Variety (Mar 1936)

66 VARIETY. LITEiAfI Wednesday, March 18, 1935 Hsarst Ware on Puffs Under orders from W. K. Hearst at San Simeon, Los Angeles Examiner editors are trimming close to the; bone all publicity matter. Purge came to a head last week when entire radio column and plug matter was scrapped after one edl tiop hit the street. What made the order from ?the chief* all the more sweeping was the expunging of Louella Parsons art layout and lead off position in the pillar ahent her guests on Hollywood Hotel.broad cast, Chatter columnist pays off her guests in space, the radio page splurge being one of her main sell ing points. Examiner went out for several days with only agate log on radio page, despite fact that sev eral display ads were spotted; PiC' ture houses will also feel the pub Uclty pruning knife. Suit vs. Collier's Withdrawn Collier's mag was relieved of net cesslty of defending Itself in a libel suit when the plaintiff last week withdrew his action shortly after it was filed; Randolph Leigh, of Fair- fax, Va., who is a candidate for. the U. S. Senate v h6w warmed by Carter Glass, had alleged libel In an article penned by George 0reel; suit asked for $200,000 damages, and was filed: in the "Washington (D.. C.) Supreme Court, Creel was named as defendant along with the mag. Two Contests . Harper & Brother* la sponsoring. Its eighth- biennial - Harper Prize; Novel competition. 'Contest la open to any. American -citizen- who has. not had a novel .published in book form prior to Jan. 1,-192L- p Time limit is Feb, 1, 1930. Judges., are Sinclair Lewis, . Thornton Wilder and Louis Bromfleld. Saturday Review of Literature announces opening of second $1,000 John Ahisfieid Award. Award is made' annually after August 1 of each year to; a sound and significant work published in "previous twelve months on subject of racial rela- tions In' contemporary world. Judges are Henry Seidel Cfcnby,. Henry Pratt Fairchild and Donald Young,; Only books published- be- tween August 1, 1936 and August 1, 1936 are eligible. Best Sellers Beat Seller* for the week ending March 14, as reported by the American News Co., Inc. icti 'The Last Puritan* ($2.76) By George Santayana 'The Hurricane* ($2.50).... .By Chas. Nordhoff and James M. Hall 'The Exile* ($2.50) .By Pearl S. Buck 'Faster; Faster* ($2.60) ^.............., .i «By E^M. Delafleld 'If I Have Four Apples' ($2.60) .............By Josephine Lawrence •A Tree Grown Straight' ($2.60) ... . ..By Percy Marks NonrFictibn 'North to the Orient* ($2.60)Anne Morrow Lindbergh •The Way of a Transgressor' ($3.00) .By Negley Parson- 'Hell Bent for Election' (50c).....'. .By James P. Warburff 'Life With Father; ($2,00) .......................By Clarence Day •Man the Unknown' ($3.60) ........................By Alexis Carrel! •Woollcolt Reader' ($3.00) ..By Alexander WooUcott George Lait Promoted George Lait moved upward at Universal Service headquarters^ N..-Y., now being news editor. He succeeded William P. Reed, who is taking over the London office. Bill Hlllman, who handled that assignment, has become general manager of U's European service. U is; the syndicate which supplies the Hearst morning .papers. : Popular'* First Pulp Issue : popular Publications have just- Issued first number of Big Book Western,. one Of' the trio of pulps bought from Roy Horn last Decem- ber* Mag. to. he a *i-monthly and will carry regulation • western stuff. Rogers Terrlll Is editor. Nothing definite has been decided about the two other Horn - purchases, New Western Mag and New Detective Mag. . ' Sherman's. Play .on Twai Harold Sherman, who has over 60 published books to his credit, was recently granted.the sole right to do a dramatization of Mark Twain's' life by the Mark Twain Estate. Sherman>.- who, has also had ' a number of plays produced on Broad,-' ivay,,' has.;also- been, granted 'access to Hitherto unpublished notes of the. 'famous'author. ■' Belfrage. Off Express/ Cedric Belfrage terminated his post as dramatic critic of the Lon-. don Dally Express with, the review of 'Pride, and Prejudice' at the St. James. Feb, 27. He has no. definite plans for, the future, other than^o once more take to the road. A year or so ago he did the same thing, starting oh a hiking trip through Europe with an open as- signment to. write for the paper any time he saw fit. ' Spencer Bull Dies Spencer Bull, American newspa- perman in Paris, died in the Ameri- can hospital there, aged 47, as re- sult of injuries received during the war. Bull had been working in Paris almost continuously since the ar- mistice. He had filled almost every job open to ah American newspa- perman in France, having been city editor of both the Chicago Tribune local edition and the Paris Herald, as well as an agency correspondent. Despite physical weakness, - he was on the streets during the February. 