Antic Hay

London: Chatto & Windus, 1923. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Very Good. 328 Pp. First Edition, First Printing. Ownership Signature Of Screenwriter Edward Barlett Cormack, "Bartlett Cormack / His Book / Chicago, 1923" On Front Pastedown. Cormack (March 19, 1898 - September 26, 1942). Cormack Became A Member Of Maurice Browne's Little Theatre Company In Chicago. To Gain Experience As A Writer, He Got A Job At The Chicago Evening Journal And Stayed There A Year, Covering "Hangings, Race Riots, Street Car Strikes And Other Diversions Characteristic Of Mayor Thompson's Turbulent Town". He Left The Chicago Evening Journal For The American, Working There Five Years, Later Graduating From The U Of Chicago. He Returned To The American, Where He Wrote Features And Dramatic Criticism. In 1923, He Married The Daughter Of Samuel T. Bledsoe, Who Was A President And Board Chairman Of The Atchison, Topeka, And Santa Fe Railroad. He Accepted A Position As A Press Agent For A Theater Production And Moved To New York City. As A Playwright, Cormack's Most Influential Work Was His 1927 Broadway Play The Racket, Which Featured Edward G. Robinson In His First Gangster Role. The Racket Was An Exposé Of Political Corruption In The 1920S, And Was Considered One Of The Models For The Hollywood Gangster Cycle Of The Late 1920S And Early 1930S. The Events Take Place Over A Period Of About 18 Hours In A Police Station On The Outskirts Of Chicago, And Features Wisecracking Crime Reporters Who Dash To The Telephone And Holler, "Get Me The Desk!" Writing In The Miami News On December 24, 1927, O. O. Mcintyre Said Bartlett Cormack Was "The Only Playwright Who Has Made The Reporter Real On The Stage." The Play Was Considered So Inflammatory That It Was Denied A Presentation In Chicago, Allegedly At The Orders Of Al Capone; The Ban Remained In Effect For Nearly Two Decades. Cormack Shared Writing Credit For The Play Tampico With Joseph Hergesheimer, Who Wrote The Novel Of The Same Name In 1926. The Play Was Produced On Broadway In 1928 With Ilka Chase And Gavin Gordon In The Cast. Mgm Acquired The Screen Rights To The Play In 1930. Cormack Later Wrote Hey Diddle Diddle, A Comedy Whose Setting Was A Duplex Apartment In Hollywood. The Play Premiered In Princeton, New Jersey On January 21, 1937 With Lucille Ball As Julie Tucker, "One Of Three Roommates Coping With Neurotic Directors, Confused Executives, And Grasping Stars Who Interfere With The Girls' Ability To Get Ahead." The Play Received Good Reviews, But There Were Problems. Moving To Beverly Hills In 1928, He Worked With Howard Hughes On The Silent Film Version Of The Racket, One Of The First Films Nominated For The Academy Award For Best Picture In 1929. He Shared Screenwriting Credit With Rex Beach For The 1930 Film Version Of The Spoilers. Although Ben Hecht Was The Author Of The Broadway Play The Front Page, And Was Himself A Screenwriter, Howard Hughes Chose Cormack And Charles Lederer To Write The Script For The 1931 Film The Front Page. At The 4Th Academy Awards, The Film Was Nominated For Best Picture, Best Director, And Best Actor.In 1933, He Wrote The Script For Cecil B. Demille's This Day And Age, A Film In Which A Group Of High School Students Take The Law Into Their Own Hands. In 1935, He Collaborated With Screenwriter Fritz Lang And Story Author Norman Krasna On The Anti-Lynching Film Fury, For Which Krasna Received An Academy Award Nomination For Best Writing, Original Story. Briefly Relocating To England In 1938, Cormack Helped Write The Screenplays For Sidewalks Of London. The Book Here Is Lightly Used, Fraying Along Top Of Spine (Only], Browning To Spine Label, Three Small Damp Spots To Spine, Endpapers Foxed.