Variety (Oct 1936)

66 VARIETY L ITERATI Wednesday, October 21, 1936 U. S,. the Mrs.. Simpson . . Jeopardy of their'circulations in. Canada is reported to have prompt- ed the:'Hearst papers oh the north- eastern seaboard to play down the divorce suit filed in London by Mrs. . Ernest (Wally ) Simpson against her " Husband. Newspapers in the. U.. S. have linked Mrs; Simpson as a close friend of King Edward. Both the Suhday - American and . Sunday Mirror; in. N; Y.-, and the ' Hearst papers.in Boston and Albany have large circulation's of pre-dated (bulldog) editions in Canada. Reaic-. tiori of the English subjects to the handling of the Simpson story is said to have. been unfavorable, with the result• that Hearst editors de- cided ■play down the. yam: Re- port that Hearst had cabled from abroad '•. to 'squelch' the sensational angles %as denied by his editorial executives in N. Y. * N. YrDaUy News, vwhich also has "a. large pre-dated Sunday circulation in Canada,? showed no signs Up. till' yesterday (Tuesday) of more, deli- cate handling of the Simpson case. Cables ' from' London yesterday ((Tuesday) - quoted an unnamed offi- cial .attache that King- Edward was opposed to gagging* the British press . on ; the; Simpson case. In England*: however, newspapers are restrained by law from carrying, any news of a civil>or, criminal suit, with the ex- ception of mention of the filing of papers and the judge's summation. Marlen E. Pew Dead Marlen Edwi Pew, 38, former editor iter & Publisher, died Oct. 15, Misericordi Hospital, New York, following an operation for a throat ailment. He had been editor of E. & P. Since 1924 atid y.p. .of the. firm,up to a few months ago, When he resigned because ill health. , ' . '. Pew was born in Niles, Ohio', and had little formal education. He. se- cured his first reporter's^ job .'at 16, with the Cleveland Press. In 1897 he came to N. Y. for .the Scrlpps- <vMcRae vPress Association and then_ yrent over to-the N.Y. 'Evening. Jour- nal as assistant managing editor. He- •'. held many executive posts with vari- ous newspapers and' was at one time news' manager of the United Press, .which he helped to organize. During .the World War he was a press rep-v resentative of ihe War Department . ['..■ acted as a censor.- He devised .the system for publishing casualty lists; After the war he was for - time editor of- iNS-and then: joined' .Editor &:. Publisher; where he con- ducted a column, 'Shop Talk at Thirty/' and edited the' trade paper. ; He'is. survived. by his ex-wife, from. ;whohv he was ^divorced two; years -ago* and three . children,' Susan Mar- , 'garet; a portrait pamter; 'Marlen E., Jr., of the N. Y. Sun, and'Samuel H., ' of the East EivfcrpOdl "(Ohid) Review. .Kfrserye Deolalon Ih's. A c . '.' .; , DecisiQn Was reservedi last week in! ,a: su# for $25,000 against Simon & .Schuster brought'-in-. New: York's 1 Supreme Court by. Sheldon Cheney,! .who ^alleges thatlhe flrmls publica-; i^? n / 'A: Treasury* the. Theatre/' grew out of conversations and nego- TtiationsV^which- he- had begun - with .them in" 1929., ,Suit * -not fop . plagiarism, - but an action . based oh services which Cheney -alleges he rendered on-.the basis of an implied - contract,- aridjjs ; the first of its kind. 1 Case was- heard, before Justice 1 Philip J. McCobV: .Lawrence Stall- , ings was* ambngt the witnesses! Gerf Certifies .the publishers don't know what .Gertrude Stein's . latest is about. Book is titled . 'The Geographical-. History of America or the Relation of Hu- man Nature to the Human Mind.' .... • .Statement on. the flap, .signed by Bennet Cerfi. publisher, -de- clares: 'This space is usually reserved for a brief description Of a book's contents. In this ease; however,* I. do not know What Miss. Stein , is . talking. • about. * I do *not even' under-; ^ stand the. titje.-./. . That, Miss.'." , Stein tells me, is because I am dumb;" Oscar. G. Foellinger Dead ■ Oscar G. Foellirigeri publisher of s News-Sentinel, Port • Wayne, Ind., led Oct. 4 while on a hunting trip British Columbia. Death Was . caused by a heart attack. \ \> He was prominent in Republican politics, being ' .close friend of . Herbert Hoover.