I Ring Doorbells [*SIGNED*]

New York: Julian Messner, Inc.. Good. 1939. 2nd printing. Hardcover. (no dust jacket) [a good sound copy, but uneven fading to exterior cloth and a bit of damage to the front cover: a number of small indentations and one vertical surface rip (about 1" x 1/8")]. INSCRIBED and SIGNED by the author on the front endpaper: "Sept. 26, 1944 / For Martha / who will ring the / biggest bells in the / business -- / Best to you always -- / Birdwell." Memoir by ace reporter-turned-Hollywood publicist. At the time of the book's publication, he had only recently gone to work for David O. Selznick (he handled the publicity on GONE WITH THE WIND), so this book primarily focuses on his early career as a newspaperman, during which he covered numerous sensational stories, among them the execution of Ruth Snyder and Lindbergh's departure for Paris. He went on to a long career in Hollywood, working for (among others) Howard Hughes on THE OUTLAW -- for which he devised what has been called "a sales campaign of unbridled vulgarity," centered around Jane Russell's anatomical endowments. Foreword by Gene Fowler. The book was adapted (loosely) for the 1946 feature film of the same name, produced by the Hollywood "Poverty Row" studio PRC (Producers Releasing Corporation). (Any guess as to the identity of the inscribee "Martha" would be just that, although the inscription suggests that she might have been an actress-client of Birdwell's.) Signed by Author .