Variety (January 1958)

Wednesday, January 22, 1958 PSsHEF? umuTi Viter ati • Hit Canada's ‘Peyton Place* Ban Dell which published paperback edition of Grace Metallious’ “Pey¬ ton Place,” are taking legal steps against its bah In Canada. If suc¬ cessful, they may end the present import ban and let the courts decide bn obscenity as. defined in the Criminal Code. . Dell has retained an Ottawa. law firm to appeal to the tariff board the revenue department’s ruling last spring which forbade import of the novel on ground of immo¬ rality and indecency.” The publish¬ ers then took it up with the min¬ ister of revenue, without success. S nce then the government has changed frorfi Liberal to Progres¬ sive Conservative, and Dell has changed tactics too. This will be the first time any publisher has ever taken a book-ban appeal beyond the ministerial level. Wideners Bibliophile Gesture Three members of the Widener family of Philadelphia have do¬ nated a gift of $700,000 to the Pro¬ gram for Harvard College for the endowment of Widener Library. Gift is in memory of Eleanor Elkins Rice, who originally gave Widener Library as a memorial to her son, Harry Elkins Widener; '07. George P. * Widener and Mrs: Widener Dixsoh, son and daughter of Mrs. Rice, each gatfe $250,000 toward the fund. The remaining $200,000 was given by Mrs. Anson A. Bige¬ low, a niece of Mrs. Rice. • . At the time of 'the found1 ng of Widener Library, central building, for the largest university library in the world, Mrs. Rice established a fund for the support of . the library; and. especially for the care' of her son’s collection of rare books. Shifting Critics of the Beat Down Beat Mag is lopping off feature byline reviewers, among them Leonard Feather arid Ralph j; Gleason <of San Francisco) plus Barry Ulanov. Meantime its Nat Hentoff, who exited last summer, is doing disk expertese for The Reporter, Esquire, Nation,, et al freelance. • Gleason who has a new self-anaothers anthology, "‘Jam Session;” due on the stalls is now a contribut¬ ing ed (ditto Hentoff) of Ziff Davis’ new HiFi & Music Review. Screen Sex-^-Discovered In his book “L’Erotisrae Au Cin¬ ema” (Eroticism In Filins) Lp Duca bundles a series of photos, with some, text, into an affirmation of what everybody knows, namely that in spite of censors and. pressure groups sex is the mainstay of pub¬ lic appeal. , Text is glib, rather than enlight¬ ening. Published in Paris by JeanJacques Pauvert it sells for $5, Cover is a keyhole outline to a lacey pose of Marilyn Monroe; Book analyses a group of the. sexy epics including venerable Czech “Ecstacy,” German “The Blue Angel,” Yank “Tabu” and “Lady From Shanghai,” Alfred Hitchcock’s “Notorious,” the Italo “Bitter Rice ” the French “Manon,” the Mexican “Los Olvidados;” and the Swedish “Miss Julie” and “She Danced One Summer.” Superficial in approach, book snap-judges puritariism and momism strains, in Americans’ back¬ ground and arrives at deduction that erotic impulses are repressed only to rise again in fetich for bigbosomed actresses as exemplified by Jane Russell, shown in 20th s '“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.” ftlosk. Top Air Scripts Annual “The Prize Plays of Television and Radio: 1956” (Random House; $5), has recently been issued under tiie guidance of the Writers’ Guild of America. Clifton Fadiroari sup¬ plies ashort foreword. Judges for .12 selections in the book included Groucho Marx; Jerry Lewis, A. B. Guthrie, Jr., Clifford Odets, Ronald Golman, Gilbert Settles, Tom McKnight, John Daly, Nina Foch, Norman Corwin, Jim Backus, Florence Britton and Robert Lewis Shayon, among 25 “experts.” Following scripts are reprinted from tv: “Requiem for a Heavy1 weight** by Rod Setting; “Goodbye, Gray Flannel” by J. Harvey Howells; "A Night to Remember” by George Roy Hill (director of Broadwgy’s cinTent “Look Home¬ ward, Angel”) and John Whedon from Walter Lord's book about the sinking of the Titaijjc; “The $99,000 Answer” by Leonard Stern and Sydney Zelinka; “She Walks in Beauty” by / Kenneth Kolb; “Paper Foxhole” by James Ed¬ ward; “The Visito” (one of the “Lassie” tv series for children) by Thelma Robinson, Warren Wilson and Claire Kennedy; and a George Gobel script (Nov. 12, 1955) by Hal Kanter, Howard Leeds, Harry Winkler and Everett Greenbaum. Radio is represented' by Alan Sloane’s “Bring on the Angels”; “The Penny” by Stanley Niss; an Edgar Bergen script by Si Rose; and “Decision for. Freedom” by Robert S. Greene. Book is seemingly planned as first of a series of annuals. Previ¬ ous a:r script selections of Max Wylie’s, editorship (and others) did riot endure. Rodo. Folklorists Rallying Annual winter meeting of New York Folklore Society on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 1, at New York Historical