*. The body turned to Tort WSyne for buri New Mag for r* ig Town, a new mag which 'iseek? • to interpret the spirit oi Nr Y,,' will , be published Oct -27; Editor is Eli m. Sajk/ with: Harry Herjshfield and ; Theodorei Granick as associates. .,"'■ j First . will have an expose pt the testimonial dinner, jacket by « r Harry Hershfield and political arti- r . ; ;bjr Hamilton and Farley. Also *an article on old age security by Sen- ator Robert' Wagner. ■ ..,„■■ ,,.■»■,,„—- riDiiy.-MMMUKof wMt joltihom noma, wmtss associate mmto,».t,nim*rwm-usnt*.n VDCf AID HAVER MASK Sain Merwin Dies v Samuel Merwin,, 02, died ct. 17 of an apoplectic stroke while dining at the Players Club? N. Y,' He had suffered several attacks recent years. /';•" He had written some 20 novels and innumerable short stories; many of them partly based on his own early life. His •Henry' stories were all semi-autobiographical. He also wrote several plays, and for his own amuse-' ment operated a playhouse: at his home in Concord; Mass. It lasted for 15 years and was subsidized by the municipality. :. His brother, Bannister, Who ' died a -number of years ago, was author of the first chapter play in pictures, Edison's 'What Happened to Mary/ and was the first /author regularly to command $100 ' for a single reel script. At the time of his death, Bannister, was one of the moving spirits of the London Film Co., a picture pioneer in Great Britai . He was never able to interest his brother in writing for the screen.' The dead man is survived by his Widow and a son, Samuel K. An- other son, named. Bannister, and an adopted son, John,' pre-deceased him. Kidding the Press 'Race' At least two N. Y-, dailies lam- pooned that three-cornered . news- papermen's, 'race' around the. World' last week; New York Sun assigned: three reporters - to walk around Cen- tral Park and' Write' satirically of their trips. - N. Y. Telegraph - signed' Hank Sember to go around Manhattan, on a pair of roller skates and kid himself same way* «Meantime, the ?race' was won Mon- day by H. R. 'Ekins, of the N. Y. World-Telegram, while Dorothy Kil- gailenof the Journal and'Lep Kieran of the Times are still en route home, on the last lap of their trip and on the same plane; . Times late last week took time out, for the first time, to explain in de- tail that Kieranvwas stiU sticking to his schedule and that Skins .was not 'raci Kieran' because he did not use 'regulation passenger established service. for-his - tr^>..throughout r as did' Kieran, Times has., been under- playing the * story inside, while the other tWo dailies have whooped it up on their front pages. Times was the first to think of th-- plan, with, the others jumping in arid calling it a race; . Iffest's Poll Cost $1,000,001 iterary Digest's poll on- the com- ing presidential election was made at a cost of $1,000,000. Its only mone- tary return is from the radio rights to the results, spl<jl to Goodyear for $100,000. The Time's was offered the exclusive loir - daily publication rights, but that deal, was not con* summated. Because of the broadcast, dailies figured,the data was released and could be picked up, but the Digest/ halted that by declaring it created the air program and there- fore it is private property.. Dailies get piecemeal releases on the poll after results have' been broadcast Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Daily News, N. Y„ has challenged the Digest's poll, recently carrying, an offer to wager $10,000 against; $5,000. that the tabloid's poll was more accurate ', than Lit. Digest's. News' poll shows Franklin D. Roose- velt distinctly ahead. Digest's poll favors Landon. . At Dempsey!S restaurant in N. Y. $100,000 has been on deposit by a group offering to bet the President Will be reelected at the odds; of 20 to; 11. Retting odds lengthened over the weekend, Best Sellers ' reported' hy the Best Sellers tor the week ending Oct. American News Co., Fiction 'Gone With the Wind' ($3.00)..By Margaret Mitchell 'Drums Along the Mohawk* ($2.50). ;.. .By W. D; Edmonds 'White Banners' ($2;50) .By; Lloyd C. Douglas. 