Chillicothe Gazette, Feb. 26, 1935
Chicago Tribune, Mar. 18, 1935
Lancaster New Era, Apr. 1935
Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb. 13, 1937
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Feb. 24, 1937
Sadly, it appears this film was never made. The novel has been reprinted, though, and is still available.
4 comments:
None of these ancient clippings even hint at the fascinating story behind this book. The anonymous authors were Bernard Bergman & Philip Wylie - yes, that Philip Wylie. This was disclosed in The Armchair Detective in 1969 thanks to a letter from Frank Gruber, who had worked on the screenplay. Further information was ferreted out by Randy Cox and detailed in TAD. The whole story is told by Cox in his introduction to the Ramble House edition, which I just ordered. You can read the Cox piece online at http://www.ramblehouse.com/smilingcorpsechapter.htm.
Philip Wylie's involvement, you'll note, was also known to Louella Parsons, so must have been an open secret back then. The TAD revelation was only a rediscovery.
I missed Louella's disclosure in my quick skim of the clippings. More shamefully, I didn't spot right off that the book has a body-in-the-bathtub cover! Ellen Nehr would have lusted for a copy!
I read that Randy Cox thing too. Interesting stuff.
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