Evening star., 1947-11-06


back ike autograph seekers at a
man alive knows what odd and
startling truth will be unearthed.
There is a man In the Warner
organization, for example, who is
suddenly and easily expert with the
information that from the very be-
ginning the screen has utilized best
sellers" in fiction as It's primary
source of material. II you, there
fore, are among the unenlightened
who believe this trend is relatively
recent, confined. say, to the talkle
period of movie history, you may be
In for a mild shock.
Long before Anthony Adverse, y
the picture under promotion at the
moment, and more recent top novels
began to be gobbled up by Holly
wood, it was combing the market for
favorite fiction.
The primary inspiration for this
bit of revealing research by War
ner's man is Frank Luther Motifs
newly published Golden Multitude, y
an analysis of best-seller fiction in
the goth century. With the book
beside him, the researcher has COM
pared its hit fiction titles with those
of movies, some of which have been
produced two and three times.
1t was back in 1916, the blithe
spirit of Warmers reveals, that Holly
wood started turning to the fiction
stalls for source materials, coming
up first with Winston Churchills
"The Crisis" The lag here was con-
adorable. as many may recall, for
ChurchilIs book had been a best
seller just 1e years before, or in
1900. Irving Bachelors "Eoen
Holden" was runner-up to the
Churchill work in 1900, but appar-
emily the movies were stumped ny
its narrative. At any rate, they lett
It alone, and always have.
The top hits Of 1901, when the
movies, Of course, were in the new
ling phase, spent an even longer
time getting into celluloid. but they
made 1t at long last. The big item
of the year in fiction was George
Barr McCutcheons "Graustark, ,"
which Hollywood lighted upon IN
1925 The second choice of the
reading public of that year was
mrs. Wigs of the Cabbage Patch," "
which. of course. has lasted longer
1t was made first in 1919, most re-
Gently in 1912.
The 1902 fiction hit has been a
sort of perpetual gold mine to the
HOLLYWOOD studios. In case you hao
forgotten, 1t was Owen Wlster's S
"The Virginian." Thrice it has
been adapted to the screen. the
latest occasion just last year when
1t became a starting vehicle again
for Joel McCrea-and, somehow
not a very effective one. :.
Public taste in fiction continued
along romantic and adventure lines
during the next several years and
gradually the movie companies got
around to absorbing each OF the
best sellers.
Then, in 1907, patrons of the book
stalls suddenly decided they could
stand a bit more spice in their ht-
erary diet. They made a huge best
seller out of Elinor Glynns Three
Weeks" The movies eyed this one
for many a year before they con-
cluded the ground on which they
stood was firm enough to do their
version of the same story. The year
had got around to 1924, but the
movies finally grabbed of Mrs.
Glynn's composition.
It has been doing the same thing
ever since, of course, including AN
thony Adverse" which. you may
have forgotten, was the fiction top
per Of the year 1888. 1t was adapted
for screen purposes three years later,
which means that the Fredric
Olivia de Haviland vehicle
was made when both were II years
younger.
You can see how they looked then,
starting today at the Warner.
X
Bulletin board: Helen Hayes re-
verts to her old Victoria Regina"
role in the Theater Guilds Sunday
night broadcast. a bit Of program
ming not unassociated with the fact
that there is about to be a royal
wedding in England. Magic
Town" surprises no one with the
news that it is to be held for a
second week at Keith's. -. The |
drama departments eavesdroppers
report glowingly of the performances
of Maude Howell Smith and Gordon
Wallace in the Arts Clubs first
ADJUSTMENTS