'Whiteoak Harvest' ($2:50) .By • Mazo de la Roche 'Big, Money' ($2.50) .<v. . .By John Dos Passos 'American Flaggs' ($2.Q0) .... •>; . ..-U-i....By Kathleen Norris Non-Flctlon ive Alone, and Like It'($1.50).......1. .. By Marjorie Hilli ^Around the World in'11 Years' ($2.00) > v By Patience, Richard & John Abbe 'Man. the Unknown' ($3.50) ' . ;....... . .By , Alexis Carrell 'An American Doctor's' Odyssey' ($3.50) By Doctor Victor ,G. Heiser ♦Wake Up.arid LiVe^ ($1^75).-...... . .....,.,.By Dorothea Brande 'Listen for a Lonesome ;Drum' ($3.00) ... —.By Carl'Carmer Yanderbllt's Serial as. ^look . A' Bed Book seriat by Cornelius yanderbilt,* Jr.,. 'The. -Woman of Washington/ published a year and a half ' ago,. * being brought out in book* form by 'Dutton's as v 'The Woman Behind the Senate/ . Vanderbilt has also signed , with George Matthews Adams . for a daily coluihri of^rbviriffAreportihgi.. .He's slated to cover .the. Coronation, for Liberty and:;, * view of the $50-a T day hotel fees,'; young Vanderbilt is seriously thinking : Of taking his trailer-car oye^.vand. camping out. Idea is later to go to France and the Riviera for more' material. ; Hungarian is All-Nations Winner Jolan Foldesj - .'of /Hungary, was selected , asvthe- winner of the All^ Nations P.ri.ie'.No'yel Contest and will receive" $10,QOO.^ American entry in the. contest was. John T. Mclhtyre's' .'Steps / Going,. Down/ for which he received an award of $4,000. Con- teat wasr jbinily . sponsored.' here by Farrar & Rinehart, Pipker • &' Mor- rison, legit agents; Warner Bros, arid The Literary Guild. : International: judges were* Dr. Ru- dolph Binding^ Gaston Rageot, Johari Bojer, Hugh Walpole and- Joseph Wood Krutch; Arthur Waters' New. Job;. Arthur B. Waters, former drama crick of old Philadelphia Public Ledger,- is noW aisle-Sitting for; the Gazette-Democrat; .o n 1 y ,P hi LI y German language sheet. His reviews are only portion of paper in English. Being, greeted -these days by at- tempts, at Teutoni "howdys* from friends. , Organize L. A. Guild Chapter Los Angeles chapter, of American Newspaper Guild, toughest to form because of the open shop setup, of town*.: has been formally organized after a month of undercover meet- ings. Roger Johnson, of the Holly- wood Citizen News, was elected president, and Gilbert Brown, of the Evening News, who was acting chair- man in .early meetings, elected sec- retary-treasurer. In four meetings, attendance stepped up from 12; who .met in of- fice of the United Progressive News with Oliver Thornton advancing the $5 to get a charter, to 70 at the or- ganization meeting. Hearst and; Chandler being sworn enemies of the Guild, members from the Examiner, Herald Express, and Tithes are protected, not even being known to other members for the present, their' applications going right through to New York withoutjbeing ydted' on in %. A. > Several hundred put-pf-toWri correspondents, as well as. scribes in the' surrounding towns, will be tapped in time. Hearst Circs. In N. Y. With almost every' New York daily- newspaper registering an increase in circulation, over 1935, both Hearst's If. Y. American and the Evening Journal dropped off.. Only other N. Y. paper to show a suttstantial loss last year was the Daily Worker, which dropped from 34,4l3 .to 30^501. Staff Of latter-sheet declares that all; circulation efforts have been directed, toward promoting'.the Sunday' issue,', which gained. ' The American dropped from 428,- : 087 to 422,034, and the Journal went from 655,638 to 652,428. Latter sheet has launched a. promotion campaign; and is .offering- preiniums . consisting Of' 'the >yorld's best literature.' The; Daily Mirror, Hearst-controlled,. reg-; istered substantial increase last; year since Jack Lait became its' editor.; Detroit's 100% Holly'd Coverace • Harold He'ffe'rnan, pix editor of th^ Detroit _ News, leaves'this week lor Hollywood to become, sheet's perma- nent correspondent jthere...' ,A1 Weits- chat Will take his place: in Detroit. " E^odUs Of Heffernan to* Hollywood giVes all three . Detroit. dailies reps in the film capital.