Variety (Jul 1939)

26 VARIETY / XITERATI Wednesday, July 26, 1939 Broun t« N. T. Fo6t7 Old N. Y. World men graviUtlng to the N. Y. Post, >with the paper, now under control of George Backer, beginning to. resemble the famed Pulitzer sheet by virtue of personnel and a broadened liberal policy. F.P.A. (Franklin P. Adams), col- umnist on the old World, had re- sumed his Conning Tower in the Post before Backer's takeover. But since then RoUin Klrby, World's editorial cartoonist, has joined the Post, and now Louis Weitzenkorn also on the paper. And Hey wood Br,bun has made a bid for a column- ing job! Broun application is indi- rect Ad which appeared in the 'Sit- uations Wanted* of the Post read: •Newspaper man of 31 years' experi- ence is desirous of job. Has worked as reporter, copyreader, rewrite, book reviews, dramatic critic, war correspondent, sports writer, col- umnist and briefly as publisher. Of neat appearance, althoOgh labor agi- tator. Not sure of recommendation from present post. No reasonable offer will be refused.' Giving a box number in Stamford, Conn., Broun's place of residence, ad was readily identified as his. Queried, Broun admitted the ad was his and said he had inserted it 'halt in earn- est, half in jest.* Broun's live-year contract as columnist with the N. Y. World-Telegram expires in Decem- ,ber, and. no negotiation so far either on his part or the paper's for a re- Bewal. ■ .■ ■ ■ Recently Broun, in reminiscing on his newspaper career, said to have declared that his idea of heaven was the old N. Y. World editorial offices. Hence, everything in connection with the Post considered, Broun's ad In the paper may have been consider- ably more in earnest than in jest. At the offices of the Post they deny either giving or getting a bid for Broun's services upon the expiration of his contract with the World-Tele- gram. Broun currently in San Fran- ' Cisco, ■ in advance of the opening of the American Newspaper Guild con ventton in that city. On the strength of the Broun ad, David O. Selznick is also reported having made him a Hollywood bid. be^tin Independent professional jour- nalistic association' reads statement sent out by Oliver ■ Holden, of the N. Y. Times, exec director of the society. 'Growth was slov.'and dues collection difficult. Discouraged, its organizers sought a subsidy, first from the A.F.L. then from the C.I.O. They got the subsidy and- with it an obligation to fight all of labor's bat- tles, regardless of merit. From the day the Guild's organizers gave way to discouragement the Guild's march out of the newsroom, in member- ship and in the causes it advocates, has been rapid and sometimes vio- lent. For its course the' Guild has been severely criticized. But its organ- izers bought for it a strength which has been growing. 'loA'&y the Guild has 108 contracts, and where it wins a contract there it stays, even though its own members turn against it Dues and assessments, with strike and other contributions, run as high as $100 a year per member in some places and where there is a Guild shop members pay or lose their jobs.* Statement then goes Into Society's claimed virtues, sharply contrasting them with the alleged shortcomings .0.. the Guild. Besides Holden, two other N. Y. Times men are among the Society's leaders. They are Roe S. Eastman, who is exec sec, and O. D. Donald- son, 1xeasurer;_2Ma«Bgernent of Uie ri. Tf. Times has informed the Guiid that. It will never under any cir- cumstances agree to a Guild shop on the paper. Howdy, Alice Hollywood, July 29. Alice Duer Miller met Alice D. G. Miller for the first time last week at Metro, where the former is scripting 'Lover Come Back to Me' and the latter is on the lot's writing staff. They had been reading each' other's mail for years. Newspaper Galld's Frisco Meet Annual convention of the Ameri- can Newspaper Guild for 1939 opens in San Francisco on Monday (31) and will continue until Aug. 4. Conclave will unofficially carry over for an extra day, Aug. 5 having been de- clared Guild Day at the San Fran- cisco International Exposition. Busines sessions morning and afternoon at the' FairmoAt Hotel, with social events for each of the evenings. Opening night of the con- vention there will be a cocktail party at the Fairmont; annual banquet Wednesday night; San Francisco Press Club party Thursday night, and buffet, supper tendered by the Cali- fornia Commission of the Exposition on Friday night American Newspaper Guild Aux- iliary will coincidentally hold its first convention, with business sessions skedded for afternoon of the opening day-and-morning-of-the second; Another Hearst Demise Another link in the once mighty Hearst chain faded from the news- paper scene Monday (24 ) with co n- solidatioii\ot the SyfiCUse '(N. Y.) Journal and the Syracuse American, Its affiliated Sunday sheet, and the Syracuse Herald. The man behind the gun in the consolidation is Samuel I. New- house, Long Island and Newark, N. J., publisher, who purchased the Journal and American from the Hearst chain, bought the