMss Waterbury now In New York to gab with Macfadden execs. Richard Dana Skinner, formerly drania critic of The Commonweal, has done a book on Eugene O'Neill O'Neill, a Poet's Quest, which Longmans, Green will pub llsh. *^ ■ modern in stitution by one ■ of th e world's ace reporters. Book is an eye-opener on the progress of modern psychology and a cinch to sell well for some time. Near-Smith Since Thome Shiitti's death, scores of writers have sought to emulate his style •without getting afiy-w-h€r-e--elofla---to--tlse :r<iodcl,--Alii'- other as good as any is Gene Har- vey, whose 'Pack Up Your Sins* (Phoenix; $2) is brtskiy bawdy without giving offense. That -was Smith's apology for his style; he ■eouid- say thinga so brightly that. he escaped vulgarity. Harvey has not quite achieWd the style, but he comes closer, °by far, than- most of the competitive pJer'"Jffl« i^rtsait :^>^Vfch« insli^Q. af**. JB^^ 'P.^^eC" f^^xJi. to jgtucb. of jvhi§i_he^wilteiia..tWfl._st^ secretary who becomes her bosfl' os- tensible , mistress. When Harvjsy learns to background better, he'll bo in the running. Wortii reading as is, if you liite the type. Tarzan.of the Apes is in again and Tarzan addicts will hail the fact -with delight Edgar Rice Bur- roughs has a way of putting plenty of action in these African equiva- lents - of the -western action story, and his 'Tarzan and the Leopard Men' (Burroughs;: $2) introduces the reader to a ne\v set of play-, mates for the super-liero. This time it's a jungle secret cult Avhiph dresses in leopard skins, kills Its victims with claws and eats their flesh. . Story lacks the. usual fluent flow of the' Tarzan stories in that there are four plot leads to te followed through, but it provides the proper amount of thrills. Publishers point out it's an add! tional signature (16 pages) over the average. Too Good Western heroes are all marvels of agility, strength, and daring, but Pat Stevens of Peter Fields' 'Gringo Guns' (Morros; $2) is Just a little too much so to be Lttlievable. There's a little t vo much steam in some of the performances of Ste- vens, Including such trifles as steal- ing a i^ilroad train, defying the Sheriff of bid Santa Pe, and slhillar parlor tricks. Sounds all. right while being read, but won't' be rer membered long. No picture. 2,000'Ft. Reels Plenty of Snow Deck Morgan, although still. a young man, has had a dozen or so various jobs and at one time was a professional bob-sled rider. Now lie's written his flrat novel, 'Winter Carnival' (Messner; $2), which riaturally. Is all about winter sports Morgan knows whereof he speaks but his story is likely to be some- what hard for one who doesn't know winter sports and cares les.s. Love is capably mixed in and the whole is a fair enough romance Some of the characterization Is ex cellent. With a more generally acceptable story, Morgan, might be abic) to click. Background could nicely be used foir/.^fllms, _thoujrh^^^^^ m'aterlar. '* ' "^ ' On Internatiohai Matters New book imprint to make its in itial appearance late this month Is Headline B(}ok3. Sponsored by the Foreign Policy Assn., firm will get out six or more volumes a year on topical subjects of international as- pects only. Headline Books will be of small size and 'easy to read' type. Subject matter will be mostly on assign- ment. Hand-Work One of the most unique of the town's botfk publishers is the Cas- sowary Press. Consists solely of Jaynet and Allan N. Holden, who manufacture their books entirely by hand. Includes typesetting, printing and binding. Only' two volumes a year are pub- lished. Poetry and other such lim- ited subjects make up the brief Casso-nrary Hut. SZERELMI ALMOK (Continued' from page 17) Weinland, a young musician, and flo«« *S i?^^ Maria's flance fights a duel with Weinland, who Is wounded, and her parents carry off- Maria to her native chateau. At the festivities held in honor of Liszt's Jubilee. Maria plays his concerto, the orchestra being conducted by Weinland. At the sight of their overwhelming success and their reawakened love, i Maria's nance releases her from her en- gagement and she is frfee to marry Weinland, with the paterhal bless- Ing of old Liszt. Dialogue is Infinitely dull and work^ of the. actors rings false from flrst to last. Gernian director, Heinz HUIe,. spent a sum which, accord- ing to local istandiards, was very large on this picture, hut there are only a few rather nice decorations to account for it Stilted, artificial figures move before the fine back- ground. There are several new names In the cast but no note- Avormy- performance. A German version of ihe