- • The Free Press has Clarke i'Walfiig,.'. wJiqV supervises paper's syndicated-'Screen.' and Ra- dio Weekly/ while' local; Hearst sheet; 'theTimesriS'repped-by-Hearst syjidi;-. cate. writers:'" ••' CHATTER Bernard Fay^in N. Y. Lloyd Douglas on lecture tour. -. P; L, Travers ' N. Y. from Engr land; . Book and Magazine Guild estabr lished-a Boston, branch./ . Arnold Gerithe's biography will be titled 'As I Remernber/ Title of Pearl; Buck's new book changed to ' ighting Angel.'v Nataschar von Hbrschelman of the Fortune-staff in EUrope' : for a month. Mary McCall, Jr., has. sold her novelette, 'Heart Balm/ to Red Book. : ; H. N. Swanson. has signed another contract with Red Book to pick: the Best-Picture-6f-the*Month. :.■ Doubleday -has established • a new publishing house called "The Sun Dial Press for low priced re-issues. Walter . Edmonds will adapt his 'Drums Along the Mohawk' for. 20th Century-Fox, which . bought film rights. . '"' Frank R. Adams has sold serializaV tion bf his n.ovel. 'She Said I Do/ arid a short storyj 'The Double Eridi ,' to Red Book. Reader's Digest will move from (Continued on page 67)- Fiction . w. 'Two •Techniques Within a, fortnight of each- other, two books on photoplay writing technique haye come from the press, each important i its way, yet not in confliction. :• Tamar Lane, who. knows his pic- tures froiri the inside out, has 'The New. Techriique of Screen Writing' (Whittlesey House (McGraw-Hill); $3). It is about the best have come from the press since. the pic- tyres went vocal.. Aimed - at the would-be professional ,writer r it deals with the subject carefully arid without the intrusion of personal hobbies, ':tellinff clearly What is wanted arid how to produce it. The first 157 pages are devoted to a dis- cussion ; of how to write and in what form, with an iriyaluable chapter on copyright^ and a clear .cut detailing of the reading and acceptance sys- tem.; Through his position, Lane is enabled to illustrate his suggestions with excerpts from actual, studio scripts, Which alone would entitle the volume"" to respect were it not otherwise so well written. • The secorid section gives ari orig- inal story, a treatment and a con- ti ity* all takeri from the files. In a way it is . to be regretted that the three did riot deal with the sariie script, to permit the reader to follow it. through. This is about the only adverse comment to J?e offered. The book should be invaluable to Writers and' could be read with decided bene- fit by mariy Studio Workers. The other hook- is Arthur. L. Gale's 'How /to. Write a Movie' (Brick Row. Book Shop; $2). Gale is editor of Movie Makers, the organ of the Amateur Cinema League, arid before promotiori the editorial chair was the league's first-aid ' to amateur; filmers. He has spent 10 years, in',' the two positions and- noi one knows better tha - he just whatj the amateUr'needs-to know./ It ' Written ' simply, fully and understandably, based in part on his earlier pamphlets from club: rriem- bers," but carrying through to the use of dialog and: Color. ' It is as in- valuable ; to the' 16 mm-, - worker as Lane's, book - is ,to the professional; It not only deals with.photoplays but with- the orderly arrangement of travel 'arid home- films, 'covering the ground thoroughly. ; About Medicos Raise These . Halt' (Fur-; man;. $2) is "What some- reviewers' will call a 'strong book/:' Like a black cigar, it's so '• strong it's rank. -Fred Rbthefriieil;" who" likes^"the _ gloomy side, has drawn a picture of a- phy«i sician. that is accurate in its use of medical phrases,- is, reasonably true to facts, but which resolves: itself irito the story of an abortion, though ostensibly the author's idea to praise the general