Variety (November 1957)

Wednesday* November 6, 1957 t'fiiz/ETY LITERATI Literati Atlantic's 100th Anni There are 268 pages in The At¬ lantic’s monthly issue, now on. the stands. It’s the 100th anniversary edition and contains a substantial anthology of modern literature by Edward Crankshaw, Robert Frost, Carl Jung Ernest Hemingway, James Thurber, ' Max Beerbobm, James B. Conant, Edith Sitwell, John P. Marquand, Thornton Wil¬ der, Nicholas Monsarrat, Agnes De- Mille, Phyllis McGinley, Reinhold Niebuhr, et. al. In the next issue. Atlantic has designed another compendium, this time a. special section bn mass communications—tv, ^ books, radio, newspapers, advertising, photogra¬ phy, with articles by David Reis- man, Mervyn LeRoy, Steve Allen, Vance Packard and 10 others. Ed Weeks Sure Dikes Boston “One of the advantages of being In Boston is that you can laugh at. the sacred cows of New York,” Edward. A. Weeks, editor of The Atlantic Monthly, Hub citadel of belles letters now observing its 100th anni, toldja luncheon session of the Advertising Club of Boston in Hotel Statler. “My experience tells me that there are several other advantages in editing an in¬ dependent magazine in Boston. For one thing, it is easier to be inde- pendent here. Bostonians are not so Vulnerable to fashion. They do not swoon over every new change of style, neither in hats nor in ideas. They put a definite value on constancy. “I like the Boston way of doing things for yourself. In Boston, we answer our own telephone calls; we write our own speeches, and we conduct our own interviews, and when people call, we try to see them at once. When I go into a New York waiting room I am al¬ ways depressed by finding myself in the midst of so many discon= sol ate faces.” Weeks quoted Oliver Wendell Holmes: “ ‘A new race, and Boston is the brain of it, and has been three hundred years. That’ll all I claim for Boston, thar it is the thinking center of the continent and therefore of the planet’.” Ex¬ tending Holmes’ claim into the modern age, he said: * “When we were founded in 1857, the best writers in the country were living either within the city limits, or close by, in Cambridge and Concord. We had Emerson,- Hawthorne, Thoreau, ^ Whittier, Longfellow and' Holmes* to draw on, and we had something else; . “We had that pride, of place Which fires up every Bostonian; our logic cameito us with the salt fish of Cape Ann, and our rhetoric was bom of the beans of Beverly, tout our standards were imposed from within.” He said, “Boston is a town in which the different bloojd streams seem to be mutually stim¬ ulating. The Yankees strike sparks on the Irish, and the Irish strike sparks on the Italians, the Italians strike sparks on the French Ca¬ nadians. This is a singularly American process, and the result is good for us alL “A hundred years ago this town was famous ^for its writers. It was famous for its textiles, for its wool packs, and for its printing. Today,- I have actually met New Yorkers, who believe that Boston is a place of memories and museums, which j means of course that they have] neyer driven along Memorial Drive l on Route 128, . ! “Today Boston is famous for its! writers, for poets like Robert! Frost, for novelists like John Mar- ,quand and Edwin O’Connor, fori historians like Pulitizer Prize win¬ ner Oscar Handlin and Samuel. Eliot Morison ,and economists like Sumner. Slichter—all of them At¬ lantic contributors." Herb Caen Back To Chronicle Columnist Herb Caen returns to the San Francisco Chronicle Jart. 15, when his $40,000-a-year con¬ tract* with Hearst’s morning Ex¬ aminer expires. He had been lured away, from home-owned Chronicle in January, 195(1. Recently, how- ever, he’s known to have been dis¬ satisfied with. Examiner’s editing of his copy and when Chronicle pub¬ lisher Charles Thieriot came up with a slightly better offer, Caen decided to shake Hearst. Status of Ghroniele current col¬ umnist, Daviid Hulbiird (the third Chronicle has tried since Caen's departure), is still undetermined. Yvonne Mitchell’s Book Yvonne Mitchell, one. of Britain’s young actresses and author of a successful play, “The Same Sky,” has now moved into the hook arena. She has written a slim, very readable volume called. “Actress” (Routledge & Kogan Paul; $2.15) which, she stresses, is not intended as an autobiography, but rather as an attempt to show aspiring young-, sters “what it is like” to he an actress. However, by drawing on her own experiences she has, in fact, written a sketchy autobiog. “Actress” is not a textbook. It does not set out to teach embryo actresses how to act, or how to make up:or what to look for in the small print of a contract.. It does not show them how to get jobs. It does not even deal with .such other ancillaries of the acting business as how to marry a millionaire, cope with a stage door wolf, or nab