Variety (May 1946)

62 LITERATI Wednoday, May 29, 1946 Literati Fre-Sold Best Seller Cooperation being given. Prentice- Hall, publishers, by . Paramount for sales promotion on "Duchess Hot- spur," has created a unique situation in the publishing business. A book that hasn't yet beeto sold lo a film company has become a . bestseller through promotion ticina with an- other book, which became famous, because of the picture based on it. "Hotspur" was written by. Rbsa- mohd Marshall, the gal who penned "Kitty." Because her agent minted, the boat by: not getting .her credit In the ads on '•Kilty." her first adult novel, P-H was forced to start from scratch in pushing "Hotspur." Pub- lishers decided, therefore, to baseall their promotion on "Kitty" ticihs and, naturally received full coopcra-' tion from Par. Publicity given Miss Marshall, consequently, has pushed "•Hotspur" to the . top of the best- seller lists, with 82,0011 copies sold to dale of the 100,000 copies iiy print before publication. Sol Hurok's 'Impresario' "Impresario" (Random House: $3) memoirs of Sol Hurok written in collaboration with .his pressagent Ruth Goode, is a very readable book about the experiences of the w;k. concert mana^r: the book having a good deal of the open-faced flavor of the man. Describing Hurok'.-; 30 years as impresario, it discusses the ups and downs of a manager, bat- tling bookings, temperament and contractual obligations, stressing the glamorous side of concertiziiig while understandably being a little chary of biz details and ramifications on the trade side. Book is filled with fascinating anecdotes about the famous and near-famous, with warm, human portraits of Chaliapiii. Pav- lowa and Isadora Duncan (especially the last named)' among other greats Hurok handled. Being "Amer- ica's ballet king," Hnrpk naturally devotes much space to the; Ballet Russe he brought over in '34'and the j popular revolution in ballet in the- U.S. that resulted. Book has a some- what flowery, sentimental stylo but it suits the man, the profession and the era covered. BVoji. added numerous news urograms, many of them direct from the struck newspapers themselves. Circulation of the struck dailies, Inquirer, Bulletin and Record, has been reduced about, one- third bjf the strike. Only, newspapers being sold are at the offices of the papers. 'Non-union newsboys are buying papers at retail and selling them at hypoed prices in downtown sec- tions. Daily papers are sold for a liickle (regular price three ceiitsJ,. Sunday papers which ordinarily sell for 12 cents are going for two-bits. . Fellowship!! For News. Ma*- Writers 2bliv-FOK and publishers Farrar, Straus have started a group of fel- lowships for novels written by news- paper and magazine writers in thv U. S. arid Canada. .iPayiris ah ad- vance of $13,500 each for unpub- lished novels, fellowships give FS publishing rights.-., arid film studio option oh picture production. Publishers advance $:!,50l) against royalties- and agree to place the book on the market withiii a year after the award is made. 2plh-Fnx grants $10,000 for film rights option, to be exercised within .30 days after publication. Included in the pub-, lishing rights is FS option of lirs! refusal on author's next two literary works. Total purchase pi'ice for film rights is $25,000. plus .40c per copy oil all trade copies sold above 35,000 and a bonus of $25,000. if the book is chosen by either Book- ol'-the-Monlh Club or the Literary Guild. Total. sum. however, cannot, exceed $150,000. ' present Industrial conflicts both sides prefer to let the country suffer rather than compromise their differ- ences. We believe the American people have the welfare of the na- tion, more at heart than these covet- ers of greed and power, and would respond to higher type of : leadership. "'State of. the Union' is not pro- Democratic or pro-Republican. It is pro-American. We believe in the Anicrjcan. people. We .believe them capable of saving'the." nation. .'But they cannot saveit by wishful think- ing. They must accept the respon- sibilities of a free people. They inus't vote both in primaries and elections, and to. vote intelligently' they must inform themselves! As ..we say. in: the play, 'Ignorant people, lazy peo- ple, and prejudiced people are not free. I M M > t III 111111111111111111» 11111 M I I I M > 111 1^ SCULLY'S SCRAPBOOK >♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦»♦ By Frank Scully hhmmmimiu Previous lasts' Haw Variety Reviewed Patterson Capt. Joseph Medill Patterson, publisher' of the N. Y. Daily News, who died Sun. (26), won his spins as an author and playwright long be- fore he inaugurated his' tabloid daily: His . most famous play was probably "The Fourth Estate," one of the few shows about'newspapermen that achieved any degree of success. It was