practitioner : ' as opposed to the : specialist. Nothing for the intelligent reader, and no picture, Hollywood Attain :-.Margaret< Gibbons . MacGill offers another. Hollywood 'yarn in 'Holly- Wood- Star, Dust' (Chelsea House; 75c), which will please , those who li 'em snappy. Peggy Rponey, a sweet young* thing, -goes to Holly- wood on a bid < from .a phoriey com|- pariy, which is put out of business before she gets there. -Her sweetie comes along with. Opal rth, rich and hot, Who is determined to win him. - He proves ; reluctant; She frames him with a faked murder. ' Then Peggy proves a rave as star of a picture, Opal is. properly spanked and all ends" well. - Written in i -workmanlike,; but uninspired, style.. Just something to read.' No picture; At 75c plenty of book, well made and nicely bound. By WOLFE KAUFMAN Wertenbacker Scores Charles Wertenbacker is a young, man Who's had a rather hectic time; After a number of newspaper jobs around the world he found a job with Fortune, and has settled down as one of its ace editor-writers. In books he did the sariie thing. , He turned^ but! several fair-tb-middling ^novels some years aigo, then settled down for three years of nothing but hard work, arid .the result is To My Father' (Farrar & Rinehart; $2.50), a strong novel. .'To My Father' still has a few faults. Story of a southern boy who goes throUgh life frustrated trying to find himself i the north, has a lot of power and punch despite the fact it sounds too much like autobiog- raphy in spots. Trouble with it is. it isn't consistent. Some blUe pen- cilling would have* 2 helped a lot. ~ A lot of it is unnecessarily repetitious, and a lot of it is much too gabby* But such a chapter as that, for in- stance, iri which his protagonist-has 4iad a fight? with his wife in Paris over a. riiinor. ; jealousy, in itself" riiakes the book worth-while. Not for films. Harold Sinclair, has written a book, 'Journey Honie/ " (Doubleday-Doran; $2) which- is peculiarly annoying. It constantly seems better than it is arid :|ives a blank total much below the book's actual worth. Written as a sort of modern picaresque novel, the yarn^s greatest .fault lies in the fact that it never really digs iri and gets a complete gri ' the author's heart or imagination. Written in first person, it sounds a< great deal like a real story told by someone who' has lived it—including all the dull portions. Also, hone of the female characters are true to.. life; they are all cut to pattern—a very' stylized, simple, overdone pat- tern. ■ Not for- films. Russian Show Bii item for theatrical li- braries, or those Russian theatre fanatics, is 'My Life iri the Russian Theatre' (Little-Brown; $3,75), by Vladimir . Nemirovitch - Dantchenko. He : was a co-founder of the Moscow Art Theatre with Constantin Stanis- lavsky and has much of interest to tell about that era. There are a lot of general theatre personalities and a'rie'edotes, and* there is a good peek into the back- ground -of-the-art -movement ;in.Rus.-_. si theatricals. But it rema> nevertheless, a book therii as' .cares.' ■''•■"■ Omnibus of Crime Philo Vance is stalkirig. the .bpokr stalls ,agai , ^monptle, sass, arid all. In.his newest adventure", 'The Kidnap Murder Case/ by S. . Van Di (Scribner's; $2>, Vance: is a bit more masculine than he's ever been" Which is a sign of the times. He actually manages to. shoot it out with a bunch of gangsters, saving Sergeant Heath's life. It's as good- an item as any previous .ones in the series, for sound.. Carroll John, Daly's never whodunits, but rather sock-em, shoot-em, kriock^em-dowri. arid drag- em-out yarns. Gunfire on every page. In every chapter, another crook bites the dustr In the final chapter/ justice triumphs arid, the gangster-fighter without scruples" (it's all for good old Yale) wi the girl. This time it's titled .'Mr. Strang' (Stokes; $2) and it's as good (or as bad) as any pred- ecessors in the series. Joseph Baker to edit a co-op quar- terly called The American Yellow Book in Hartford, Conn.