Magazine
1951 · Hollywood CA
by (Schoenfeld, Joe, ed.)
Hollywood CA: Daily Variety, Ltd.. Very Good+. 1951. (Vol. 73, No. 47, 2nd Section). Magazine. [light external wear, faint foxing to spine, tiny piece torn away from bottom corner of rear cover]. (photographs, ads, graphics) One of the elaborately-produced anniversary editions that were put out annually by the daily Hollywood-based trade publications ("the trades" in industry parlance), the other one being The Hollywood Reporter. Nearly 400 pages in length (the last numbered page is 366, followed by about 30 pages of ads), it's chock-a-block with self-promotional ads placed by actors, directors, studios, and affiliated show-businesses; one can only marvel (and maybe cringe a little) at the collective pressure applied to the advertisers by the publication's erstwhile sales force (assisted, no doubt, by the fact that it wouldn't do you any good in "this town" to be thought a piker by the editorial side of the business). Focusing on the hundreds of ads, though, shouldn't obscure the fact that there was a lot of interesting editorial content in these brobdingnagian volumes, primarily taking the form of single-page (or half-page) articles, anecdotes, business forecasts, nostalgic reveries, grumpy complaints, state-of-the-biz essays, just about anything anybody felt like spilling a couple of hundred words about. This particular issue contains 64 such contributions, some penned by genuine notables (Fred Zinnemann, Jesse L. Lasky, Alistair Cooke), but mostly by lesser-known industry people, Daily Variety reporters and columnists, and an occasional "character" like Benny the Gouge. Unfortunately, though, that there's no index-by-author -- only by title -- so the only way to discover some of these gems (not that they're all gems) is to flip through and stumble upon them -- or to be intrigued enough by a title ("Gower Gulch Ghosts"; "Why I Never Became the Head of a Studio"; "Why I Hate Television") to go straight to it. One also notes, flipping through, that each of the major studios (M-G-M, Paramount, Warner Bros., et al.) has its own color-coded section, with ads therein touting its executives, leading contract talent (mostly behind the camera), and current product. Other editorial content of interest: "Year in Show Biz -- Day By Day," a chronological compilation of the publication's headlines (this edition covers October 1950 through September 1951); "One View of the Red Probe," by Leo Katcher (this being the HUAC era); sections devoted to Radio and Television, the former still strong but the latter coming on even stronger, and the Music biz too; a rundown of box-office grosses for movies at major local (L.A.) theatres; and more! ****NOTE that additional postage charges will be assessed for international shipping of his heavy item; if this concerns you, please contact us for a shipping quote before placing your order. As always at ReadInk, domestic Media Mail shipping is FREE.**** . (Inventory #: 28843)