Society, will bring out large delegation of Empire State writers. Shindig Will feature Bill Bonyun, folksiriger and recording artist, for Folkway Records and Heirloom Records on “America’s Story in Ballad and Song”; Ken¬ neth Scott of Wagner College on “Counterfeiting During. American Revolution” arid Prof. Bayrd Still of New York University, author /of “Mirror IFor Gotham.” who’ll dis¬ cuss “The Personality of New York,” Society's, proxy! is. Marvin A. Rapp, Associate Executive Dean of State University of New YorkHonorary veepee$ include novel¬ ists* folklore fanciers, among them, Samud Hopkins Adams, Ben Bot¬ kin,, Carl. Caririer and Walter D, .Edmonds. Eric Maschwitz's Memories Londbn, Jari. 21. | The' well-paid : frustration of working as a script writer in Hollywood provides one of the liveliest and observant extracts Jn Eric Maschwitz’s autpbiog, “No Chip on My Shoulder” (Herbert Jenkins, $2.50). Years ago he was there without apparently doing anything more constructive than pick . .up. his weekly check from Metro. For an energetic character like Maschwitz-, this turned out to be socially attractive but profes¬ sionally a bore. Maschwitz is a lively hedonist arid his book reflects it. He has enjoyed a career that has embraced broadcasting, . lyric writing and playwrighting and he has experi¬ enced both heady success and abject failure in all departments. As a lyric writer he has had such hits on his hands as “These Foolish Things/* “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” and “Room 504.” As a musical play¬ wright he* has scored with “Good-; hight Vienna/'. “Balalika,” “Carissinia,” “New Faces,” “Love From Judy” and “Zip Goes a Million."' Eiit he also admits equally frankly to his flops; “Romance in Candle¬ light” and “Dinner for 13,” which ran for only one performance. Show biz is an exciting world to Eric Maschwitz. The purist riiay consider that the book is peppered with too many exclamation marks. Nonsense! Life for. Maschwitz is one long exclamation mark! Rich. Albany Gnild's^Electlon Write-in candidates for several top offices in the Albany News¬ paper Guild, went down to defeat in last week’s election. Francis A, Rivett, Times-Union copyreader, triumphed .over the incumbent/ Christopher j. Cunningham Jr., Knickerbocker News display adyerr rising salesman, who drew 46 write-in votes, to Rivett’s straight | 77. Rivett had been : Guild presi¬ dent in 1951 and 1952; Cunning¬ ham, in 1956 and 1957. , James Gallagher, travel editor of The Times-Union, won pver Theron Britain, of Knickerbocker News Circulation ' Department, also a write-in candidate. Samuel Sica. Knickerbocker News circulation, scored against R. Stephen Tread¬ way, of the paper’s classified . ad¬ vertising department — a third write-in candidate. Mrs. Ann Bolicti, Knickerbocker News classified, advertising, was re¬ elected secretary; G. Paul Lyman, Times-Union accounting, treasurer (for a 12th term). ; The new officers were installed at the annual meeting Sunday (19). Vancouver's Chinese Press, .. The New Republic is moving to Vancouver. It’s not the liberal -Washington weekly, though, hut the oldest Chinese-language news¬ paper in Canada, an eight-page daily published for past 45 years in Victoria, B.C., British Colum¬ bia’s capital on Vancouver Island. Vancouver is. on the mainland, and New Republic is moving there, to meet growing competition from two other Chinese dailies there. Vancouver arid environs have 15,000 Chinese, Vancouver Island only 2,000. Paper gets its overseas news by short-wave radio starting at 5 jLin. It goes to press at 5 p.m. All type is set by hand, blit owners 1 say no machine has yet been found that can work faster than, a Chi¬ nese typesetter. Latter work under direction of four men who learned how to set the 7,000-character alphabet in China. Welch Fights Cop Censorship A tty. Joseph N. Welch, who fig¬ ured iri the Army-McCarthy dis¬ pute, opposed bills which would establish a Massachusetts censor 'at a State House hearing in Boston. He appeared before -the legislative . committee on legal affairs and. urged the. lawmakers to “shy away from censorship” declaring that present statutes are adqriate to cope with obscene magazines, books and eonlic books. Welch, representing a group of national magazines arid several book Publishers, said he believes the bills would lead taxless en¬ forcement. “If a couple of state police officers were appointed to censor books as one bill plans, there would be a tendency for the attorney general; the district’ at¬ torneys arid the local police to sit back, arid conclude it was some¬ body else’s job. He added that he did not “relish the notion that a state policeman might some day tell hie what I shall read and what I shall not read.” Atty. Gen. George Fingold