a' Hollywood contract. But it does give a> keen Insight into what any young woman can expect to find if she elects to tackle the tricky business of acting for a living, bliss Mitchell is an intelli¬ gent actress, and her views on act¬ ing and its problems are stamped with that same intelligence and in¬ tegrity that marks her thesning. ; ’ Rich, j Vin ZelufTs Shift j Oliver Read, publisher of Ziff-1 Davis* electronics magazine divi¬ sion/’ appointed Vin Zeluff manag¬ ing editor of Popular Electronics mag. He replaces O. P. (Perry) PeiTell who becomes executive ed¬ itor of PE as well as editor of a forthcoming Z-D new monthly, ! HiFi & Music Review. Zeluff has been 14 years with McGraw-Hill as m.e. of Electronics.. As m.e. of PE he becomes a key member of the Ziff-Davis “elec¬ tronics group” which also pub¬ lishes Radio & TV News.* Com¬ pany also publishes Popular Boat¬ ing, Flying, Modern Bride, Popu¬ lar Photography and Sports Car Illustrated. ‘Adam’ Held Obscene A Philadelphia magazine-distri¬ bution company operator, Daniel Goldberg, was lined $50ff anu placed on probation for a. year! after he pleaded guilty to the dis-1 tribution of obscene literature. ‘ Convicted on a similar charge last year, he told Judge Peter Hagan in Quarter Sessions Court that he had continued to sell the mag r Adam, on the advice of his former attor- . ney, Michael Von Moschzisker. Asst. Dist. Atty. Marvin Halbert termed the publication “unques¬ tionably lewd and indecent.” Hal¬ bert said he would -seek to extra¬ dite the Los Angeles publishers of the mag and have them brought to Philadelphia for prosecution. f ‘Eternity’ Suit Dismissed A $506,000 libel suit involving the claim an ex-GI that he had been defamed by certain passages iin the James Jones novel,.“From [Here to Eternity” -was dismissed |last week jn Brooklyn Supreme Court after . an all-male . jury brought in a verdict for the de- fendants. Plaintiff in the action was Joseph A. Maggio who con¬ tended that all matters in the book relating to the character Angelo Maggio actually referred to and defamed him. Defendants in the ease were Charles Scribner’s Sons and The. New American Library of World Literature Inc. Scribner’s pub¬ lishes the hard-cover edition of the novel while New American gets out the paperback version. The trial, over which Justice Ed¬ ward G. Baker presided, lasted for A TO Z OF GONTWENTAL PRbWCTION Lavishly IlhntraM — 100*/* Topical ‘CONTINENTAL FILM REVIEW’ The Only Monthly ef Its KMd h tofllsh 4 MoaHw 1 ' Dollar 40 — Ah Mall 2 Dalian 75 12 Moaths 3 Dalian 15 — Air Moll J Dalian 45 EURAP Publishing Co. Lid. 71 Stoke Newington Rd. London N, 16 nine days. Representing the de¬ fendant . pubs were Horace S. Manges and Jacob F. Raskin of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, while Harry Ander was attorney for Maggio. Eleanor Roosevelt Books Richard Harrity and Ralph G. , Martin are going to collab on two J Eleanor Roosevelt bios. First, to * he published a year from now, on 1 Oct. 11, 1958, Will be a pictorial i study, “Here Comes Eleanor Roose- i velt,” under the banner of Duell, .i Sloan & Pearce. i Harrity, who wrote the. play, , “Hope.Is a Thing With Feathers,” and novelist Martin will then work on the second and longer hook, a ‘ full-length bio, '' l Another H’wood Novel “The sensual, aggressive, avari -' 1 eious atmosphere of the film capi- P tal is captured” in James Lora’s 1 upcoming Hollywood novel, “The Joys of Success,” heralds publish- j er John Day. It’s due in February. ; Same pub is bringing out ex- j Newsweek staffer Harold R. Isaacs’ “Scratches on Our Mind '(American 1 . Images of China and India)." Moll’s ‘Seidman & Son’ • 1 Putnam is bringing out Elick 1 Moll’s novel, “Seidman & Son,” 1 next February. Eddie Cantor j starred in an episode from the hook on Playhouse 90 last year and another CBS-TV segment is • slated this fall. . Part of “Seidman & Son” was' published in Cosmopolitan. ' Little Theatre Handbook “The Community Theatre” by < John Wray Young (Harper; $3.50), < is a “how-to” book for organizing : and operating “little” theatres. Ahthor and spouse have spent more j than 20 years running Shreveport, < La., amateur theatre, hence tins « book is a personal dicument as well j as a theoretical tract. It scores on , both levels. , Resisting prolixity. Young sets forth in simple, forceful manner to . pose and solve problems besetting 1 the home-town playhouse. He may * soar a bit in assuming the little ’ theatre’s relationship to “national ' and world culture," hut he is on terra firma discussing direction, planning, plants, leadership and ] finances. Rook is best of current j tomes on way-off-Broadway activ- i ity. ' Rodo. - - 1 CHATTER e , Michael Elder, actor with the j Gateway Theatre, Edinburgh, has just had his fourth novel published, < titled “The Phantom in the Wings.” ’ Gagman Eddie Davis has