1934, rioting, for the International News Service. Claude Kendall's New Venture Claude Kendall announces forma- tion of new publishing house to be called Claude Kendall, Inc. Editor of new enterprise is to be Geoffrey Marks, attorney and author. Associate ed will be Frank Owen, author of 'Wind That Tramps the World.' New L. A. Shop Guide Shopping Guide, claiming gratis circulation of 350,000, has made, its appearance in Los Angeles, as op- position tc town's long established Shopping News, sponsored by larger downtown L. A. merchants; ... Guide is > combination, of display, and editorial, : as compared with straight' display :space policy of Shopping. News: Will -.splurge^heavy in radio news, since shopping news discontinued this feature. NEA Plans Coast Wire Photos Herbert- Walker, Newspaper En- terprise Association's gen, mgr., is in Hollywood arranging for inBtaU ation of a wire, transmission, .of photographs,, similar to that of As- sociated Press wire photos, .and similar service being installed by Hearst, Like latter's system, that for .NEA will utilize telephone sound waves for transmission. AP pics come over telegraph wires. Walker will probably set up Coast equipment in plailt of L. A. Dally News, and from there serviced to other Coast points. New. Firm Leaning to Right Madison & Marshall, new pub- lishing house, is to concentrate on publishing 'right-wing' books. John B. Snow, its founder and head, has published ni.ariy^ pamphlets under imprint of "League for Constitu- tional Government. New firm's first book Is to be 'Pool's Gold,' by 'The Senator from Alaska,*- and will be published this month. Finn's Book on Sound A technical book .on sound has been turned out by Jim Finn under the title of 'Sound Picture Circuits.' It is designed as an aid to theatres. Finn, who is publishing the book himself, is the editor-publisher of 'International Projector.'. Paris Competish Rival Paris evening papers; In- transigeant and. Paris Soir, haVe gone in for competitive:- mountain- climbfng expeditions in the Hima- layas. Intrah bought: exclusive rights to the French group that's going to take a craok at Hidden Peak,.' and, Paris' Soir countered by buying the British Mt. verest ex- pedition story. Paris Soir then bought the James A. Ryan Amazone exploration yarn 4s well, putting it one up.. CHATTER Coy Poe novelizing his original screen, play, 'The'Four Harrigan Boys.' Kathleen Pautz O'Neal, writer, filed petition in L. A.' federal court to be adjudged bankrupt. 'Swamp Shadow,' a first novel by Katherine Hamill, of Fortune mag staff, accepted by Knopf. G. • B; Stern coming east from Hollywood^ for few days before sail- ing for England March 27. Robert E. Sherwood's new play, 'Idiot's Delight,' to be published in book form by Scribners in April. Romance Range has changed its name to Romantic Range and Ains- lee's to Ainslee's Smart Love Stories. April issue of Detective Story mag has .first novelette by Bryan Edgar Wallace, son of Edgar Walla cp. 'Phases of the Moon' is a first book of poems- by Charlotte Wilder, younger sister of Thornton and Isabel Wilder. ricture rights to Max Brand's 'Internes Can't Take Money,* which appeared in March Cosmopolitan, sold to Paramount. Ethel Peyser, who calls her his- tory of "Carnegie Half 'The House That Music Built,' was born a block away from that auditorium. ; Article on reportorlal highlights being entered by Joseph Jefferson O'Neill, Warner studio publicist, Readers Digest $5,000 contest on personal experiences. Spring list of newly established Lee Furman, Inc., restricted to four books; two first "novels, book on gems,..and purvey of contemporary American playwrights and the stage. New biog of William Randolph Hearst is skedded for April publica- tion,: Title, to be. ''Imperial Hearst:, A Social . Biography,' the author is. Ferd,inand Lundberg,. and: the. pub- lisher. .Equinox.- Cooperative J^resji.; . George DeWitt, former executive editor of the Chicago Herald &, Examiner, who was transferred, last summer, to the. Hearst, Morning Herald in Washington,' D. C.,' has been promoted to be managing editor of that publication, Asserting that he Is ' known to publishers and. friends, as Laurence William Pendleton, and ,wants that tag to he made legal, Laurence Wil liam Blumberg, short story writer, has filed amended petition in Los Angeles for moniker substitution. Fiction and Films By WOLFE KAUFMAN Colorful* Scribe For many years newspaper yarns were considered anathema by book publishers. Just couldn't be sold. Then, just to disprove the theory, perhaps,. something happened, and newspaper books began selling, Past few months, have seen several such, most outstanding being Vin cent Sheean's 'Personal Adventure' and Will Duranty's 'I Wx'ite as Please/ Now comes a. third in the same group, and as likely a big sales and chatter-stirring yarn as any of its predecessors. It. is 'The Way of a Transgressor,' by Negley Farson .