Variety (April 1953)

Wednesday* April 22 ? 1953 LITERATI 61 Literati tait-Mortimer Connter-Sult Long-litigated $7,400,000 libel cnit by Neiman-Marcus against. Tark Lait and Lee Mortimer over “USA Confidential” book +noic a sudden switch last week, the N. Y. Daily Mirror editor End paper's nitery editor filed a rnuntersuit against the department store for $1,500,000 in N. Y. Fed- eral Court. Countersuit, directed not only against the Dallas store, but also nfainst Crown Publishers and American Book-Stratford- Press, publishers of "Confidential," Charges “conspiracy and agreement to restrain commerce and suppress the printing, publication and dis- tribution” of the book. Countersuit stems from pub- lishers’ apology to Neiman-Marcus and its employees and subsequent withdrawal by the store of action against the publishers. Publishers are now in the unique position of being defendants in both the origi- nal suit and the countersuit, fol- lowing a ruling by Federal Judge Diraock setting aside the agree- ment between Marcus-Neiman and William Gault for his “Don’t Cry for Me,” published by Dutton. Runnerup to Gault is Peggy Bacon, for her novel, “The Inward Eye,” published by Scribner’s. Special award goes to Frederick Knott, who authored the current Broadway hit, “Dial M for Mur- der.” Philip MacDonald draws an “Edgar” for outstanding contribu- tion to the mystery short story for his Crime Club collection, tagged “Something to Hide.” zillion-dollar farce, Johnston quotes liberally from Variety. Wiped out by the real estate blowup, Wilson went to Hollywood, [ to open the Brown Derby $nd write dialog for such talking pix as “One Way Passage.” He was scripting the film, “Merry Wives of Reno,” when he heard Addison was dying. “Stop dying,” he wired sardoni- cally. “Am trying to write a comedy.” A month later, on his death bed, when a priest told him his own end was moments away, Wilson, a wit to the end, gasped, What? No two weeks* notice?” Rask . where spirituous or malt liquors or wines are kept or offered for sale.” TV Mag Upbeat Excellent New ‘Encyclopedia* Encyclopedia of American His-1 Stolkin Story Citation Series of articles on the Ralph Stolkin group at RKO last fall has resulted in an award for the Wall' St. Journal from Sigma Delta Chi, national professional journalistic J fraternity. Daily was cited for “distin- guished public service” Via its series on the backgrounds of Stol- kin, A. L. Koolish and their part- ners in the acquisition of Howard Hughes* controlling stock in the film company, which since reverted to Hughes. While demise of Quick will en- tory” (Harper; $6) is a smattering hance the position of the TV list- of knowledge of a type that’s a Zane Grey Paperback Deal Major deal in paperback pocket . _ , . , , , . . _ editions is in the making, with mg mags, as stated last week in must for creative writers in all* Romer Grey and his mother, Mrs. Variety, creation of Quicks TV fields. It’s more than the casual Zane Grey, now in New York ne- listmg section for the N. Y. metro- library item, which such enclo- gotiating for sale of paperback poutan area didn’t cut into the cir- pedic works are generally. Edited rights to a block of 50 Zane Grey culation of any of the other mags, by Richard B. Morris, history prof titles In fact, circulation for the TV pub- at Columbia U, with Henry Steele With one exception, the Grey lications has enjoyed .an upward Commager, ditto at the university, titles have not been available in spiral since last fall, the magazines getting sub-billing as “chief con- the 25c and 35c field. Romer Grey report. sultant editor,” it’s as modern as TV Guide reports circulation in- the Yucca Flat bomb test. It high- crease since October, when Quick lights dates and events in a well organized manner, with not a little space devoted to show biz, letters, etc. The chronology is simple; the -.A.— 3 .1*. J_ himself is now preparing to film independently in 3-D a Grey prop- erty titled “30,000 On the Hoof.” instituted its listings, of 124,797, with publication’s issue of March 6 netting a total newsstand sale of inciib —"— .., _ * . i i i . 