PROLIFIC PLAYWRIGHT

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 522, 27 November 1928, Page 1

PROLIFIC PLAYWRIGHT

MARTIN V. MERLE IN AUCKLAND ON WAY TO TAHITI Martin V. Merle, American playwright and scenario writer, arrived in Auckland yesterday and is on his way to Tahiti where his film “Jungle” is to be produced. Mr. Merle has been a prolific writer of plays and scenarios, and although he has had many encouraging successes, he admits that he has had his set-backs, too. Talking to-day, he said his hometown is San Francisco, but he lives, too, at Hollywood, and his home of homes is Honolulu. In a bungalow on Waikiki beach he does most of his writing. Among Mr. Merle’s big screen successes are: “The Flame of Paris,” The Rose of Sicily,” and “Dream Faces.” His most successful stage play was “The Light Eternal,” which ran for three years in America and England. He is also the author of “The Vagabond Prince,” a romance woven from the life of Francois Villon “From the Valley of Hell,” a war play, was written after the author had served 16 mouths in the American Air Force. Although Mr. Merle leaves Auckland this evening, he has endeavoured to see as much of the city as possible. He was up soon after dawn this morning, and spent the two or three hours roving the streets until breakfast was ready. If Auckland holds any inspiration for the American playwright, Martin V. Merle will feel its influence.