Variety (Mar 1949)

WcdlMMky, Wmnk 23« 194/9 LITERATI 53 Literati IMhi Famta ««, !*« O. Hlk« ' Another aegment of the publish-' ififf Indttstry voiced Us complaint in the House Post Office Commit- in Washington Monday (21) aeainst the proposed sharp In- . ureases in second class mailing rates. • Spokesmen for .Associated Busi- ness Papers, an association of 130 ' business publications, argued that l(l%' of all business papers mailed second class would be forced out of business If the bill increasing the postal rates is passed, The measure, H. B. 2945, would up the -second class rates sharply. ABP told of a study it made of 191 busi- ness technical and scientific pub? Iir-at'ions. Of those, 51% earned an average of only $10,423 in 1948. If H B 2945 bad been the law, they would have suffered an average net loss of $3,605 in the first year and $14,187 in the second year. In addition to which, there are pie- dictions of advertising declines after this year. Magazine spokesmen have al- ready attacked the bill, urging that only a moderate increase in rates be provided. Spokesmen for the they "are hardly scientific,'* "lack the validity claimed for them,'' and are full of discrepancies. SRL cites instances where it claims Billy Rose's "Wine, Women and Words" was slighted on-some lists; points out that Macy's terrific book sales don't even figure in orie list, etc. Mag claims (and cites instances) that (1)> the reporting book stores are chosen with little regard to statistical, justice; (2), reporting book stores are not weighted as to sales volume; (3), lists of reporting book stores do not compensate foi geographical inequalities; (4), many book stores do not keep an accurate count of titles sold; (5), "literary" titles are frequently favored, re- gardless of the true facts; (6), "bestsellers" sometimes indicate nothing more than large inven- tories and slow sales; (7), best- seller lists are usually three weeks out of date; W, "practical" books are inconsistently handled; and (9), long-term bestsellers are usual- ly ignored. Dftuce Encyclopedia A show biz find is "The Dance ^ /Encyclopedia," by Anatole Ghujoy daily press have been mixed on the i (Barnes, .$7.50)., The first encyclo- subiect of the bill. Uncle Sam now i pedia of the dance in any language, loses about $500,000,000 a year on I the 550-pag6 tome is thus the only the Post Office Department. SRL's 'Bogus Bestsellers' 'Bestseller lists, a sore subject for a long time in the book trade, with" ramifications in show busi- ness, are getting a going-over in the forthcoming (March 26) issue of the Saturday Review of Litera- ture. Article, titled "Bogus Bestsell- • ers," and in the main a rap at the N.Y. Times and N.Y. Herald Trib such comprehensive reference book In the . field. It covers the dance from its beginnings to today in all its ramifications-—ballet, tap, modern dance, ballroom^its pres- ent-day sweep for instance running from Gene Kelly, Ffed Aslaire and Ray Bolger, to Martha Graham, Alexandra Danilova and Ahcia Markova. Book not only covers dancers, past and present, v^'ilh ex- tensive biogs, but also includes composers, designers, critics, ballet terms; data on w.k and unfamiliar I have read the books with thoughtful care and find they are not obscene as alleged." une for what are called carelessly- compiled lists based on phoney re-1 ballets, basic agreements; AGVA, . ports from bookshops, has already l AGMA; Equity and Chorus Equity CHATTER Jessyca Russell's writers' News- letter passed its second birthday. Buck Herzog in Hollywood on his annual roundup of film interviews for the Milwaukee Sentinel. With its March 26 issue, Satur- day Review of Literature is hitting a 25 year high, with a 100,000 print order. Max Weinberg, Metro's eastern shorts representative, authored several fillers In the April issue of Coronet. .. H a r V a r d Lampoon, college's comic monthly, foe its annual spoof of national magazines has selected Holiday for this year's Satire. Lyn Atha appointed fashion edi- tor of Seventeen magazine. She was formerly