390,763. Cowles Magazines, pub- facts pithy and pertinent. the publishers witnarawnfitneiat- ifehers of Quick, reiterates the re- Book is in three sections: basic „ t~r as defandants. rtuimg ^ port, stating tiiat with introduction chronology, topical chronology, and bring suit against the American the same time tne sun was iiiea. 0 f Quick’s listings, circulation of biogs of 300 notable Americans. Mercury Magazine for what he Mag Liable for Suit ~ The New Hampshire Supreme Court has ruled that Alonzo N. La- bonte, sheriff in Coos County, can Rook had questioned the chastity both mags went up. and moral bahavior of Neiman- 1 Marcus employees. Claim of 30 saleswomen for $3,000,000 dam- ages had been dismissed earlier by Judge Irving Kaufman. That segment too has been well claims was a libelous article in the organized and subdivided in pre- publication dealing with alleged sentation. The orderliness and Sim- gambling in the official’s district, plicity of this book is not its least Mag sought dismissal of the case, N.Y. Times Upping Reston Ar>fViiir> WnMr x:_tjr vx uixs uuuiv io nut xia icttot ivxag SUUKUI uioimasdi ux uxc uac, ^ appeal. Most generally appealing contending the sheriff could not fnn^rSnnnSJf ch *f f P r °bably will be the middle seg- properly sue because the maga- Vorir C mi h* ment, the topical chronology. Un- zine’s general offices are not lo- cnnnppfii ? 6 ac d er Prof. Commager there are nine cated in New Hampshire. However, 3major consultant editors, six of the magazine is printed by Rum best sales year in its 87-year his- paper' S "wLhSn bul?lau by tory in 1952, totalling net^ sales James^ Scotty ^JestomJhe^Times’ Allen Billington J. Bartlet Breb- ner, Talbot Hamlin and James D. White Mountains,” was written by Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer. Holt’s Best Sales Year Henry HOU* Co.-mgjW tt. | | tTe'm e=^ Duncan | SrtWto cf orTf* T*e article in question, “Sin In the and operating revenues of $6,731ne^TiSbot^mlin a^uTjam^^. 917, compared to $5,750,279 in *akes Pjace Oct. 1, with Krock Hart, latter handling the literature 1951, the publisher s annual report continuing to write his editorial and (j rama portions. N.Y. Times’ revealed. Net profit came to $266,- Ef hls William L. Laurence handled 931, or $1.20 a common share after Sunday pieces regularly there- sc i e nce and invention; Sumner preferred dividend payments. at !*r. ,• . Welles, former Under Secretary of Greatest gains, accordmg to R jst°n in addition to heading state, did Foreign Relations, and president Edgar T. Rigg, were bureau, will wnte a reg- Rev> Dr< Anson Phelps Stokes cov- • * -Li.. —v tiniA tto ular Sunday column and back- —j — x- ground and interpretative pieces for the daily. made in the textbook field. He also reported that sales and ad- vertising revenues from Field & Stream, acquired by the company in 1951, were up nearly 12% over 1951, amounting to $2,730,130. Cir- ered religion. Editorial assistants were William Greenblatt, Thomas The Successful Emcee Embryo emcees and toastmas- ters will find support in LeRoy Stahl’s “How to Be a Successful Emcee” (T. S. Denison; $2.75). It’s a complete “how-to-do-it” manual on the fine art of running a pro- gram, be it the local PTA meeting"! Robson Hay, Harold Hyman, Ben- or a topflight radio or nightclub culation of the magazine averaged the longhair 1:30 to 5 a.m. “Key 811,813 copies per month. Capital To The Missing” show on WBAL, expenditures for book plates in Baltimore, is profiled in a piece 1952 amounted to $327,843, com- skedded for Coronet. Freelance pared to $277,044 the previous writer Jack Kestner of Bristol, jamin Linder, Martin Lichterman, Long-Distance Assignment • Mildred B. Matthews, James Fer- Archdale J. Jones, conductor of 8us McRee, Emil Oberholzer Jr., Berenice Robinson, John F. Roche, Willtem S. Sachs. Eugene O’Neill, incidentally, is the ‘'only living playwright listed among the 300 notable Americans. show. Book runs the gamut from dinners and athletic events to pro- fessional meetings and stageshows, detailing the