produced oh Broadway in 1909. He also wrote several vaude CHATTER Edgar Ansel Mowre'r. signed by National Conceit A- Artists Corp. for. lecture tour next season. Bosley. Crowlher. N. V. Times mo- tion, picture editor, making the rounds of Hollywood studios. New rival to Hobo News is Flop- house News. Tenafly. . N. .1.. with emphasis on derelicts and bums. Stanley C. Speer.. former veepee and gen. mgr. of. Toledo Blade, has become biz mgr. of Erie (Pa.) Dis- patch-Herald. Hazel Flynn, former Rob -Reel, film reviewer for "the Chicago Amer- ican, to Coast as motion picture ed- itor for the Valley Times, in San Fernando Valley., Los Angeles Daily News is ready- ing a new Saturday feature-supple- ment with Milt Phinney, Sara Boy- non". Bob Moore. Meme Boyd. Gib Brush and. Pop.Jorz in the editorial group. John Day Co, is publishing a low- priced edition, of "Anna and the King of Siam," novel by Margaret Landpn, to be brought put simul- Arden- Actor: Actress:' in the ... taiieously with release of the 20th- skelclics. One of them. . titled I Fox film version, "Dope," was reviewed by Sinie in I It's no U. S. swan song for Somer- Varikty on Jan. 1, '10. when Herman I set Maugham as has been reported. Lieb and Co. presented it at the old He was. given a series of'farewell Loew's American. N. Y. Declaring that it was "altogether out of the everyday humdrunl of vaudeville sketches." Si me saicT: "'Dope' has some comedy, a straightforward story, well written and concisely told: it contains terse humor on its satirical side, with pathos on the reverse (where char- acters-arc seen as the victims, of co-- cainef. and it became at once on Monday evening one of.the bis hits of the show as well as a playlet vaudeville can endure , for ever so long." Recalling that Patterson had wrilr ten several plays. Sime declared that "for a playwright in the legitimate field. Mr. Patterson turned out a re- markable vaudeville script in Dope.' " Ph'illy Still Slru.k Fioiello LiiGuardia really started something. Virtually every PIViliy radio station now has\a program in which spme spieler reads the antics of Orphan Annie. Dick-Tracy or Lil. Abner over the air to the iistcnor^ j content or the comedy is to stir up who arc being deprived of the com-, the conscience of the individual.cili- icsbylhe current strike of the news-; /cni tj lev continued, especially as it paper truck drivers. | affects the choice of, candidates for The walkout, winding up its second | President in! 1948. The Prosidcur is parlies last week but it doesn't mean he will not return to America after a London sojourn, i Two stories dealing with women | in postwar world society arc sched- uled for the June and July issues I of McCall's. Written by public rc- i lations counsel Edward L. Bcrnays. the stories are titled ' The Two Lives I of Women." Bob Parker, former A. P. head , in the Balkans. ex-OWI head in Turkey and author of "H. Q. Budapest." has been signed by Rinehart & Co. for : a sequel lo his Balkan book. He's leaving for the Balkans in a few ivcoks to start his research. 'Union' Scribes — Continued from pane I s era I welfare of the nation." they wrote. Knight. "We ask for a leader- ship along that path and express the conviction that such leadership would find an immediate response.'' Real purpose behind, the serious week oii Thursday (30) is as far from being settled as when it started. The publishers and the drivers union are as far apart as ever: The union .wants a- paid half-hour lunch period plus retroactive increase in pay back to March 2. The publishers arc standing pat on their original oiler of a raise in pay and increased va- cation periods: In addition: to reading of comics. « la LaGuardia during the New York irtrike, stations—particularly WPEN, the only elective officer who repre- sents all the people: Senators repre- sent states: -Congressmen represent 'districts. But the.President is repre- sentative' of and responsible to the people as. a whole. "We feel that, with this well in mind, the American, people should view with suspicion and distrust any candidate who appeases any special, interest in the hope of its support. " "The American people today arc being-led into selfishness by sookes- WCAU, WIP, KLW and WFIL—have! men lor special interests On page 60 <rre lisied </ie.. ■ - "bests' in tlie 1945-40 Broadicnw If0i£ season, as. selected, bu ilie . Wete York drama cWlicx.-Tlie /ol- lotiiiig tcerc ilniiied in pivrioiis . seasons in the, poll coiidiirted MV VAitiKvr. 1939 (*) Maurice Evans ("Hamjet"> Jlidith Anderson ("Family Por- trait"! Ethel Waters- ("Mam.baVDatigliter") (19401 (No choices) . . 1941 (<) PaulLukas ("Watch on the Rhine") Gertrude Lawrence ("Lady in the Dark") 1942 Actor: Burgess Meredith ("Can- dida") Actress: Judith Anderson ("Mac- beth") . Supporting Actor: Joseph BulofT * "Spring Again") Supporting Actress: Jessica Tandy ("Yesterday's Magic") ".'