(Hareourt-Brace; $3)., " It is likely to surprise some read ers of this book how many unknown newspaper-adventurers there are around the world, unheard of, un sung, unknown, who yet manage to have .constantly exciting careers. Farson,. for instance, isn't an espe dally well-known name, even in news circles. Yet he was in Russia when the revolution started; he was in' the British flying corps; he' spent years in an Egyptian hospital; he sailed 3,000 miles in a 26-foot sail- boat; he beach.cbmbed in British Columbia; he was. a star roving re- porter for' the Chicago Daily News for 11 years, And he tells all about It. clearly, Interestingly and with surprising illumination in his book, 'Nudes' (Continued from page 1) see outside of a - disorderly house. And it's supposed to be American. Varna never spent much on these Alcazar shows, and- this ..time he Seems to have invested a little less than usual. There are no perform- ers who rate star billing or who get high pay. Sets look familiar; they may have done previous duty at Varna's' Casino de Paris.' There is a line of eight girls set in by Helena Greasely, Casino's ballet mistress. With- so little, Miss Greasely does wonders. Idea seems to be that the Alcazar public wants stimulation, not enter- tainment. Same baldheads come back week after week for their kicks. Unnecessary to change the show. Heavy sensation this time is flagellation. Sldell Sisters (who are AmerTcah. ' ahd 1 ' once- did' a good ; knockabout •Aumher). contribute* • a whipping-=scene/ " set hi-. a. medieval' torture 'chamber; in Which Billfe- Sidell plays! the sadistic .'empresb and. Pierra Is her victim. T>ero is also a. veil dance by Vana Yaml called 'Adoration of Priapus/- rd'one- with a 100% nude male, statue which faces the audience.- • In line'with the Alcazar tradition to present- unclothed a type of work, which is usually done dressed,-Anny Myra plays, the accordion and. two pianos, naked to the waist. There's also, after all, a certain amount of actual performing. Mel and Melma, dance team, with Billy Bourbon, haVe worked up a- bur- lesque adagio number of the Sonla, Gansser and Andre type. It's just fair. Best, is a little girl trapezist, Mirellly, who seems to be about 12, a,nd does really nice stuff on the bar, over the ork, which Is where Chrysis de La Grange used to-wbrk here. Varna will' go on making money with this one. Stern, Hearst (Continued from page 1) porting anything on 'Klondike,' wrote a review of the stage show. The other two Hearst papers, Jour- nal and American, skipped all com- ment. 'That Certain Picture' Los Angeles, March 17. Fox-West Coast houses got around the Hearst ban on 'Klondike Annie' by advertising pic in the Hearst papers as. 'that certain pic- ture,* or 'a very important or spec- ial' feature. Regular copy in other L. A. dailies carried picture's title with star's name* GtS Operetta*at $1 • All 14 of-th© Gilbert and Sullivan plays are 'included'In-a.fine volume; 'TWe <?Omple>te'Play's!Of Gilbert- and Sullivan' (Modern Library; $1). It makes a big and Interesting volume and. one that Is a splendid (and cheap) addition to any theatrical library. Nicely printed and edited; book Is also Illustrated by original' draw ings of W. S. Gilbert, who, it seems, could do other things than write brilliant librettos. Rushes into Trouble Philip Wylle is one of the modern young American writers who, be sides a gifted and facile pen, has an overdose of ., impatience. Thus, in trying to be a sort of American Aldous Huxley, he frequently sue ceeds only .in falling into the .errors of Tiffany Thayer. His Writing is always Interesting, . and has fre quent flashes of brilliancy, but just as often and Just as inevitable it is synthetic. Wylie's newest novel is 'As They Reveled'. (Farrar & Rihehart; $2). It is a bit more,'honestly, conceived and executed than 'Finnley Wrenh,' Wylles' most successful book, but still fails in the clinches. It is the story of three married couples who try to go modern in Connecticut during the summer by getting all mixed up in their inter-marital re- lations. First chapter is a dead giveaway, arid the book never over- comes It, despite some good charac- ter portrayals. Not for films. imp Between Covers- For a long, time" ''E'thah '. Frome',' by, Editli .Wharfpp,,.has' been"- a. mas'r terpiece. of American- literature. .Now it has. been, dramatized by Qwen and. Donald ■ Dayls, and is a current Broadway success, in play form' the book is -now published' (Scribners;: $2J50). . It Js, between covers,.pale drama, it. "Is/ ididap^lRU*n£r,. 