problems and sug- gesting the solutions inherent in each situation. Included are such tips as selection and delivery of humor, physical deportment and year. Good for Radio-TV Quizzers A sort of “publishing family” book is Raymond J. Healy and John V. Cooper’s “I Knew It All the Time” (Henry Holt), due May 14, their second following “The Fireside Quiz Book” (Simon & Schuster\ which was a bestseller. Healy is Hplt’s Coast rep, while! Charles Malloy, who is given au- also includes the names of Phineas leading applause. T. Bamum, Edwin Booth, Char- While the book Is primarily di lotte Cushman, Edwin Forrest and xected at the novice, it could be Tenn., got interested in the noc- A theatre and applied arts section dress, routining, stag? position and turnal tracer of missing persons, 4 p * poetry and classical' disks, when hearing his program from Bermuda., He interested the publisher of I David W. Griffith. Abel . Coronet, also vacationing in Ber- muda, who happened to tune onl ‘Spindletop’ as Film? ni ^ ™ “Spindletop,” Random House dispatched Kestner to Baltimore. b 00 k about Texas oil fields, is now , going into its third edition, with 53% Compass Settlement authors James A. Clark and Michel read to advantage by some of the pros too, especially the stageshow radio and banquet sections. It pro vides a good brushup on fun da mentals. f Chan. Liebling’s Titling Stint New York Local 3 of the News- T. Halbouty working on plans for T s -rA’ c thorE'TreTirforhaving^sponsoreJ’ paper^uild has settled with stock- a film end a s^ge musical Clark this book, is Holt’s trade depart- holders of the recently-closed Com- t ne _^ niibouw 1Ish titles for an Italian film. Pic, *■■■“' „ . P a .ss for 53% of its claims on dis- Houston Post an t J ol ^outy is a which Liebling tltledf is be i n g re^ Quiz missal, vacation and notice pay. geologist ana petroleum engineer. leased in the v g un der the tag, lvA iiv%i a * if _ •• a i _ ment sales manager. The original “Fireside ^ for any number of panel and quiz supervisory position ' shows, both AM and TV. Abel . 45% of their claims. f or i-ea jm tne "UKianoma"-iiKe possi . . .. ..... bilities of the subject matter. According to Liebling, the titling so settled with the Compass, get , , . Da ld $27,000 after read- limitabon on the number of Ohio Book Hearing Set I KSSL.T v, «nw'' who paid $27,000 after read Full hearing on the fight of the ft"! Ted°Thack?ey 6 tdKo?- >ne -2 ro T V. gh draft of the manu- "frames” (characters) that can be New American Library of World m wbioh scnift. His other business inter- used. He felt this limitation afi Literature, Inc., agaiiSt a ban on ?„i rfiri Nov '1 ^2 Y 't<ets noThing ests prevented him from going Into forded little opmrtumty to add some of its books in Youngstown, Entire local' exoenses for the newf- P r °ductxon and the authors later color to the titUhg. 0., by Police Chief Edward J. Air ^permS ‘ negotLuoVs were Eought the rlghts back - i t n ’rE U in F . ed S ral borne by the Guild, rather than at Cleveland Mav 4 bv Judge lu. A — cnarles Ve j° n< McNamee. “ lisher seeks to have 'the city’s ordinance against obscene books L. A. News Into A.M. Field Beginning May 4 the Los Angeles Daily News will invade the morn- ing field, meanwhile retaining one ‘Legendary Mizners’ ° V t , T ? 1 AAO I A 4 VAV*) «KVWii?ri«^AV A VVUXXiXXX^ Shortly before he died in 1933, edition, at 9:01 a.m., .which techni declared invalid and i«s also seek- onoruy oeioxc xic u«u eamon, at a.m., .wnicn teenm- ine hbel da^affes 1 te0 Wilson Mizher, the Broadway play- caUy p i ace s it in the evening field. After a Preliminary hearing wright, film scripter, ihan-about- thus preserving all its franchises April 16 the^lawvers 3 agreed that Yukon, and Scalawag extraordi- for future contingencies. Shift will 10 P banned books^Tlreadv^aken off nalre, was asked by a publisher to cut about 60 employees off the newsstands bythe pubUshe^would write the storV of his life. "No," -payroll and also eUminate the Sun- remain out of circulation in replied the wit. "It would be blow- day edition it started