Herald/ from its principal owner, Mai;y Jenkins, and then consolidated the two to blanket the afternoon field in Syracuse. It had been an open se- cret that the Herald was slowly be- ing pushed to the wall and that the Journal was a potential moneys maker, in the red each year only because of the fancy prices taken by Hearst subsidiaries for their va- rious features, INS service, etc. Hearst Interests first hinted The Journal was for sale last March, At that time Louis Burrill, pub- lisher of' the paper, a post he had inherited from his father, once its owner, was an active bidder. The deal was dropped, .however, with' a change in the Hearst general man agement Burrill thought that sale was out of the question until he discovered two weeks ago that sev- eral parties were scouting the prop erty. He made frantic efforts then to buy the sheet but. found the Newhouse deal for both papers so far advanced that he could not stop it As part of the deal. Miss Jenkins enacted a promise that Newhouse take care of her staff. As a result some 500 Journal employees are left jobless. Some dismissal bonus plan is now being worked out, al- though Saturday was the last pay- day for most Syracuse now becomes another town with but two papers, the Post Standard continuing in the morning realm. The P. S. is likeliest pur chaser of The Journal plant the new paper being printed in the mod ern Herald plant erected some 10 years ago. Times Men Rap Go lid ' Although It's professed time and ngnin to have no quarrel with the American Newspaper Guild, the American Press Society, in current new solicitation of memberships, roundly raps the Guild. Society puts the Guild on the pan by way of proving its own claimed worth, but rap is there just the same. 'When the American Newspaper Guild was' organized it set out to Gannett's 'Dlscoaraeement' National Labor Relations Board has ordered the Gannett Co. of Al- bany, N. Y.,. to 'stop discouraging' membership of its employees in the Trl-City Newspaper Guild of Al- bany, "Troy and Schenectady, at the same time dismissing a complaint against the Times Publishing Co. of Detroit, publisher of the Detroit Times, ruling there was no conclu- sive cvidencei the paper had dis- charged an employee because of its Newspaper Guild activity. Board's order to. the Gannett Co. directed the reinstatement of four editorial employees in Albany, Aus- tin J. Seannell, Joti.; Wanhope, Harry E. Christman and Roy A. Mowers, declaring them to be active Blurb Intellectuallsm William Hebert is writing a chap- ter on publicity for the Encyclo- paedia Britannica, the first disserta- tion oh free space-grabbiiig to ap- pear in the monumental skull round- up, Assignment was arranged by Walter Yusy, Britannica's editor-in- chief, on his recent visit to Holly- wood. Hebert is head boaster for Selz- nick-International. Guild members and to have been discharged for union activities. Complaint against the Detroit Times alleged that Leon A. £varts, commercial artist had been dis' charged because he joined the Guild. Charge was denied by the paper. Mark Kelly** 775G Suit Mark Kelly, one of the Los An- geles sports writers relieved of their jobs as. a result of the recent , legis- lative investigation of the wrestling game in California, came back with a $775,000 damage suit against Lou and Jack Daro, mat promoters, Charging defamation of character, Kelly contended that the Daros dl rected their bookkeeper to enter into their business ledger an item of $11,211 as having been paid to him in his capacity as a sports writer. Suli- sequently the ledger was read by the legislative committee. Kelly denied receiving the money and contended that the publication of the'ledger's contents injured his reputation as an accurate and un- biased reporter, Suit was. filed in Superior Court Stage Bevlval Primed Sandor. Incze skedded to return last night (25) from the coast to iron out details of takeoverof Stage Mag- azine by group which he heads. Ne- gotiations for the purchase progress- ing smoothly, and unless a hitch de- velops contract will be signed next Tuesday (1). New plans for the mag as worked out thus far call for weekly publica tlon beginning around the middle of October. Change of the periodical's ownership will be coincidental with a change in the name of Incze who's taking name of Alexander Ince for future use. •The Wrath of Steinbeck' With John Steinbeck's 'Grapes of Wrath' the biggest fiction seller in the U. S„ It's only conceivable that others -."st about for a means of cashing' ii on the firmly-intrenched rep of the-scribbler. Thus, there's to appear shortly a small volume to bear the title of 'The Wrath of John Steinbeck.