BOOKS AND MEN

Radio Record, Volume X, Issue 21, 4 December 1936, Page 22

BOOKS AND MEN

CHARMING STORIES

SOME books are described as "good week-end _ reading," others as "splendid fireside literature.’ But anywhere, any time, the possessor of Eden Phillpott’s latest volume, "Once Upon a Time," will be content until he has read the last page. Then he’ll want more. No more charming collection of short stories has been in my hands for at least a couple of years. , To lure Hden Phillpotts away from his South of Hngland would be to kill his finest inspirations. All of the stories in "Once Upon a Time" are set in the "forgotten" villages round Dartmoor and Hxmoor at any time from George III to George V, and every one of these tales is a remarkable portrait of itself, each different from the others, Except for the opening yarn, "Mound by the Way," the book is written in the quaint idiom of the South Country without using dialetic forms which would have made the stories merely annoying to the. ordinary reader. . As ‘it is, the reader soon pictures himself quite easily as the willing audience of an old but educated and intelligent identity sunning himself over a good measure of ale outside a village inn. The author has, therefore, been able to introduce a wealth of simple philosophy and dry humour into these open-air tales which in themselves are frank studies of the types of people who may still be encountered in dozens of villages and estates if the searcher does more than rush through at 40 miles an hour in his car. "Albert and Dolly," "The Gallows Wedding," and "The Surprise," are three tales which leave a most distinct impression on the reader’s mind of the animosities, rivalries, aspirations and humour of the country. Hvery story is really human in its portraiture, and all are written in a vein which puts to shame many a novel of crime and ro- © mance by those who stick to the fogs of London. For sincerity, charm and pleasantness "Once Upon a Time" is more than worthy of the fine literary standard maintained in previous novels by the same author, ("Once Upon a. Time." Eden Phillpotts. Hutchinson. Our copy from the lishers.]

Russian Sidelights

-- Tales of the ‘Revolution HH author of "New Horizons," a volume of reminiscences of the Russian Revolution, is the wife of Victor Tchernoff, Minister of Agriculture in Kerensky’s Provisional Government of March to October, 1917, and later President of the Petrograd Constituent Assembly. When the Bolsheviks preejpitated the social revolution he was leader of the "Revolutionary Socialist" Party, which preferred to ally itself with the bourgeoisie. ' Olga was herself a prominent member of the party, and served a term in prison for counter-revolutionary activi-. ties. Her husband’s key position before the revolution must have given her a wealth of inside information, but she does not pass on much to the reader. She skimps the important events and smothers them in a mass of personal incidents that are usually lacking in significance. The volume is certainly interesting, but it is much more trivial than one might have expected from the wife of Victor Tchernoff. [New Horizons; Reminiscences of the Russian Revolution. Olga Tchernoff. London: Hutchinson and Co., Ltd.]

WoRLD DESTROYED

. G WELLS with his "Shape of Things to Come" was a mere infant compared with S. Fowler Wright, whose latest book, "Four Days War," presents us with a terrific orgy of fire’ and slaughter. Prague is destroyed. War sweeps over the ruined world in the four days that follow. The story goes on ro.show Engand, still -inddequately prepared for a war in the air, unsubdued in spirit but prostrate under the hail of-hostile bombs. It shows London in flames and the British Gov: ernment in flight to the New World, It shows the United States drawn, in the space of a few hours, into a econ: flict from which she had supposed herself aloof. Mr. Wright says that his book is not intended as a prophesy. but rather as-a warning against the dan_gers of unpreparedness, "Four Days’ War." §S. Fowler Wright. Robert Hale. Our copy from the publishers.

the people’s army. Sent* to Shanghai to purchase.arms with which to resist General Yang, war lord, jhe is lured aboard a train’ by .beautiful. blonde Madeleine Carroll, whose father is. in Yang’s employ. Escape From Spain JOHN DoRED, ‘Paramount news cameraman variously ‘reported during the past month to have been near

execution, gaoled and liberated, ts definitely out of Spain, en route to Paris. According to advices received by Bditor Al Richard, of Paramount News, Dored spent the greater part of three weeks in Spanish gaols. The interven-

tion of Washington and the American Consuls in Spain finally resulted in Dored’s deportation with the warning never to return to Spain-the penalty of being caught in rebel territory with a bodyguard of loyalists. , Stars and Stars »J ANET GAYNOR’S forthcoming picture, "Ladies in Love," contains four lending ladies, and studio officials lost most of their hair endeavouring to bill them in the order to which their contracts entitle them, Miss Gaynor comes first. Constance Bennett was to have’ been second, but a clause in

Loretta Young’s contract specifies that only one person can be billed above her. So Loretta will precede her on the credit card, This left Simone Sinon, the studio’s pet discovery of 1936, bringing up the rear. But all is well for the prestige of the French starlet. She will receive separate billing after the title of the film is announced in the screen. -And More Stars RECENT pictures containing many stars in¢lude "Wife Versus Secretary," with Clark Gable, Myrna Loy and Jean Harlow; "Suzy," with Jean Harlow, Cary Grant and. Franchot Tone; "The Gorgeous’ Hussy," Joan Crawford, Robert Taylor, Fanchot Stewart, and the soon-to-be-released "Libelled Lady." with William Powell, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy and Spenctr Tracy. New Rainer Film Ll UISE RAINER has fully recovered from the throat infectior? which prevented -her going to New. York to see playwright Clifford Odets, and has been signed to a new long-term contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. _ Her first: film on the new deal is "Maiden Voyage," production on which starts next month. In contrast to Miss Rainer’s last two pictures, "The Great Ziegfeld" and "The Good Eearth," her new film contains a. great deal of comedy. The story concerns a young girl who meets a diplomat in Switzerland during a_ political conference. Due to an idiotic clause in the will -of a relative they must marry immediately. ©The strange honeymoon takes place on a large ocean liner,