assistant director of fashion publicity at Lord & Taylor. Geoffrey Homes closed a deal with Librarie Gallinard of Paris for; the. publication of his book, "Bnild ' My Gallows High," in France. Under a hill introduced in the Michigan State legislature, report- ers could not be forced to divulge the source of their news stories by .state governmental agencies in- cluding courts. Bill has been sent to .iudicial committee. Apex Books closed a deal with Jerry Lawrence, TV producer, for a volume of amateur drawings, in- cluding sketches by Don Defore, Reginald Denny and Don Wilson, who have appeared on the "Can You Picture This" charade pro-^ gram on KNBH. Carol Ryrie Brink's "Narcissa Whitman," a historical novel about I, Oregon, will 'be illustrated -bv I Samuel Armstrong^ Argosy art di- j-rector.■, , . Bob Thomas, Hollywood corre-. ; spondent for AP, has a new assist- I ant, Gloria Yarbrough. SCULLY'S SCRAPBOOK By Frank Scully stii^red up quite a rumpus, (Considerable ruckus was caused in the book trade and film indus- try about a year ago when Vauiety disclosed that picture company story editors had been approached by a New York press-agent who offered to put any volume they named on the best-seller lists for a very, nominal fee, P.a. claimed that by the judicious buying of . 100 or so copies in selected book- stores throughout the country he could heavily influence the reports contracts; various types of mjina- gers; ;varioUs forms of stage shows; costuhie; design; -criticisin,. ae^the-: tics,; . ^nd: -even:, recordings on' thie dance;.;'V: ■.. '.v ^:.;';-; Chujoy, who is author of several books on danfce, and .is. editor- piibUsher of Dance News, nionthly dance tradfe paper, h^s compiled a coinpreliensive yet JSlicClncit book. Items iire necessarily terse and brief, but, quite adequate. Style is readable and plaih, yet scholarly and authoritative. Book also con- on which lists are based. Filrii eds i tains many longer ; articles on, refused to go along with him, al- { standout angles or subjects by prominent contributors, such as George Balanchine's "Ballet in 1 Films;" Boris Romanoff's "Opera *Howdy Doody* ;Continued from page 1 though it was agreed that what he proposed appeared perfectly pos^ sible.: ■ The Times, getting word of the ■ survey, has already had its attor- ney write a letter to the SRL, - stating the piece~was libelous' and an attack on the integrity of the Times, and (since the piece has al- ready gone to press), demanding a retraction. Lester Markel, Times Sunday ed, said the survey was Ballet;" Eniily Coleniari's "Hal lefbrriania in II. S.;" Edwin Den- by's "Dance Criticism," etci ^^CoiitHB^utwr'also inclttdB" Fre^^^ erlck C. ■ Schang. Walter Terry, Pearl Primus, Lillian Moore. Barry Hyaras and others, writing- on Swedish, Soviet, Spanish. African, American dance or ballet; on; Ar- made without the Times being con- ! gentina, Nijinsky, Diaghilev, Deni' suited-or its system checked, and that no advance proofs were offi- cially sent him, although he got them second-hand. Markel also stated that his phoned protest had Shawn, Fokine, Pavlova, etc. One would wish for a one-line descrip- tion of what some ballets are about, although otherwise there is full description of .composers, already resulted in a couple of i premiere casts, location, and other tttfmntflw *f1{kAl#«i,c<*V<.AM4-A.i>AAM UAfMrt . ....... ^L.i..^j.j. ..I..4-V. BTOVI, Strongly "libelous" sentences being killed In proof. The Times list, he Insisted, is made up scientifically, and isn't haphazard; the Times gets reports from 208 bookstores •and carefully weighs and compen- sates their lists. Another Times important data. Philly 'Obscene' Decision "Dirt for dirt's sake" must be piroved in order to ban a bpok * under Pennsylvania's obscenity editor said "the whole thing is an ; laws, according to a decision hand- absolute lie." I ed ; down by Judge Curtis Bok in Mrs. Irita Van Doren. Herald | Common Pleas Court, Philadel- Trib book ed, also states that the I phia. Mere vulgarity or _coarse SRL didn't contact