'perhaps,! more than anything', . because'' It /doesn't stand Up! against' the -simplicity of the original, it is more Wordy and more artificial. The story; as first told by Miss Wharton, is still avail- able between covers, making this play version (for readers) an un- necessary, item. Omnibus of Crime Inspector Piper and Hildegarde Withers romp through another good Stuart 'Palmer adventure in 'The Puzzle of the Red Stallion* (Crime Club; $2). The two characters are now established and successful, and this s^ory is right in line. Well plotted and logical, it holds up throughout. RKO has made all the past ones and can use this one, too. Whitman Chambers tells an out- standing and strong yarn in 'Thir- teen Steps'. (Doubleday^Dorah; $2). It is of the rough-and-tumble mod- ern school, but unusual and stir- ring. Story is unfolded in the mind of a spectator at a hanging, In flashback form, while the criminal is talcing his last steps to the scaf- fold to be hung. A peach of a sur- prise finish helps. Should film well. Todd Downing is another who- dunit spinner who has been com- ing along stronger and stronger in the past few years. His yarns are all spotted in or near Mexico, and the newest of the series, 'Murder on By EPES W. SARGENT Full Delivery Sincerltyi knowledge ind artistry meet In Naomi Lane Babsori's flr'at novel, 'The American Bodleys' (R ev nal & Hitchcock; $2.50). It's a fl rs ti novel, but she has done short storv Work in the intervals of her teach, ing here and in China, where she went as a,school teacher and not as a missionary. - • It Is the story of Horatio Bodley and the seven children he and his wife, Adelta, reared in a New Hampshire sea-coast village . it had belonged to the Bodleys' f or generations. It is the simple, annal of. a family, varied, often eventful and always of interest, vividly pre. sente'd, told without literary extrava- gancies and convincingly real; it i s the sort of books that will satisfy users of lending libraries, and yet will give full satisfaction to the more discerning. It is a real book, Four—One Good Greenberg's March output of $2 books offers a couple of usuals, one weak western and one that stands head and Shoulders above the rest, The topper' is 'The Californian,' by Thomas Grant Springer, who-last penned 'Rodeo.' This is not properly a western, as the title would stig* gest. •It Is a keen iiitit sympathetic study of mental reasons told in^ eagy, fluent stj'le^ "^With; action >a» plenty, though fpr picturizatlo^ the climax' might, worjc out top tamely, But Mr. Springer har turned . out sbmfething tliat will rise above: the rental shelves, It is genuine. •Horror. Range,' by Cliff Austin,.1$ supposedly a murder mystery on, a ranch, the murders supposedly done by soriie hairy monster. It ceases to be a mystery to the practised reader when in an early chapter one; of the motley crew is described as having been a Hollywood cowboy, After that it is just a rambling yarn, machine made and told with a singularly poor technique. The au- thor, has no inventiveness in style. Saddles" are invariably 'forked,' and horses are 'rowelled,' but never spurred. The constant recurrence of similar stock phrases becomes monotonous after ~a while. Not -" good even for the libi'aries, Netta Muskett's 'Pocket Venus' Is strictly rental. Poor little office girl marries her boss, who. conveniently dies just after Jiis honeymoon cruise. She marries a man she met while oh the cruise, but has .to compete with her newly acquired step-daughter, who has prior rights. Just so-so and no new picture material. ' kyrockets,' by Adelaide Hum- phries, is another marriage between a poor girl and a rich youth, but a young man this time. The sort of stuff shopgirls and Stenogs wallow in. Good rental material but prob-. ably few individuai purchasers. Arizona Nights It. is somewhat... unusual for'a thesis', prepared, for .a - degree- in 'OBe. Uhiversity to" be printed by- aridtbfcr: but 'Mines and Miners' (University of Arizona, Tucson; $1) providea'a reason-. Although it was part of the courstf-of-^eiai r. E u geii^W lfflawtfrr his Mkster's degree in' Northwestern Univers'i'ty',- it is a study of the^ the- atre- in Arizona • from 1 §80 to 1917; *; ■ - •It- is a carefully made suryeyibf local and' touring., drama in the «lay?r when Arizona was profitable theat- xical territory (which it is not to- day), documented from the files of the Arizona Kicker, Tombstone Epitaph and other papers, embody- ing bits of the emphatic criticism which marked the early journalism. It has a distinct reading value for the entertainment of those inter- ested in- the theatre, but it is far more important from the theatre history angle. A similar series of state surveys would hi time become invaluable. Formula Bright writing and well knit in- cident save 'Lova;ble' (Hopkins; $-') from being just another of those stories in which the poor girl mar- ries the rich lad. Mary Raymond has: managed to kink things U P nicely, but it is more the style of telling than the Incidents which help the yarn. Nothing distinguished, but it i> better than the rank and file. Might even make a picture. the Tropic' (Crime Club; $2), is 'J step. It is fast, actiony and v^'; thought out. Murderer's identity » a bit obvious,- but that doesn't de- tract. Could film, the exotic bacK- gtound helping. \