■•■ . Actor (Musical!: Danny Kaye ("Let's Face It") Actress (Musical): ■ Eve ("Let's Face It") Most. Promising Young Nicholas Conte ("Jason") Most,'. Promising* Young Mary Anderson ("Guest House") Director: Shepard Traube ("Angel Street") Scene Designer: Howard Bay ("Brooklyn. U.S.A."). 1943 Actor: Alfred Lunl ("Pirate") ' Actress: Tallulah Bank head ("Skin of our Teeth") ' Supporting Actor: Rhys Williams ("Harriet") Supporting Actress: Aline McMa- hon ("Eve of St. Mark" > Actor (Musical): Alfred Drake ("Oklahoma!") Actress (Musical): Ethel Merman ("Something for the Boys") Most Promising Young Actor: Skippy Homeier ("Tomorrow the World") Most Promising Young Actress: Joan Ca'ulncld ("Kiss and Tell'') Director: Elia Kazan ("Skin of Our Teeth") Scene Designer: Lemuel Avrcs ("The Pirale") Composer: Richard Rodgcrs ("Ok- lahoma!") 1944 Aetor: Elliott Nugent ("Voice of the .Turtle") Actress: Margaret Sulla van ("Voice of the Turtle") Supporting Actor: Jose Ferrer ("Othello") Supporting Actress:- Terry Holmes ("Manhattan Nocturne") Actor (Musical): Bobby Clark ('.'Mexican Hayride"). Actress (Musieali:': Mary ' Martin ("One Touch of Venus") Most Promising Young Aclm'- Montgomery Clift ("S.c a r c h i n i> Wind") Most Promising Young Actress: Terry Holmes ("Manhattan Noc- turne - ') Director: Moss Hail (•.Winged Victory") Scene Dcsignor: Stewart Chancy ("Voice of the Tuiile") Composer; Kurt Weill ("One Touch of Venus'*) 194.1 Actor: Frank Fay ("Harvey") Aclrcsi:. Laurelie Tavlor ' ("Class Menagerie") Supporting Actor: Frederick O'Neal ("Anna Lucasla") Supporting Actress: Josephine Hull < "Harvey") .Actor (Musical): John Raitt ("Ca- rousel") ■ Actress' (Musical): Beatrice Lillic (■'Seven Lively Arts") Most. Promising -Young Actor: Richard Baseharl. ("Hasty Heart") Most Promising Young Actress: Joan Telzel Remember Mama"i Director: John van Druten ("Mama") •■ Dance .Director - Choreographer: Agnes de Mille i"Bloomer Girl") : Scene Designer: George Jenkins C , Mama"-"Mooir , -"Grouiid") Lyric Writer - Composer: Richard Rodgrvf-Oscar Hammerslciii II ("Ca- rousel"). »(Iii 1939 and 1911 only boat acton In the and actresses were ekonen.) Bostonia, Cal., May 2«, " Don't look now, but if you're planning lb make the San Fernando Valley < your home you won't And the guys who made it famous living there at» more, You'll And them trekking south, toward such places as the above named Bostonia, Valley Center, Ramona, Cleveland, Pala, Coyote Wellg. Witch Creek, Ripley (believe it or not) Blythe (alter the spirit of the same name), Del Mar, La Jolla (which despite Fadiman is pronounced "La Hoya") Alpine, and Escondldo.. ' : Along the way. you will pass a series of ghost towns where soldiers sailors and marines blazed their trails of glory; and above the whole scene is Mt, Palomar, where the largest telescope in the world is under construe, tion'in the hope of finding out. it' other stars have press agents, too. Below Palomar, that Bronx cowboy from NYU and Fordham Law,"Harry Carey, has a new ranch 1 ot 1,000 acres. He was one of the flrst ranchers to settle in the San'Fernando Valley and One of the first to leave, Twenty ' years ago he had 4,000 acres: add a trading post named Carey, Cal. A dam broke and washed his Navajo Indians, his townsite and his postoffice into the Pacific. Around hiin currently, about 50 miles north of the Mexican border, are ranchers like Frank Capra. John Ford, Fred Astaire, Merle Oberon. Bing Crosby, Pat O'Brien,; Jack Haley; : Rod LaRoque, Burl Ives and such definitely saddle-broke cabarillos as John Wayne, and Leo Car- rilio:. -Some have eovhe here: because the area looks .like New England*. Others because it looks like the Fijis, Ipdia, Norway and maybe Southern California.- Every so often you will find a mission which was founded ages ago by the Franciscan fathers. Some are in good repair, some in ruins. But all seem surrounded by rich, land, and the Hollywood stars who carry llic ro- mantic illusion that ranching is richer pay-dirt than pictures are iiovv mov- ing in where angels feared, to tread. ' Don't Get Lost Much ot this area is as wild as-cver and .no place to get lost-in. On this trek., darkness was fast descending upon us. We were miles froni a gas station, hotel Or telephone. We found some Indian squaws burning leaves, near the Pala.Mission. We asked if they knew where Harry Carey's haci- enda was. They knew. We reached the Caroy ranch as the lights went on. Mignon Barclay, welcomed usv She'.s Carey's - sistevin-law. (lie daugh- ter of the late George Fuller Golden. JIarry was on location in Arizona. So was John Wayne. So was Jack Ford. She welcomed us in the absence of the padron of the hacienda. A mag- nificent mansion made of Mexican mud . (adobe they call ID we. were in- vited to spend the night! 