the Trib before or after, or send it proofs. Trib has no plans now for answering the article, she said, although it may change its mind. The article, she said, is full of excessive state- ments, inaccuracies and misinter- pretations of facts. Advance comment from story buyers in N.Y. film departments hess is not enough. The decision brought to a climax a year-long dispute over the right of the local police to clamp down on bookstores and seize books they consider ob- scene. The decision, in effect, re- sulted in the discharge of five booksellers, who had been brought to trial for violation of the Penn- sylvania state code, which makes it nent Howfly Doody ranch in its toy department, featuring all H-D merchandise. The younger set's interest in video is also seen, in; the success of the H-D hand puppet. The latex rubber figure comes packaged in a carton that looks; like a TV set, with a cellophane window for the screen. Puppet can be worked in the box for a make-believe video* cast.'' Stone is also negotiating with RCA^Victor for two Howdy Doody record albums to be published this year, the first containing original songs, written and composed by; En Kean, and the second, Mother i Goose stories told" by Howdy,:"also"!' to be scripted by Kean.. ; • ■ A contract is also iii the final. stages of negotiation. tO' cover over-1 all publication irights; Deal would i include comic books, a lOc; booki and a 2.'5c. book, which would total j a guaranteed minimum circulation' of 2,000,000. Offer from a feature j syndicate for a daily cartoon strip ! is also being mulled. ; Requests;for licenses have been' received from 30 apparel manufac-1 turers and from 65 firms making i toys and novelties, ranging from, wallpaper to lollypops. Stone's; pol- ] icy is to make tieups which Willi help promote the show but not : to pact any product which might j be a potential sponsor or compete I with a potential sponsor, NBC; shares in .royalties received from! licensed products, i $1 J00,000 Suits has been-cautious, one department' an offense to "publish or sell filthy head, however, slating that film ' and obscene books." companies have been aware of (he | The books under question were: 'laxity" in the lists for some time, i "Young- Lonigan," "Tbe "Voung and have governed themselves accordingly. These lists, he said, were quite an item in the thinking 0* Hollywood once, but aren't now, adding that film companies don't pay too much attention to the lists m theii? buying. Booksellers around the country, however, do, SRL is already getting pre - publication com ment, one message stating that "book sales and bestseller li.sts have nothing I** c^iymon"; another message say- ,mg It s about time compilers of such lists were forced to report ihe facts as they are," and still an- other thanking the SRL for "finally exposing these lists for the rotten sham they are." ti, S-'^' claiming it Is not attacking «^ Trib but their source's, made a survey of bestseller lists to "^1?,?,."P-With the conclusion that reasonable accmcy and balan Manhood of Studs Lonigan,' "Judgment Day" and "A World I Never Made," all by James T. Far- rell, and published by Vanguard Press; "Sanctuary" and "Wild Palms," by William Faulkner, pub- lished by Random House; "God's Little Acre," by Erskine Caldwell, published by Random House; "End as a Man," by Calder Willingham, published by Vanguard, and "Never Love a Stranger," by Har- old Robbins, publi-Shed by Knopf. Judge Bok, claiming none ob- scene, said: "Obscenity is measured by the erotic allurement upon the average modern reader; the erotic allure is measured by whether it is. sexually impure^ calculated in» citement to sexual desire; or whether it reveals an eft'ort to re- flect life, including its dirt with ' balance. |S5 Continned from p.i ge 1 ;ss ; the public regarding products of j other manufacturers. [ The Radio Manufacturers Assn., I in a Chicago confab last week for : the first time took cognizance of • the situation created by the Ze- , nith ads. A public relations pro- gram backed by "substantial funds" will soon be launched. Although not mentioning Zenith by name, .program is designed to provide an "objective, orderly and con- I'structive presentation of full in- , formation on television," including j present broadcasting services and J receivers in the present very high r i:requeneies and the ultra high fre- 1 quencies of the future. RMA de- ; clared that its plans Were initiated last month before the "many re- ' cent statements, articles and inci' dents which caused confusion- and misunderstandings regarding tele- vision by the public, radio dis- tributors and dealers, government ("and other interests." I Association's president. Max Bal- I coin, will appoint a committee to. Nutley, N. J., March 20. Thei-e is, if you'll pardon a pointed finger, a neurological test known as the "Mayer thumb reflex." It's known in Hollywood, too. At Metro it is referred to as"checked off the lot." At other lots they have other neurological signs to describe cTaatt acters quaking in the luxury of a layoff. But enough of this. My job is definitions. So on to the K rations in Scully's Psychiatric Word Book: K. KAINOPHOBIA: (1) Psychoneurotic dread of new things or new sit- uations; (2) Producers who confuse television with trichinosis; (3) Radio stars who develop otitis media on hearing a new giveaway gimmick is about to reduce the swelling of their Hooper ratings; (4) People who can't stand James Cain, Bob Kane or Walter Kane. KARYOKINESIS: Typical mode of cell division. In Hollywood, Mattewan or Joliet, any wing for the confinement of writers. KARYOPHAGE: An intracellular sporozobn. Technical term for a free-lance writer. • ' _ KA'TEBGASTIC REACTION: A term for simply psychotic dis- orders which are dynamic rather than neurotic. Comics who feel they are being scraped with a nutmeg-grater when listening to Fred Allen's voice, but find his gags most soothirtg to their egos when palmed off as their own..' .■ ■"■■■•■.•.■■■■:.:■■■;;;■..■.,-.; KEBATIN: The basis of corny tissues, used" to coat enteric pills like George Sanders. KEBAUNOPHOBIA: JMorbid fear of lightning. Obsession of directors whose pictures finish W firing a set. Fear that lightning or faulty viii-ing may" ignite the set some night and blow the schedule, tlie bud- get and the director himself right through the: window of the front, office. KERNIG'S SIGN: Reflex contraction and pain in hamstrung muscles . when the thight is flexed and an attempt is made to extend the leg. Common to starlets who try to .stand up after having failed to read the 6-point clauses in their j7-vear contracts. KIEiJAN'S SPACES: (1) Interlobular spaces of th^ liverj (2) gaps in the knowledge of John Kieran. KIESOWTEST: SmaU area on inner surface of cheek touching lower molars, which was found to be insensitive to heat, cold or any stim- :; ulus. What kissing Bette Davis in "Winter Meeting." must have been like. KINEPHANTOM: A false appraisal of the direction of a moving' Ob- ject. Familiar illusion where picture-goers oiiserve the wheels of a covered-wagon in a western turning in the opposite direction to the actual motion. Even more common when seen on windmill vanes at night This phantom helps the illusion that people like Robert Taylor, Alan Ladd, Errol Flynn and Tyrone Power could fight their way out of a-paper bag. KINESTHESIA: Sensations derived from muscles, joints; and inner ears, giving sense of position and location; A . psychotic symptom which actually is used as an asset by producers of outdoor epics, direc- tors and location-hunters generally. In the Ford-Flaherty syndrome. KINETIC ENERGY: Capacity for doing work Which a body possesses due to its motion. Theory that any picture dealing with the Santa Fe; Chisholm or Oregon trail can't fail, because it moves and the actors look as if they are working. KLANGt Words associated through < tonal resemblance; common in manic excitement, (1) Ex-fighters who become scenario writers and . can only start and quit at the sound of a gong; (2):nuts who hear.a bell and swear they are Fritz Klang. ; -KLEPTOMANIA: Petty larceny raised to a mental illness and kept at that level as long as one has solvent parents. (Scenario-writers who ■ steal from each other are not called "kleptomaniacs" but "adapters.") KOINOTROPIC TYPE: A term for writers of "we" editorials, ; and good ;mixers: Who are in the money because; they .knoW;how to Pat producers, stars and even sponsors on the back. In the. sychophantic syndrome. ,■ ■ ■•,;■-.