sold two books to Citadel Press. Titles . are “Fuff Voyage” and ‘Xaughing * Out Loud.” Philly columnist and radio-tv < commentator Fr ank Brookhouser’s ] “Our Philadelphia: A Candid and i •Colorful Portrait of a Great City” 1 off the Doubleday press. j Israel appears to be a growing market for publishing. According < to a survey hy the Jewish Observer . and Middle East Review country | now has 24 dailies, 84 weeklies and ; 180 monthly publications. ‘ Alex Kerr, Glasgow-horn lion tamer, who tours with circus units i in the U.K., has published his biog, 1 “No Bars Between.” It is currently J being serialized by the Evening : Citizen. Glasgow. t Ted Barnett, Foote, Cone & Bel- ding copywriter in Chicago, au- thored four stories in the new , Prentice-Hall golf anthology, “Fun ] in the Rough.” Carl Rowan writing Jackie Rob- f inson’s biography for Random 1 House publication next spring. 1 William Inge'S" new play, “The Dark at the Top of the Stairs,” also < slated via RH next year. ] Dusty (Mrs. Jean) Negulesco, ( artist-Wife of the film director, for¬ mer actress and model, did the j illustrations for “Dear Matilda,”.< by Violette Saunders, just pub- ] lished by Exposition Press. Author ^ is a Coast garden-designer and hook concerns itself with the let¬ ters from “Mike to Matilda,” a * pair of wire-haired terriers. J “Of Cats and Men,” new anthol- * ogy of cat tales, edited by Frances 1 E. Clarke, and due from Macmillan 1 Nov. 19, contains real-life show biz story hy Robert Downing. Titled < “Minnie and Mr. Clark,” yarn tells j of Bobby Clark’s on-stage adven¬ tures with Winter Garden Theatre (N. Y.) cat during fun of “Mexican , Hayride” (1944). Alfred. J. Monahan, city editor!’ of the Boston Globe, elected prexy, of the Boston Press Club; John H. 1 Thompson, Boston, vice president; 1 James F. Smith, AP, secretary; I Charles Leverom, Boston Her- j aid, treasurer. Elected directors: \ George P. Dwyer, Timothy C. , Ford, Elliot Norton, Henry A. Santosuoso, Record - American;,, Cameron. Dewar, Jack Broudy, Traveler; Fred Brady, Rudolph Elie, Herald; James Calogero, AP; 1 Joe Harrington, Robert JE. Glynn, 1 Ted Ashby, Globe. J < : SCULLY’S SCRAPBOOK II t ♦♦ 4 »»♦♦♦»»♦ 4+++ By Frank Scully . . Hesketh Pearsan, an old actor who has done even better as a writer, has been giving BBC listeners his version of the Gilbert and Sullivan quarrel,-how they got together, how Richard D’Oyly Carte kept them together and how even after they split the infinitive themselves he managed to make it appear as if they were still the inseparable Sia¬ mese twins of light opera. I’d always ‘ thought of Gilbert as a small, waspish man, but it appeal's he was very well nourished and as early ! as 1885 had joined the tweed set, wore knickerbockers and puffed cigars through a weeping walrus mustache instead of a pipe. Sullivan was knighted in 1883 but Gilbert was not tapped until 1907—four years before his death—and though he could jab a mean : pen he never briefed Arthur Seymour Sullivan down to his vulnerable ! initials. The legend that Carte welded them for “Trial by Jury” and that neither went philandering afterward is seemingly not true. Gilbert's letters indicate that he w ould, have worked for any manager who could ■find a composer half as good as his lyrics. The trouble was that Gilbert wouldn’t work for anybody unless he got advance royalties. He was anxious 5 to collaborate with Sir Julius Benedict, but here again the lack of advance money was a stumbling block. Though composer and lyricisjt squabbled a lot, mostly over Sulli¬ van’s desire to write operas instead of the form of entertainment w T hich made them rich, the real break in the trinity came over the price of a carpet in the lobby of the Savoy. Carte had added this to the overhead of “The Gondoliei’s” and Gilbert blew his top and all but socked him with one of the prop oars of the production on receiv¬ ing the bad news. Overhead Under Foot He pointed out; to the producer that he .and Sullivan were respon- ible only for “repairs incidental to the performances” and that new carpets for peasants mucking up the lobby couldn’t possibly be in¬ cluded as an item. Carte said they were all jointly responsible for the upholstery and Gilbert answered that the producer might decorate and upholster the whole theatre a month before the lease was up and charge him and Sullivan two-thirds of the cost, although these prop¬ erties would then pass to the owner of the house, who was Carte him¬ self. Carte, no dope, said in that case the rent would have to be titled from $20,000 to $25,000 and if Gilbert didn’t like that he'd better say so right away. Gilbert, who had a sharper temper than the best steel, said so right away and Carte said, “In that case you write no more for the Savoy.” Thus Carte kicked over the ladder on which he had climbed, thanks to other people's