has consistently . opposed any legislation . which Would make his department a censor in Mass. CHATTER Doubleday sales promotion man¬ ager Edward Stoddard becomes as-, sistant to Jerome Hardy, publish¬ ing house’s advertising veep. Ralph Allen, editor of Maclean’s Magazine,. Canadian biweekly, has his third novel just out. “Peace River Country” is published by Doubleday. A. G. Jeans riew managing direc¬ tor and. editor-in-chief of Liver¬ pool (Eng:) Daily Post & Echo, Ltd. He succeeds his father, Allan Jeans, who is retiring/ Baron . Valentin Mandelstamm, former French government repre¬ sentative to Hollywood; off to Tangiers to write a . series of arti¬ cles for the Hollywood Press Syn¬ dicate, Retail Publications Iric, has .been empowered to conduct a publishing business in New York, Capital stock is 1,000 shares, no par value.. Walter S. Cooper of Manhattan filed at Albany. Martin Abramson, who Co-au¬ thored the Barney Ross autobiog¬ raphy, “No Man Stands Alone/’ has a piece on Sain Levinson’s technique for child raising in -the current Fainti ly Circle, Spiritual Book Associates Inc. authorized to conduct a publishing business in Manhattan. Capital: stock is 200 shares, no par value. John C. Holahan of Tarrytowii, is a director and filing attorney, Robert M. Amussen, formerly with G. P. Putnam's Sons and more recently with the McGraw-Hill, has joined editorial staff of.E. P. . Dut¬ ton & Co. His brother Ted. Amus¬ sen is trade veepee of Rinehart & Co. ■ Raymond Walters Jr., book re¬ view editor of “The Saturday Re¬ view” since 1948, moved over to The New York Times Book Review to. work with Francis Brown in assigning books and planning edi: torial features. Dollar Publications Die;, has been authorized to conduct a print¬ ing and publishing business in New York. Capital stock is 100 shares, no par value. Directors are: John Raymond, Roberta ;Rayinond and Milt Berwin. Charles H.. Green, was filing attorney. Edwin Darby, most recently chief of the Time-Life bureati at Dallas, has moved to the financial editor: ship of the Chicago Sun-Times, The post had been Vacant since early last; October when Austin Wehrwein departed to. head up the New York Times Chi bureau. “Disc”, is the title of a new weekly record and musical paper, which is to he published in Lon¬ don next month by Charles Bu¬ chan's Publications, a company , in which Hutton's Press has control¬ ling interest The first issue is due Feb. 6 arid Gerald Marks has been named managing editor, with Alan Wilton as editor. Padding the Gross? “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies,” Jean Kerr's book of sketches was No. 2 on the non¬ fiction bestseller list in the book section of the N.Y, Times last Sunday (19). The N.Y. Herald Tribune, for. which the author’s ... husband, Walter Kerr, is drama critic, listed the book No.. 1, SCULLY’S SCRAPBOOK : < ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ By Frank Scully Hollywood, Jan. 21. As winter closes in each year and makes one wonder if spring will ever return, I turn for cheer to memories of Gene Dabney. Never was there a hard-luck /musician with , more laughs thgn Gene, Dabney. ’ Though be had made%a ' grand a week in his time, when I first knew him. he Was down to some WPA project, playing for buttons for the •blind. I He was tall; .slender, with chiseled features and about 40 when 1 j first, met him.. Ourhouse" was Layoff Manor in those days and even •I worked with the hope of being interrupted. | How To ”Own” A Car I He never really owned his car, but he couldn't lose it, either. He got ! so many dingers attached to it that the finance company wouldn’t touch i it with a 10-foot pole, let alone pay for dragging it off for nonpayments to a graveyard. One time he and another insol vendo coming into a sure head-on col¬ lision both swerved and landed locked iri each other’s fenders on a third party’s lawn. Both thought the other, guy Was the cause of the wreck. Both sued for $20,000. “We got our case thrown out of court,” explained Gene as he howled with laughter,, “but the guy whose lawn we messed up sued for $36 and got a judgment! He tried to attach my car but be found it had re¬ pair bills for $285 against it, I helped him fix his fence while we had a few beers.” During one of the Presidential contests Gene wrote a campaign songv It Was one of those “March On With Roosevelt” things. It wasn’t the" best ever written but it was good and Jini Farley suggested he hud¬ dle with a CoL Adams about financing the tune. They lunched, at Levy’s in downtown L.A, and Gene drank more than the celebration called for. He was sober enough, however, not to drive/and asked a cop would he please flag down a taxi for him. “You know what the stinker did?” Gene said. “He flagged down a patrol car instead. They