* Author Is Robert Bennett, and book reputedly will recount an unusual incident in Steinbeck's life. Publisher is Albert son Press, in aissociation with Bun ster Creely. Mass AFL Crafts vs. CIO (Continued from page 9) Paul R. Jones' Syndicate New newspaper syndicate has been formed by Paul R. Jones, formerly with McNaught Syndicate. Taking on -Hedda Hopper's Hollywood daily column of film chatter as a starter. New organization to be known as the Jones Syndicate, with Jones as prez, and F. H. Graham, v.p. Mrs. E. M. JoneSi—wife—of—the—newr-syndlcftte^s- head, is editor. • I^edda Hopper's Hollywood previ- ously handled by Esquire Features since its inception around two years ago, Jones ready to close for a num- ber of outlets for the feature, includ- ing one in N. Y. major film companies before the USTG can become fully organized. Barralnlng Power Claimed The USTG claims to hold bar- gaining power for cameramen, labo- ratory technicians, grips, property men, electricians, laborers, sound technicians, and has just launched a drive to organize the white collar workers. USTG is being organized as an independent organization with' finances supplied by Coast tops in the CIO. Leaders claims no strings were attached to funds advanced, but lATSE and producers fear mem- bership would quickly vote to affili- ate with the CIO. Business agents and labor tops who have already joined the cam- paign to stop the CIO are AI Speede, International Brotherhood of Elec- trical Workers Local 40; J. Scott Milne, International Representative IBEW; Nathan Saper, Studio Trans-' portation Drivers Local 309; L. C. Helm, Studio Utility Employes Local 724; Ben Martinez, Studio Plasterers Local 755; William B. Castle, Studio Carpenters Iiocal 946; Joseph F; Cdmbina, International Representa- tive Carpenters; Bert OfTord, lATSE Costu mers Loca l 705; .Thomas _C^ Biryan, Laboratory Technicians Loc'Sf 683; J. W. Gillette, Interna- tional Representative Musicians Union; Jack B. Tenney, Musicians Union Local 47; D. T. Wayne, Studio Machinists Union Local 1185; Harold Roddaii, Projectionists Local 165; Ben Koenig, lATSE Makeup Artists Local 706. Following agreement between studio business agents was an- nounced by Secretary Carothers: There developed a united front of all those present at first meeting, and a positive attitude to resist to the extreme any interjection of any other organization not members of the American'Federation of Labor into the Lbs Angeles motion picture industry. Another meeting ha^ been called for Wednesday (26) to map out definite plans for fight and to bring in remaining unions.' Meantime, USTG continued with its organizational drive. "The organ- -ization-alao-sent-the-foHowlng-wire to U. S. Attorney General Frank Murphy, following announcement of LITERATI OBITS Arthur J. Baldwin, 70, v.p. of the McGraw-HiU Publishing Co. and former prez of the National Publish- ers Assn., died July 21 at his home in East Orange, N. J. V. K. Richards, 41, for many years art music and theatrical critic of the Toledo Blade, died July 16 at his home in Toledo. Grady Kinsolving, 49, publisher of the Corpus Christ! (Tex.) Caller- Times, died July 18 at Temple, Tex., where he had gone to recover, his health. Newspaperman t^nd pub- lisher In Texas for many years. Albert W. Keane, 51, sports editor of the Hartford Courant since 1926, died July 11 at Hartford of a stomach- ailment. Engaged in active news- paper work, mostly as a sports scribe, for 30 years. Served on the city staff of'the New Bedford Times, later becpming its sports editor. Served also on the Los Angeles Herald and Springfield Union as both night city editor and later sports editor. Rose Hartwick .Thorpe, 89, author of 'The Curfew Must Not Ring To- night' died July 19 in San Diego, Calif., where she had lived for 50 years. Her 'Curfew* verses were first printed in a Detroit newspaper, and brought her $1,50. Ernest Howard. 79, editorial writer for the old N. Y. World until it ceased publication in 1931, died Thursday (20) in Springfield, Mass. Began his newspaper career on th$ Springfield Republican In 1884, work- ing his way up to associate editor of that paper before going to the World in 1911. Widow and three children survive. CHATTER Lewis Browne- summering In Hawaii. Emil Ludwlg made a Knight of the French Legion of Honor. Willis and Barbara Wing touring Maine on a short holiday. Robert F. Lane the new book crick of the Omaha World-Herald. Burns Mantle, the N. Y, Daily News drama crick, off to Nassau. W. W. Norton, the book publisher, back from England with some new scripts. Joan London's biog of her father. Jack London, to get September pub- lication. John K, Winkler has written a biog of Frank W. Woolworth, the flve- and-tenner. Philip Wrenn and C. A. 'Cap' Pearce new additions to The New Yorker staff. John L. Beckley, of the AP N. Y. bureau, engaged to wed Eleanor Abbott Howe. Alvin Harlow has signed with Henry Holt & Co. for ■ book on stamp collecting. Ben Reese, managing editor of the St Louis Post-Dispatch, off for a European look-around. Wolcott Gibbs, of The New Yorker, father of a daughter. Gibbses also have a four-year-old son. Emerson Spencer, of the San Fran- cisco News sports staff, has sold..a piece on football to Collier's, Richard Aldington will settle here permanently and is planning to take out U. S, citizenship papers. - Stanley Young, the playwright and drama crick, has a new novel out this week, 'Sons Without Anger.