talents, and Gilbert went home to write a long account of the quarrel to Sullivan. Instead, however, of receiving three rousing cheers from his colla¬ borator, Gilbert got the opposite. Sullivan thought Carte’s conditions were reasonable. Perhaps he didn’t think so unconditionally, as he was still hoping to get Carte to back him in a production of a grand opera, with or without Gilbert. “Clip, Clip” All You Hear Gilbert, however, not sharing these ambitions, figured that Carte had been clipping them in lots more ways than rugs. He turned every¬ thing over to his lawyers and asked Sullivan to hack him up in this. Sullivan Wouldn’t do it. Carte’s lawyers told him to tie up all the royalties on “The Gondo¬ liers” pending a legal decision on the case. Gilbert’s lawyers got a writ to stop this nonsense and a check for $10,000 came immediately from Carte. Gilbert checked this with the boxoffice returns and said Carte was $5,000 short. So the lyricist’s lawyers asked that a receiver be appoint¬ ed for the Savoy Theatre! The court ordered Carte to pay Gilbert the balance of royalties due but would not appoint a receiver forjhe Savoy. x The fly in the rich soup was that Sullivan had sworn that certain expenses of a legal hassle of eight years previously had not been paid by Gilbert. Gilbert swore the opposite was true, that he had paid it, making it appear that one. of them was guilty of perjury. A check through the records proved that Gilbert was right and Sullivan wrong, and Gilbert demanded a retraction in writing. He didn’t get it, the excuse being lhat Sullivan was up to his ears composing ‘Tvanhoe” and couldn’t be bothered with these intramural activities. He didn’t want to admit he had made a false oath, but Iff? silence didn’t get him much peace to finish “Ivanhoe,” because Gil¬ bert kept needling him in letters. Sullivan, trying to heal the breach to a degree, sent Gilbert tickets for the opening of “Ivanhoe.” Gilbert said he’d gladly go if he could get Sullivan to admit that wilful muddying up of his honor which made Gilbert out a liar. Sullivan said he couldn’t do this, and Gilbert answered that he couldn’t honor the opera with his presence, fit turned out to be a flop.) Then Gilbert tried another tack. He wanted to know, since Sullivan would benefit from a new . accounting of the Savoy profits, would he share the cost of the legal action? Sullivan wouldn’t say either yes or no to this request. With this their lively correspondence came to an end. It was too bad because some of it was much bouncier than some of their collaborations, particularly “The Gondoliers,” which caused all the trouble in the first place. Friends tried to bring them together and after five months succeed¬ ed. But only to a degree. Gilbert never got over that in a three-handed poker game Sullivan, his natural partner, joined Carte to strip him down to his long underwear. They did another show but on this one Gilbert said, let’s duck the share of the profits and work on a percentage of the receipts. Again ■ Sullivan agreed. At least Gilbert thought he had agreed, but whereas Gilbert took his percentage he learned later that Sullivan was^staying with a share of the profits. On discovering this, Gilbert, who seemed to have been as easy to anger as Whistler, started a new interoffice memo campaign and finally let Sullivan know that what was really sticking in his craw was that original affidavit, making Gilbert out a welchet on a debt, which in¬ furiated him every time he thought of it because the records show he had paid it. As a result, their collaboration on the opera blew up until Sullivan apologized after a fashion. Sullivan went to the Riviera to get away from it all, leaving Gilbert to deal with Carte. “It’s The Same The Whole World Over!” In the endless hassle between two liorse-traders and a weak sister, who was theoretically on the side of Gilbert but actually on the side of Carte, the lyricist felt he was fighting a four-ulcer war alone. Time finally quieted the adrenalin glands of all of them of course, but only beautiful dreamers, would believe that discord of this ‘genre left’ the world with their demise. It has been going on ever since in ail coun¬ tries where the profit motive operates, which is everywhere, includ¬ ing the carmine-tinted Utopian states behind the various curtains. It’s the eternal war between those who produce and thox. who handle, peddle and take in the first money on all enterprises. _ Even lowly publishers make contracts permitting their lowly authors to bring in their own accountants to go over the books, but if they are no more off than, say, $100, the author foots , the bill. As no C.P.A. would remember your name for such a sum, few authors question a royalty statement. Thus with 300 authors on his books a publisher could pocket $30,000 above his contracted share and who would know?