heaved me in the Lincoln Heights jail and rolled me for the five bucks I had left!” Gene was the first guy I ever heard advance the idea that musicians j should hop aboard the mechanized gravy train and collect every, time | the train made a round trip. “You mean,” I said, “that every time they play they pay?” “Exactly,” said Gene. It Started With Gene We discussed it. with Joe Weber, who was then prez of the AFM,. but he -was too old to get the idea. Petrillo was around and he got it. So . when he followed old Joe Up the ladder, the royalty idea went into operation; grew to an. enormous pension fund and became a headache fpr Petrillo. i Recently Spec McClure was reminding me of the time he and Gene went from Hollywood to move some house goods from Harry Carey’s ranch, where we had been living. Mme. Scully was driving up to take down a load bqt there was a stove and some other heavy stuff and Gene offered to take it down in a trailer. We gave him money to rent one: but he knew where he could get one for nothing. . He had a Cadillac at that time. It was old enough to vote and like all his cars In those days was hung with more attachments than a Christmas tree. By the time they reached the Newhall tunnel the Cadillac was be¬ ginning to fume at being spliced with a . poor man’s moving, van. “We’ll let the motor cool,” Gene said to Spec. While it was cooling a Keystone cop clattered up on a. motorcycle. “That trailer license is two years, old,” he said. _ “Is that so? How time flies/’ said Gene. “Let me see your own license,” demanded the cop. That too was as out-of-date as a cakewalk. ‘Your white slip. Where’s that?” Gene didn’t have it “Must have left it in my other suit.” • The cop began writing tickets. K “Just Mention My Name” . “I’m doing this as a favor to Flank Scully. You know him? The wri¬ ter?” Gene asked. “No, *1 don’t know him, and if he were around I’d give him a ticket too,” said the cop, “You Wouldn't even give me one, if you knew him,” Gene said in de¬ fense of my honor. He handed Gene m batch of tickets and said, “Now get this junk ofi the road!" Then he rode off. Every effort to get the mess "moving failed.* Gene decided to relaj and smoke a cigar. While he was puffing on the el ropo segurido, thi cop returned. He gave Gene another citation for smoking in a closec area where it was defendu. That one couid run to a fine of $560! “I told you guys to get this junk off the road. Wanna ticket for overparking; too 7” 1 •‘We need help. Can’t you help us pull the trailer so it quits curling like a rattier when we back down?” . “That’s not my work, but I’m human,” said the cop. Honor bound to prove it/he stopped another car and among them they got the wreckage through the tunnel. From there it was all down¬ hill. ' Where Was Charlie? At the ranch, five miles from anywhere, they were carrying out a stove to the trailer when, like a wraith, a Salyation Army lassie ap¬ peared holding a tambourine! Can’t you spare even a thin dime?” she asked. “I could if I had Written the tune, but Can’t you see oUr hands are full? You. help us get this thing on the truck and we’ll tip you.” By the time they got back to the Newhall Tunnel it was dark. The cop was waiting for them. He gave them another ticket— this one for driving a trailer without a taillight. By then our laughing boy was do¬ ing a slow Ed Kennedy burn. “Don’t forget” said the cop. “Superior cdurt, Newhall, Sept. 21.” Gene arid Spec, arrived back in Hollywood near midnight The whole trip should not have taken three hours. I asked Gene for the tickets. “Forget it,” he said. “I can fix these.” Cash Settlement A month after he was supposed to appear in court he was still laugh¬ ing off citations. Fearful he would land in jail, I drove 40 miles and pleaded With the judge as if I were Clarence Darrow. I got the whole mess squared away for five bucks. • Another time Gene came up to Bedside Manor, hut this time he was burning. He’d got a WPA directive to appear on a pick-and-shovel operation in his working clothes.” “Okiy, Gene,” I said. “Appear, in your working clothes. Show up with a pick and shovel but in dinner clothes. We’ll have photographers there to catch the ‘Have Tux, Will Dig* comedy routine.” Public Herb No, 1 We did, too. Some gauleiter, j.g.; tried to stop Us hut we got them and printed them. Gene was promptly transferred to playing dance music for the blind. And what happened to Gene in the end? Well, on a rainy night, shortly before Pearl. Harbor inade American heroes a dime-a-dozen, he was standing in the rain at the corner of Sunset and Vine, waiting for a traffic light io change. He saw an old lady crossing against the light Cars were heading for her. Gene rushed out pushed her out of the way and saved, her life. . But. he lost his own.