Variety (April 1953)

Wednesday? April 15^ 1953 LITERATI 77 Literati Quick Calling It Quits j otiick is calling it quits after Its ^ June 1 1 issue and the pocketsized i mi will'be merged with Look, rardner Cowles, president and Smor of Cowles Magazines, an- meed this week. Reason for the hnlvout from the pocketsize field, tcord ng to Cowles, is difficulty of securing . advertising fdr the ^Quick’s 6 exit * doesn’t leave too trench of a hole in the pocketsize S 5 d what with new mags like whv People Today, etc,, spring- ing up almost weekly. However, t-s bowout does leave void in the pocketsize news digest field. Circulation was 1,300,000, and mas sold at a dime. But rising costs necessitated greater adver- tising than the mag was able to eet Several features will be inte- grated into Look, and subscribers will receive Look for the 'rest of their subscription periods. Addi- tion of the list to Look will give latter a total circulation of 3,700,- °°Latest circulation getter* for Quick had been its metropolitan area TV listings, which had cut Heeolv into circulation of the TV mags like TV Guide in *N. Y. Quick’s fold will probably serve to enhance TV Guide’s position, com- ing at a time when the Guide is building a national circulation un- der Walter Annenberg’s aegis. Capp’s TV Reporter A new tele guide will be put on eastern newsstands April 23 by Capp Enterprises headed by car- toonist A1 Capp and his brother, Elliot Caplin. Latter, a former editor of Parents mag, will be publisher. Sheet, la- beled TV Reporter, will attempt criticism as well as reporting of tele news events. TV Reporter is being aided ini- tially by the American Ne^s Co., which formerly distributed TV Guide, recently bought by the An- nenberg interests. TV Guide was withdrawn from American News by the Annenbergs, who maintain their own distribution setup. Dis- tributor was left with a hole in its setup that amounted to $300,000 revenue, and as a result interested the Capp concern in starting the new venture. Editor will be Harold C. Field. Paper’s* format will call for pro- gram ratings. Caplin contends that any program until 9 p.m. must be regarded in the light of its ac- ceptability to children. Sheet will also go after signed articles from the outside. Meyer Berger Resumes Meyer Berger, N. Y. Times’ Pulitzer prize reporter, Tesumed his ‘‘About New York” column in the daily this week after a 13-year hiatus. Berger’s original column, which stemmed from his coverage of the N. Y. World’s Fair, ran daily until it was killed by wartime spac£ shortage in 1940. The new three-a-week column, published Monday, Wednesday and Friday, will run about 500 words on sundry odd angles of thq N. Y. beat. Berger states he’ll make no attempt to compete with other Broadway columnists.” ‘Mutiny* Rampant Herman Wouk’s “The Caine Mu- hny, published by Doubleday, has maintained its position in the best- seller lists for the past two years, 5, C01 r?i? g t0 the N - Y. Times Sun- bay (12) charting of literati clicks. Dunng this time, the Pulitzer rnze novel has sold 435,000 copies IIL- bookstores, with 1,750,000 A n , various editions, now in u ^ bas been picked up by ve book clubs and syndicated in newspapers. Wodehouse-Bolton History tnr,, combined autobiographical his- nrJJ ^usical comedy in America an? England P * G * Wodehouse hv <P uy will be published bimon & Schuster. Writing responsible for a number of cpnJif, pdt duri ng the '20s, re- nnhiioiv lgn ? d a contract With the fabpipS 1 ^ ? irm to issue the book, tfirh ^ Bri J?S °n v the Girls.” A full r ur ®, section will augment the .Wodehouse, incidentally, will dAUn« Ve *L5 dvel » “ Ri ng the Bell,” .pS with British aristocracy, vi ^.Publication next year. licnHn« s ! at SSu for - future s & s P ulT - Th e Esquire Treasury,” cuIIph ) vi11 c . ontain over 70 yams ini K. f T ro1 ? H sues of the m ag dat* S back to 1934. Authors who’ll u. represented include Ernest l^ ay ’ J ° hn Steinbeck, F £ Flt zgerald, Max Schulman, WP 17 a A n Wo Hk and Erskine Cald- en. A special 48-picture section will supplement the reading mate- : rial. i Bing Crosby’s own storv, “Call i Me Lucky” is also on firm’s up-; coming schedule. Selections from the yarn, which will be published in both paper and cloth editions, were just serialized by the Sateve- post. scribes its lead dancers and its repertoire of ballets at great length. An absorbing volume, the book is essentially, as Chujoy describes it, the story of achievement, through trial and error, of two Americans, the native-born Lincoln Kirstem and foreign-born George Balan- chine, both impractical dreamers, i who succeeded because they had I genius and vision.” Bron. SCULLY’S SCRAPBOOK } 4444 + By FV&nJk Scully Still More ‘Pogo’ Walt