1 got the master's bedroom. II was made of adobe brick soaked in linseed oil. which gave the bricks a dark, brown/ solid look. The ceiling was of. rough board painted a Copenhagen blue. The beams were of telegraph poles, polished and'varnished to look for- ever amber. . There was a wastcbaskct of a huge elephant's fool which had been scooped out and the hide tanned. Harry had probably got it in Africa when.on "Trader Horn." There.'was an old easy chair which I recognized as having been salvaged from his former Mpjavc' Desert ranch. The chair had one thing which Hairy had picked ■ iip from his legit days around : Times Square., something familiar to habitues of the old Thompson .eater- ies; That was -an arm for-writing and reading. He has plenty of bonks around an open fireplace and a door through which he can scram, to a chuck wagon or take lo horse if a bobby-soxer ever gets this tar from Hol- lywood and Vine. , The Great Discovery. Among liis books I picked up one to read. II was Edwin Corlc's "Desert Country-'' C'orle was the husband of Helen. Freeman of Theatre Guild fame:. Nobody writes better ot the desert. I opened the book and out teH a poem. Out go the cards with the carols and candles, Out goes the holly because of the vandals. In comes the Sneaker. Mikado the Eel, Stooge for Der Fury and Benny the Jlcel. In come the brigands—an unholy trinity, Spouting, defying, defaming Divinity. They're lusting for blood (See "place in the sun.") . They're.lusting for loot, and all of our moh. The earth is their oyster, the moon is their clam,' They want them by Christmas.,including Siam. They seem lo forget the Sweet Little Stranger Who rescued the world and was born in a manger. They seem to forget (and the news is not uewislu That His Mother was poor and certainly Jewish. 'But they'll never forget the'Heaven they missed, The Popes they defied, the Sermons they hissed. They'll never forget (he Present they gave For Christmas this year: to. Goodness, the Grave. But the world has returned it. and pray We may see Moin Finish for Hitler, Mikado and B. So down on your knees if you are worth saving; You say your prayers; let them do the raving. I. was astonished at the prophetic nature or its message, but far from astonished to discover thai it was released by Ihe Scully Circus, and Their Trained Fleas from Heaven. Authors, Entertainers. •Frank Scully. Pre*, after Pearl Harbor. \ i „ As if on a busman's holiday, we caught "The Virginian" after lc«ving:the Carey Ranch and again 1 was reminded that a good western never dies. "The Virginian" can even take a Back Bay" Bostonian like Sonny Tufts and maker him into'a believable rustler. As for Joel McCrea and. Brian Donlevy, brother, they should never be fenced in. I noticed also that Kirk LaShclle was still billed ahead or Owen Wisler on the play version of "The .Virginian." 1 knew the youngster. Kirk as captain of the 'University of.Arizona football team. He played tackle bill didn't hear loo well. To offset this he used to get a spy to' take his.team's., signals to the opposing team. As (he defense line, on hearing his learn s signals, would shirt. Kirk knew where his own team's play was headed for. He wouid then promptly lake the defense out ot circulation.. LaShelle had: another defense, mechanism that I always admired. In- stead pf_askiiig or being asked .questions at a railroad station, be would say; "I'm gofng to Los Angeles on Tuesday'., March 22. 1 waift'"a lower on Train 8. leaving on Track-2 at 11:45 Tuesday night." N He would give all the in- formation in one sentence, being thus spared the-embarrassment of asking- "What was that you.said'.'" He became a member of ah outstanding taw firm in San Francisco, and lo add a footnote to the Encyclopaedia of,In>'0' he became the firm's, trial lawyer. That was 20 years ago. He's been a great success, but if the judges, ever find out he can't hear he'll be ruined. A LasNle Named Billy I'd like to have Kirk LaShelle's legal opinion on one ot the culcsl.lricks of the week which Metro pulled when it produced Lassie, certainly a slar in her own right, lo double for another dbg named Billy. It seems Billy, one of Lassie's puppies, didn't, grow fast enough to meet the demands of the shooting schedule, so Lassie had to stooge for her own soil—a «ood actor in his own right, too. > That Lassie as Billy will make "Blue Sierra" in color one or Ihe com- pany's best paying pictures is a cinch. Elizabeth Taylor. Frank Morgan and Tom Drake arc starred but 'his in- clusion gives rise, to the suspicion that animals must have a "Be Kind to People" week. Except for .Morgan's-otic fine court-room "scene, and Elisa- beth Taylor's tears, all the other parts could have been played quite as well by animals.