picture, shot here with well-known German actors, will have Its release in Berlin. VacoM Old Story Little that's original to the'mas- querade plot of 'Love Is a Masquer ade' (Phoenix; $2), except that Kathryn Culver escapes reader re proof when she comes to the climax and there are two heroines of al- most equal value. Idea is that Duncan, MacLean, actor-author,' is persuaded to dis- guise himself and go to a resort hotel as the house detectlvie for a real rest Follows Sylvia Hale, stock actress, who wants the lead in Mac- Lean's new play, \and Mona Dent, socialite player, who has been cast for the part but nixed by MacLean. Both, aware of his identity, go on the make. Mona gets him for a husband and Sylvia captures the role, which takes care of both. Aside from this, the story is the same old thing not too brightly re told. Might be a picture. Has been before. Country Life Typically English is Beatrice Kean Seymour's 'Frost In tiie Morning' (Little, Brown; $2). in which a rather flamboyant Ameri- can is injected Into the quiet life of . an English country family, turns her super-sexed wiles on the vari- ous menfolk and gets pushed out of a window by one of her feminine antagonists. She has been brought down to forget a love, disappointment; though her hpst does not realize this , at the time, and part of the story is her recital of that affair Good character studies, .but too wordy and slow to win much atten tlon this side. Wholly British in formula. ibuB of Crime ■William Crane is one of the new tough dicks. He bowed in for the first time about a year ago and now h 8 inventor, Jonathan Latimer, has placed him in a second novel. Headed for a Hearse' (Crime Club; ■'2). Its one of the best whodunits in some time, terse, tough and in- telligently plotted and keyed, Could make a film. (Contlnufed from paige 4) der pressure pf handling. If steel wire frame Is found essential, fh«» cost probably would be more than $i per reel and maybe as high as $1.50. Another point of dispute that is expected to bob .up is over what it will cost to alter exchange vaults. Academy thinks it would take only $10 per vault but other estimates, run as high as $100. With fl-vo. vaults in each exchange center and about 38 exchanges per company, the nine distributors may have to foot a bill of $171,000 for vault al-' teratlons. With reels figured at $1 each, an additional $681,400 is tacked on to the total bill, providing each ex- change had a minimum of 1,700 reels on hand, generally rated not- an unreasonably large total. Re- winders are .expected .to .figure. $1J a set' "it's agreed that most ex-''" changes would tkke four to five sets, making $20,620 more to be added on. Figuring on 250 cases for the aver- age exchange, the cost of new cases may reach a total of $171,020. In figuring, this bill, which the major distributors would be called on to defray, no provision was made for increased pay that might be an- ticipated for inspectors nor damage expected in handling and inspection of the 2,000-foot reelers. Boothmen's Attitude With at least one projectionist's local (in Boston) strongly opposed to the 2,000-foot reels and the chance that an inspector's union might be an outgrowth of the larger reels, industry spokesmen frankly are not optimistic over how the new reels would react as concerns the unions. One distributing company's ex- change chieftain described the oper- ition of the 2,000-foot reel project as theoretically perfect but of du- bious value in actual practice. He said that Universal's test with 2,000- foot reels several years ago had definitely proved to him that their use was not economically practical. Aside from the possibility of dip- ping the cost figures through an in- spector's union; the boothmen's sladt.on.the 2,000-footers is no idle threat. Attitude of some projec tlonlsts.ls that with film delivered ready for screening on 2,000-foot Zf ' ^^'^^'^J^ fine of hoothmen may provide exhibitors with an ex- cuse to trim their'itaff. At feist ^ A^f.^^"^* some boothmen think, n^r''; arguments at the 2,- 000-foot reel confab this week are Vl^t^f^ *3 regards how many exhibitors have 2,000-foot maga- zines, added shipping costs due to delay in handling bigger reels at the exchanges, and the loss of foot- age caused by breaks with the longer reels. Some distribution ex- perts contend that these will occur most frequently during, inspection Of the pictures on return from a playdate. Gordon Mitchell, chairman of the research council of Ihe Academy, will take part in the discussions this week, with Arthur Dlcklnsoh, of the Hays organization, in'charge at thte meetings.