Kelly, creator of the “Pogo’’ comic strip, now in 357 papers, has a new book due in May under | Simon & Schuster imprint. It's called ‘‘Uncle Pogo So-So Stories,” and despite its title is for adults and not children. The book, with pictures and text by Kelly, is a collection of satirical pieces including “The Bloody Drip,” a takeoff on the modern mystery novel featuring Mucky Spleeu, a private eye-ear-nose- throat-leg man; a shortstory with illustrations on the issue of free- dom of speech, and a joshing ap- proach to kid books, “A Chile’s Guardin’ Adverses.” Two more books by Kelly will be published in the fall by S&S: “Comic America,” a history of the comic strip in the U.S., and a new “Pogo” book tentatively titled “Jes Playin’ Possum.” The latter will be the third "Pogo” book for S&S. First, called just "Pogo,” has sold more than 300,000 copies since publication two years ago* picking up sales after the second, “I Go Pogo” (which has sold 260,- 000), came out last fall. Trim N. Y. Trib Modern makeup and a compact page size, designed to make the paper more readable and easier to handle, were introduced by the N. Y. Herald Tribune as. of last Wednesday (8). New format stresses “briefer, simpler” headlines. Column widths have also been trimmed slightly. Aside from achieving a stream- lined effect, the new Trib will obvi- ously save on newsprint since the overall page width has been cut almost an inch. Sheet has long pioneered in developing new de- sign and printing techniques. Barn Blueprint "Blueprint for Summer Theatre: 1953 Supplement” ($1.50), has been issued by the John Richard Press. Edited by Broadway stage manager John Effrat, this sixth an- nual compilation of strawhat info contains special articles and out- lines of pertinent union rules, plus lists of barns, last season’s new plays (with reprints of Variety reviews), revivals, stars, news- papers, etc. N.Y. City Ballet's Story The fantastic leap of the New York City Ballet from a small, semi-pro, parochial group five years ago to America’s No. 1 ballet company and one of the great terp troupes of our timie, is told with great warmth, skill and authority in “The New York City Ballet” (Knopf; $5). Story is actually the evolution of the company, through several metamorphoses in the past 18 years, from American Ballet, Ballet Caravan and Ballet Society to its present status. Told by the noted ballet authority, Anatole Chujoy, editor of Dance News’, who sat in or through most of the vagaries, crises and developments, it is not only comprehensive but “official.” Book Is put on a very personal basis from the start, so that what might be a dry, matter-of-fact, im- personal account turns into a lively, personal, anecdotal and quite read- able, inside-stuffish chronicle. While written with enthusiasm as well as great learning, it is also honest and quite critical. Fine tributes are paid to Lincoln Kir- stein and George Balanchine, the selfless guiding spirits of the proj- ects throughout, with kudos for Morton Baum and other unselfish enthusiasts who joined in for the NYCB phase. The artistic aims of the troupe, especially in the last five years, attracted an unusual amount of help and goodwill. Jerome Robbins -and Harold Lang came over from Broadway to dance with it, at a pittance. Kirstein, Balanchine, Baum worked for nothing. Igor Stravinsky crossed the continent to conduct for one evening, when one of his works would be done. World- famed choreographers contributed ballets to it; with few exceptions, every dancer in America wants to join it, and work in its high artistic atmosphere. Esteem of the troupe In Europe, its two tours abroad, are carefully brought out. 'Book not only chronicles the troupe’s history, and discusses noted personalities, but also de- Xow It’s Books In 3-D Scnpter Malvin Wald, who has been teaching scenario writing at USC for the past five vears, is 1 writing a book titled: “How To Write For Dimensional Drama.” This is believed to be the first vol- ume devoted exclusively to 3-D. Hollywood Parlay ■, Alyce Canfield’s book, "It Takes | More Than Talent,” written in col- j laboration with Mervyn LeRoy, will contain a foreward by Louis B. Mayer, and a flap intro by Louella O. Parsons. Grayson's 4th Encore Charles Grayson, Hollywood scripter, has done it again with “The Fourth Round,’’ which is lit- erally No. 4 in his anthology of stories for men (Henry Holt; $3.95). Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Gallieo, La- Farge, Kantor, Hecht, Thurber (to whom he dedicated the book), Fair- banks, Jr., Cozzens, Steinbeck, Longstreet, Ben Ames Williams, Sinclair Lewis, Bromfield and many others are represented in this brisk galaxy which, as designed, is virile reading. For the convincer, Hum- phrey Bogart did a brief foreword. Abel. ‘U. S. A. Today* To repel the normal British idea oi the U. S. as a land of gangsters, an exhibition titled “U. S. A. To- day” opened in Edinburgh, Scot- land, yesterday (14). It will stay in the Scot capital for three weeks, then go on to tour main British cities. Exhibition includes library, film strips, stereosopic picture viewers, a cinema and a music unit, with disks ranging from classics to swing. Police Sued on Book Ban The New American Library of World Literature, New York, pub- lisher of pocket-sized books, has filed suit in Cleveland Federal Court to curb Youngstown’s police chief, Edward J. Allen,- Jr., in his campaign against sexy books there. Hearing is scheduled for tomorrow (Thurs.) on an application for a temporary injunction lifting the chief’s ban on 39 books published by the firm. Company also brought suit against the chief personally for al- leged libel, asking $3,500, and against the city and the chief for damages for loss of sales which al- ready totals $50,000, according to the suit. Also asked was a ruling by the court declaring the city’s ordi- nance against obscene books in- valid under both the Federal and Ohio constitutions. CHATTER Jack Goodman, Simon & Schus- ter editor, planed to Jamaica last week on vacation. Doris Burrell, managing ed De- partment Store Economist,, off on month’s vacation in Europe. Harry Miller, editor of Straits Times of Singapore, covering the 3-D situation in Hollywood. Ruth Werthman, of Newsweek magazine, planed overseas Monday (13) for a six-week vacation in Italy. Harry Haenigsen’s "Penny,” pa- per-back book on comic strips, to be published by Simon & Schuster April 28. Jose Jasd was elected to suc- ceed Nora Liang as president of the Foreign Press Assn, of Holly- wood for a one-year term. Kathlyn Hulme of Los Angeles received the Atlantic Monthly’s an- nual $5,000 non-fiction award for her book. "The Wild Place.” Emmett Kelly, tramp-pantomime clown with the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus, has done his autobiography for Prentice Hall publication. Evelyn Harvey, Collier’s enter- tainment editor, heads for the Coast this week to visit major studios and huddle with top film writers William I. Nichols, This Week ed, in Tokyo all last week, will spend three weeks in Formosa and Hong Kong and return for three more weeks in Japan. Leonard Harris, play critic and columnist for the Reading (Pa.) Eagle, evening newspaper, vacates his post May 1 to join the Scran- ton (Pa.) Tribune as a political and editorial writer. Fred Woodress, Variety corres- pondent and Birmingham (Ala.) Post-Herald columnist, due in N. Y. Saturday (18) for a week of play- going. Woodress, incidentally, is the author of two plays, "Back to Back Bay” and "Impasse.” 4 ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ HIH t Hollywood. Being a sucker for lost causes, I find myself rushing to the rescue of Hollywood every time a remake comes out of a major studio. Old men repeat themselves and feel that anything new is full of hazards. But old men belong on pensions, not on the .firing line whore new twists and surprises are a matter of life and death. So it is to help the young adventurers, not the Forest Lawn Alumni Assn., that the Scullywag tosses his genius like confetti,'for free, on those who read and run. AUons, done: ■ Old Title New Title KON-KON I WANT CHILE Three men take off from the coast of Chile on a raft supported by tw'o canoes made of laminated corncobs. They want to prove that the people of Pago Pago and the natives of Chile are blood relatives because both eat chile con came, though the Polynesians call it “kon-kon” while the Chileans, except those who went to Harvard, pronounce the “r” in came. . The voyage goes badly till they are off the Hawaiians. There they pick up a plump mermaid who reminds them of a beachcomber they once knew. He too was a Dane. She has a beard of sponges and carries a set of waterproof books. She reads from them when- ever there is work to be done. “Charles Laughton,” says Skipper Soldad, "or I am no Norwegian student of English literature!” One day the mermaid’s T*shirt becomes torn in a storm. The cleavage makes everybody suspicious. Life becomes intolerable after that. "Let’s heave her overboard,” cries First Mate Halvorson. "What good will that do? She’s a mermaid,” the skipper points out. Canute the cook issued his ukase. "If she goes, I go,” he said, “Have we got enough chile con came prepared for the rest of the voyage?” the skipper wanted to know\ Halvorson assured him they hadn’t. "Okay,” decreed the skipper, "in that event she stays.” Both the mermaid and Canute rejoice at the decision. They play Eskimo. They rub