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Bennett CerfBennett Cerf
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Session:         Page of 1029

When Sylvia introduced me to Odets, we liked each other, and I immediately signed him up. Sam Behrman came next--along with Sidney Kingsley, who was just beginning. We did Kingsley's play “Dead End.”

Q:

How long would these run? Would you make them into a small, little book?

Cerf:

No, a regular book, and we did them very handsomely.

Q:

Maybe you could describe this.

Cerf:

Samuel French was already in existence--doing plays in paperback, just for actors, you know--but we began to make these plays look like library items.

Q:

Did you have any illustrations, for instance?

Cerf:

Yes, we put in scenes from the plays.

Q:

This was something new, though.

Cerf:

In those days the plays were $2 a copy. Now they're just double that price.

Q:

Did you make anything by publishing these plays?

Cerf:

They just about made their way.





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