* Holt bringing out Clayton Hamil- ton's 'The Theory of the Theatre, and Other Principles of Dramatic C^riti- cism.' Richard L. Weber, Jr., has joined Eisenberg-Champion, Milwaukee ad agency, as director of trade paper relations. August Derleth gathering data for a biog of the late Zona Gale, the novelist and playwright, who died a few months ago. ' Leo Barron, former night man- ager for United Press in L. A,, re- placed Don Black as Coast pub- licity director for TWA. Paul Wellman^ editorial writer for the Kansas City Star, has a con- densation of his best-seller, 'Jubal Troop,' in the current Omnibook. G. fi. R. Gedye getting over the effects of an auto mishap in Eng- land, and goes to Moscow soon to cover Russia for the N. Y. Times. Jack Lait to the Coast soon. N. Y. Mirror editor, has bought a Bevhills homie which Jack, Jr., occupies in between his father's sojourju west latter that picture Industry was being Investigated: Federal Probe Hailed 'The United Studio Technicians Guild comprising several thousand studio workers who are fighting to free themselves from racket labor uiiion which has been denounced by California Superior Court as a one-man dictatorship, hails with ap- proval and hope your announced determination to .proceed against labor racketeers in motion picture industry. Hollywood racket unions are now threatening Illegal strikes to force producers into violation of Wagner Act and to deprive men of their collective bargaining rights.' Department of Justice agents have been questioning labor leaders for several days, and reports here are that Federal Grand Jury may be asked to take action this week in connection with charges of labor racketeering in film industry. Threat of a strike of sound techr nicians at Metro was averted wheii studio executives agreed to cease. employing inexperienced non-union workers in sound department De- mand was submitted to E. J. Man- nix, Metro general manager, by, Harold V. Smith, business rep of Sounds 'Ilechniclans. Lpcal_6a5. aiid-. former Coast head of lA'TSE. Deal for inking of contract be- tween Republic and Screen Direc- tors Guild will be worked out this week at conference between Frank Capra, SDG prexy, and M. J. Siegel, president of Republic. Herbert J. Yates, prexy of Consolidated Film Industries, advised SDG that he had discussed the situation .with Siegel and was confident situation would be ironed out when Siegel returned to the Coast. Charles . Chaplin has agreed to conform to SDG agreement In pro- duction of his 'The Dictator,' sched- uled to roll in few days. New signa- tories ' to SDG basic agreement are Stephens-Lang and David Schratter Productions. Tentative agreement also' has been reached with Ed Fin- ney, .Harry Sherman and Famous Productions. Twenty producers who have al- ready signed SDG contracts are Me tiu, 20tlFFu x, Co lumbia, Go1d~ wyn, , Warners, Psramouhtr 'RKO- Radio, Universal, Lloyd, Principal,. Wanger, Fine Arts, Metropolitan, Morros, Zledman, Small, Darmour, Stephens-Lang, Schratter and 'Vital Pictures. SRG Approves Aereement Members of Screen Readers Guild have approved tentative agreement with producers calling for 40-hour week, with straight time up to 44 hours and time and half after that Readers will receive $45 week and. Special Readers $55. Apprentices draw $30 the first six months, $35 the second six months and $40 there- after. Huddles between producers and Screen Publicists Guild are being re- newed this week in hope of working out an agreement acceptable to both groups. Tentative proposals call for minimum of $90 week for Seniors, $50 for Juniors first year, $55 second year and $60 third year. Apprentice scale would be 60c per hour first year, 70c second year and 80c third year. . Trial of seven tops In lATSE and J. W. Buzzell, executive secretary of Central Labor Council, on citations charging contempt of court has been postponed until Monday (31). De- murrers to citations based on re- vocation of charter of Technicians Local 37 were sustained as to Charles Perguson, Harry ShifTman, Joseph Busch and Tom Moore. Those who will face hearing are John F. Gatelee, Steve B. Newman and Frank Stickling, lATSE international representative; Buzzell, Lew C, G. Blix. former business agent of Local 37; Boyd Young, Zeal Fairbanks, and Harold V. Smith, former Coast head of lATSE. Organization of Los Angeles chap- ter of American Guild Variety Art- ists has been completed. I. B. Korn- blum, attorney for organizations, claims more than 500 membership applications have been filed. Alice -Rossiter, regional director of San Francisco office of National Labor Relations Board, is In charge of Los Angeles office, following reslainatlon of Dr. Towne S. Ny- lander. Committees representing Artists Managers Guild and Screen Actors Guild get together this week to dis- cuss pact licensing all agents. AMG Is asking that changes be made in certain regulations, and Is opposing demand that all freelance contracts be made to conform with standard contraet to be approved by the SAG.