noses and . kiss if they miss. Canute keeps missing. "Disgusting!” cried the skipper. "Throw them both overboard.” After that they followed the raft like dolphins, Canute riding the mermaid like a cowboy on a sea horse. Then one day both disap- peared under a huge wave: "Good riddance,” shouted the skipper. Ill luck follows them for weeks. They have to eat their lami- nated corncobbed canoes. It looks as if the choice is either sink or starve. More dead than alive, they are washed up on the beach at Pago Pago. The chief welcomes them and carries them to a feast of chile’ con came. "Excelsior!” cries Soldad, reverting to his native Norwegian. "Don’t you mean ‘Eureka’?” The voice seemed familiar. Soldad turned to face his prompter. "You?” "Of course, me.” replied Canute. "And what’s more, I have not only introduced chile con carne to these islands, but the chief and I have signed a pact which ties up the concessions from here to the mainlands both east and west.” "And the mermaid? Was she male or female?” "Oh, you know those Danes. They can be anything. But that wasn-fc what split us up. She said dry land gave her a dry rash and made her beard itch. Besides she was a vegetarian. Preferred sea weed. For the iodine, you know,” explained Canute. At that both Soldad and Halvorson threw up and the chief didn’t feel very good either. So they all got drunk on rice wine and the place became a Pacific paradise again. Old Title New Title LOOK SHARP FAREWELL TO BLADES Marvin Heck, a technician in the weather bureau not yet on civil service, could not understand Why he suffered from insomnia. Neither could his wife. She suspected.it might be another woman who was preying on his mind,- He thought it was, too, but he couldn't remem- ber which one. Tlffen one evening while shaving he heard a radio, announcer tell- ing how to "be sharp, look sharp, feel sharp.” “That’s my whole trouble!” he cried. “I feel so keen after shav- ing I can’t get to sleep.” His wife looked at him long and doubtingly. But maybe, she thought, he was telling the truth. Maybe the trouble was he was shaving at night instead of the morning. "Honey,” she said, “why not try a razor blade that makes you look dull and feel dull? Then you’ll. sleep, and with such a dull bore- at my side, I will too.” He laughed. She sure was a great kidder. But he decided to try anyway. Sure enough, the dull blade made him feel dull. He yawned and had a hard time getting the lather off his face before he fell asleep. He slept like a baby. That is to say, he turned over only 47 times, bellowed only three times, the longest for 20 minutes, and woke refreshed, feeling sharp, but looking unfortunately, like a bum. By five o’clock, his shadow was so long he erroneously reported an eclipse of the sun and was fired. But it saved his marriage. He and his wife joined the House of David and lived happily ever after in the outfield of the ball team. Old Title BOBBIN HOOKE New Title PEONIES FOR PEONS Bobbin Hooke was a direct descendant of Sandy Hooke, a Scot who tried to recapture * the port of New York on the pretense that Sandy Hook had been confiscated from his family by the English and had been ceded to the United States without proper title. He failed and had to flee to sea for his life. After roaming the seven seas as a pirate, his ship was riddled by a British man-of-war and beached at Baja, Calif. Hooke and two of his crew managed to escape inland, hiding days in the ruins of missions. ’ In one of these they met up with some Mexican bandits and formed a revolutionary party to free the peons of foreign tyranny. Hooke was particularly intrigued with this idea when his eyes were attracted by Lupe Velour, the daughter of Pancho Velour, leader of the bandits. But Jose Nylon (pronounced Knee Lon), second in com- mand of Velour’s guerillas, resented Hooke's eye-trouble. Lupe thought it lots of fun until they raided the rancho of Senor Rancid Thirst and Hooke began ogling Thirst's daughter as he had Lupe. In a drunken revel she egged Jose to give Robbin the works. But Jose failed. Robbin tied Jose’s hands, blindfolded him and made him walk a plank. Jose landed in a muddy pigsty. It,made a pretty splash of activity. The peons howled with delight Then Robbin gave all of Thirst’s spare coins to the peons, Pancho Velour resented this. This wasn’t what the revolution was for, he insisted. But Lupe thought it was a magnificent gesture and offered her hand in marriage. It was the last thing he wanted. He had everything else. But he took it in good grace, declared the revo- lution at an end and thus founded the Hooke family, one of 4he richest in Mexico to this day. This is romantic picture for people who like to see Communists reform and settle down.