several Youngstown* but the rest of 39 of ing a police whistled In "The Leg- «ggg «>•£ for the publishers’ books on Allen’s endary Mizners (Farrar, Straus &. rf lan( T C f rom afternoon^to morn- barred list of 443 titles may be dis- Young; $3.75), the late Alva John- in Pthe ^ailv Ne^s in cEm- and sold there, pending «ton, America’s bert comic report- p^tloT with the^iin^ and the outcome of the case. er, has finally blown the definitive Examlner whlch have had the a . m , whistle on Wilson, ana, for good de j d themselves for years. ‘Edgars* To Show Biz measure, has thrown In the life Edgar Allan Poe award for the story of his brother. Addison Miz- Sunday N. Y. Mag Sale best mystery motion picture will ner, too. Book shapes as good Sale of magazines on Sunday, go to 20th-Fox’s “Five Fingers” at play and film material. banned under an old provision of the annual dinner of Mystery Wilson, by virtue of being the the blue laws, is now legal in New Writers of America to be held to- more picaresque con-artist and York State by temw of a bill which morrow night (Thurs.) at the Hen- more gifted raconteur, easily over- Gov. Thomas E. Dewey has signed ry Hudson Hotel, N.Y. “Dragnet,” shadows his eccentric architect an NBC production, gets the ac- brother in this entertaining double T f T.AoiQio+fv* r!n™mitt-PP nn colade for the best television mys- biography. Johnston, who was The le iy and crime program this sea- xr # . w Yorker^ snrightliest pro- the Joint Legislative Committee on Sabbath Law, said: “Why news- papers (many of them carrying son u., 4. ^ New Yorker’s sprighthest pro- wgSne^ScSoS should be per- son while the radio award will-be «2 er gains some of his most humor- «ni5 handed +n Mvcite- 1UC1 ‘I f « mitted to be distributed and sold, - -S. 10 Mutual s The Myste dus effects merely^y serving as and the same . privileges withheld 1$ A _ - - VIT1 ■ x. x - - 9 x 41 n AMV ^ a . m Six other “Edears” are to be dis- Boswell for Wilson s aphorisms. in the case 0 f ma g az ines, begs the tributed at theSffair whidi cel- Johnston’s chronicle of' Addi- logic and wisdom of the discrimina- ebrates the U2th a^niversarv of son’s doings is really a thinly dis- tion .» Publication of h Poe’s detective guised excuse for exhuming the- The bill also removes the limita- story “Murder** in the Rue magnificent absurdities attending tion that magazines, bread, milk, Morgue.” Laurels for writing the- the rise and*decline of the Florida eggs, etc,, may be sold on Sunday best mystery novel of 1952 go to land bubble. In reconstructing this m places other than a room ‘Dance New# Annual* A comprehensive, authoritative survey of the 1951-52 American dance scene, with a side-glance at Canada, London and Paris, is con- tained in “Dance f News Annual 1953” (Knopf; $4.95). Edited by (Mrs.) Winthrop Palmer and Ana- tole Chujoy, editors of »<a dance monthly, Dance News, the tome comprises 17 contributed articles by as. many different authorities. First of its kind, it’s hoped to be issued annually. It’s a must for a terper’s library. Attractively got up book, profuse- ly illustrated, has articles by the N. Y. Times’ John Martin on the ’51-’52 N: Y. season; N. Y. Herald Trib’s Walter Terry, on Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey; Mrs. Palmer, on Jose Limon; News- week’s Emily Coleman, on the American dancer in ballet; Made- moiselle’s Leo Lerman, on dance in musical comedy; legit producer-de- signer Oliver Smith, on ballet stage, design; P. W. 'Manchester* on the legacy of Ballet Russe; Lincoln Kir- stein, on male dancer-choreogra- phers; glimpses of Chi and Frisco seasons, etc. Both Martin and Lerman knock ballet now on television as low- grade. “Almost no one knows what to do before the TV cameras,” says Lerman. “Television has accom- plished virtually nothing to date, as far as the dance is concerned,” says Martin, “beyond providing jobs at good salaries.” Referring to the “rapid decline of the dance in Broadway musicals,” Martin thinks he “era of the psychological ballet, inaugurated by Agnes de Mille, has petered out.” Martin is also a little optimistic, in discussing ballet in opera,’ when he speaks about "pro- duction of independent ballet at the Mertopolitim in another season or ‘W0.’ r ’ ” w ‘ * -/if *» * •* .JaRiith,. .finds designing for the ba]let ifibre alluring to the artist than designing for the legitimate stage, Lernian finds that Hollywood is ballet-mad, while at the same time encouraging audiences to go o live ballet presentations. The situation on Broadway, he feels, is pretty sad. With not enough danc- ing shows, he says, Broadway is stagnant. It’s a provocative book. Bron. CHATTER Eve Starr launching a new daily TV newspaper column nationally Monday (27). Evelyn Harvey in Hollywood to contact studios and writers as Col- lier’s entertainment editor. Franklin Arthur, Associated Press correspondent in L.A. for 15 years, goes east May 4 to work in the N.Y. office. Ed Scofield, Coast film flack, has a piece in current Magazine Digest on publicity stunts, “The Golden Gimmick.” Is Arthur Godfrey Through?” by Paul Denis, leads off the first issue of TV Reporter, new weekly mag out this week. Monica Lewis will be profiled by Albert Morehead in his “American Saleswomen” series in Cosmopoli- tan mag. . . Wally Cox gets the text-and-pic- ture treatment in the May 5 issue of Look, in a piece titled “Mr. Peepers Grows Bold.” The Boston Sunday Globe now costs 20c in Boston. Previously it was 15c a copy within 30 miles of Boston and 20c elsewhere. Little, Brown & Co. bringing out “The World of Robert Flaherty,** by film critic and Museum of Mod- ern Art film curator Richard Grif- fith. Philip Dunne compiling a book composed of letters and reminis- cences of his late father, Finley Peter Dunne, creator of “Mr. Doo- ley.” James Melton inked with Macrae Smith, Philly publishers,, for a book on singer’s auto collection, In collaboration with Ken Purdy, editor of True magazine. Parents mag awarded Metro its “Medal for Extraordinary Achieve- ment” for producing “Julius Caesar,” third film thus honored in the publication’s 27-year history. Children’s Times, a national newspaper for moppets (ages five to 12), hit the stands last week. Priced at 10c, it’s published twice monthly by Leader Enterprises, Inc. Robert Lewis Shayon, radio- video producer-director-writer, now doing TV criticism for Saturday Review, to*do a book on the impact of TV on American society for Oxford Univ. Press. Lilian Okun, who writes, directs and produces the radio book pro- grams, “Let’s Listen to a Story” and "“Young Book Reviewers,” on WMCA, N. Y„ is writing a book on her work with young people. Bucklin Moon out of Collier’s as associate fiction editor, after con- troversial mail campaign linking him with a pro-UNESCO article, “I Was Called Subversive,” pub- lished in the mag, and with al- legedly belonging to leftist organi- zations. The Gannett-- Knickerbocker News and Hearst’s Times-Union, Albany’s two Albany, N.Y., daily papers, hiked their street price from 5c to 7c. The T-U*s Sunday edition went to 20c sometime ago. M. K. Argus, columnist on the N. Y. Russian newspaper, Novoye Russkoye Slovo, who authored “Moscow on the Hudson” (Harper) in 1951, will have a novel, “A Rogue With Ease,” published by Harper in the fall. Irving Kolodin, music editor of the Saturday Review and former music critic of the New York Sun, has been appointed program edi- tor and annotator for the N. Y. Philharmonic-Symphony programs, succeeding Herbert F. Peyser, who resigned for ill health. Larry„ Vinick and Joan Eisner replace "Allan Morris, pub director of Simon & Schuster, who resigned last week to go Into general pub- lic relations work. Miss Eisner came to S&S from Time as assist- ant to Morris; Vinick, who joined in 1950, has been assistant to the advertising director, Faced with a paucity of operat> ing capital, O. D. Keep, editor and publisher of Fortnight, Coast news magazine, has broached a plan to common and preferred stockhold- ers under which they’ll contribute 30% of the par value of their stock, amounting to $1.50 per share, to a fund for expansion of advertising and promotion of the publication.