•■'■;; . • - KOLYTIC REACT-ION^-ehecking -or prevehting-the-reactionr-to-a— stimulus. Western stars who get their faces slapped by trollops and - never bat an eye, but shoot perfect strangers on sight because they • get between them and the light in a poker game. KOPP'S ASTHMA: Laryngi.smus«slridulus, which used to overcome Keystone characters in the long Sennett chases. Now confined to 40- year old male leads who have, to follow, a fight sequence with a neck^; ing interlude. Resulting heaves are frequently mistaken for passion by both the director and the public. KOKSAKOW'S PSYCHOSIS: Polyneuritis resulting from a loused* up metabolism, in turn caused by insisting on billing even in Alco>; : holies -Anonymous. Characterized by memory, orientation and reten^ tion defects. In the Barrymore syndrome. KRAEPLIN: Kraut psychiatrist; who lived through Bismark, the Kaiser ;and the first dementia praecox symptoms of Hitler. Authority ■on split personalities and manic depressives. Really the father of mod-. em psychiatry,' which can therefore:be briefly described as "just a- lot of Krkeplin." KBAUSEEND-BIJLBS: Sensory end-organs found in the conjunctiva and at premieres , at Grauman's Chinese, where the last flashbulb is reserved for the guy who plays the exit organ-music. KRAUROSIS: Shriveling or drying of a part. What happens when a Broadway male lead compares the script he signed for, and the one he is playing, now that the femme lead has been changed from Eve Arden to Ginger Rogers.; KRISHABER'S DISEASE: A neurosis characterized by insomnia, vertigo, neuralgia and cerebrorcardiac disturbances. First experienced by a writer named Krishaber on learning ihat his longterm contract had four options a year and he was. being dropped after 90 days just in time to catch a Greyhound bus from Hollywood to Germantown, Pa* I "■;;■■;.■■ ■ . ■■;■■ ' :"■■■-■■■■;■;;■;,>■;, ./V „■■ " direct the program to be started Zenith statements had the; effect I shortly. RMA also approved more' of hurrying the process. Organi- complete video and FM statistics zation will attempt to provide tecli- I for manufacturers and broadcast- nical information and credit ex- I ers: RMA also pointed out that change and work more closely with I it has been urging the Federal television broadcasters in a "mu- ! Communications Commission to lift, tuality of interests." 1 the freeze on video to bring out I Temporary officers elected were an allocation plan for UHF and 1 Michael Kaplan,' president; of the i to provide for a minimum overlap i Sightmaster Corp.; Robert G. Krar ! between VHF and UHF with the j mer, Remington , Radio Corp.; Heri i same standards for both services. I bert Mayer, Empire Coil, secr'e-; 1 Television Manufacturers Assn.,! tary; Aliel Kessler,. U. S. Tele-, formed Monday (21) in N. Y., simi-1 vision, treasurer. Currently. 16 I larly decried the-Zenith ads urging i manufacturers are represented in strong action. Some at the meeting 1 TMA and an organization drive even urged a telegram to Pres. ] will be started to get in other Truman, pointing out that Zenith's [ manufacturers. , i "irresponsible" statements for its| Although Sightmaster and Em- ! own selfish ends "could be instru-i pire Coil, suing Zenith, are mem- i mental In causing further employ- ment dips throughout the coun bers of TMA, action is not con- nected with the organization. The try." However, action was placed! suit also seeks an injunction in the hands of a committee. Formation of TMA was in proc- against Zenith to force them to re- frain from "deliberate disparage* I ess before the Zenith ads., .but the. ment of another's goods.'^