Modern Screen Magazine
Encyclopedia
Modern Screen was an American
fan magazine
that for over 50 years featured articles, pictorials and interviews with movie star
s (and later television and music personalities).
magazine's main competition. It began to brag on its cover that it had "The Largest Circulation of Any Screen Magazine", and Jean Harlow
is seen reading a copy of Modern Screen in the 1933 film Dinner at Eight
.
During the early 1930s, the magazine featured artwork portraits of film stars on the cover. By 1940 it featured natural color photographs of the stars and was charging 15 cents per issue.
Modern Screen had many different editors in chief over the years, including Richard Heller, who understood the importance of the fan magazine's contribution to movie sales and Mark Bego
, the latter of whom edited the book The Best of Modern Screen (St. Martin's Press, 1986). The editor most associated with the magazine, however, was Regina Cannon (1900-1992), but her standards for publication were so low that Carl F. Cotter, who wrote 'Forty Hacks of the Fan Mags' (The Coast, 1939), declared her stories to be the worst of the entire lot.
Contributors to the magazine included famed photographer George Hurrell
and famed writers like Faith Baldwin
. Louella Parsons
wrote a column entitled "Good News."
released her 1975 comedy album Modern Scream, a parody of celebrity magazines. In the early 1980s, however, the popularity of general interest celebrity publications like People Magazine proved to be the end of old-fashioned movie fan magazines. Modern Screen became a bimonthly magazine, but in 1985 publication of the magazine ceased.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
fan magazine
Fan magazine
A fan magazine is a commercially written and published magazine intended for the amusement of fans of the popular culture subject matter which it covers. It is distinguished from a scholarly or literary magazine on the one hand, by the target audience of its contents, and from a fanzine on the...
that for over 50 years featured articles, pictorials and interviews with movie star
Movie star
A movie star is a celebrity who is well-known, or famous, for his or her starring, or leading, roles in motion pictures. The term may also apply to an actor or actress who is recognized as a marketable commodity and whose name is used to promote a movie in trailers and posters...
s (and later television and music personalities).
Founding
Modern Screen magazine debuted on November 3, 1930 (some sources say December 1930). Founded by the Dell Company of New York City it initially sold for 10 cents. Modern Screen quickly became popular and by 1933 it had become PhotoplayPhotoplay
Photoplay was one of the first American film fan magazines. It was founded in 1911 in Chicago, the same year that J. Stuart Blackton founded a similar magazine entitled Motion Picture Story...
magazine's main competition. It began to brag on its cover that it had "The Largest Circulation of Any Screen Magazine", and Jean Harlow
Jean Harlow
Jean Harlow was an American film actress and sex symbol of the 1930s. Known as the "Blonde Bombshell" and the "Platinum Blonde" , Harlow was ranked as one of the greatest movie stars of all time by the American Film Institute...
is seen reading a copy of Modern Screen in the 1933 film Dinner at Eight
Dinner at Eight
Dinner at Eight may refer to:* Dinner at Eight , a 1932 Broadway play written by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber.* Dinner at Eight , a 1933 adaptation...
.
During the early 1930s, the magazine featured artwork portraits of film stars on the cover. By 1940 it featured natural color photographs of the stars and was charging 15 cents per issue.
Modern Screen had many different editors in chief over the years, including Richard Heller, who understood the importance of the fan magazine's contribution to movie sales and Mark Bego
Mark Bego
Mark Bego is a best selling author of top performers in the rock & roll and show business. By having more than 10 million books in print, Mark Bego has been acknowledged as "the prince of pop bios" - the best selling biographer in the rock and pop field. Bego has written 54 books, two of which...
, the latter of whom edited the book The Best of Modern Screen (St. Martin's Press, 1986). The editor most associated with the magazine, however, was Regina Cannon (1900-1992), but her standards for publication were so low that Carl F. Cotter, who wrote 'Forty Hacks of the Fan Mags' (The Coast, 1939), declared her stories to be the worst of the entire lot.
Contributors to the magazine included famed photographer George Hurrell
George Hurrell
George Hurrell was a photographer who made a significant contribution to the image of glamour presented by Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s.-Early life:...
and famed writers like Faith Baldwin
Faith Baldwin
Faith Baldwin was a very successful U.S. author of romance and fiction, publishing some 100 novels, often concentrating on women juggling career and family...
. Louella Parsons
Louella Parsons
Louella Parsons was the first American news-writer movie columnist in the United States. She was a gossip columnist who, for many years, was an influential arbiter of Hollywood mores, often feared and hated by the individuals, mostly actors, whose careers she could negatively impact via her...
wrote a column entitled "Good News."
Decline of the magazine
Modern Screen remained a major success through the 1950s but a downturn in movie ticket sales at the end of the decade led to a general sales decline in the magazine. Still Modern Screen managed to remain popular. On January 3, 1967, The Film Daily declared that 50% of movie ticket sales were influenced by fan magazines such as Modern Screen and Photoplay. The magazine remained popular through the 1970s, and Lily TomlinLily Tomlin
Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin is an American actress, comedienne, writer, and producer. Tomlin has been a major force in American comedy since the late 1960's when she began a career as a stand up comedian and became a featured performer on television's Laugh-in...
released her 1975 comedy album Modern Scream, a parody of celebrity magazines. In the early 1980s, however, the popularity of general interest celebrity publications like People Magazine proved to be the end of old-fashioned movie fan magazines. Modern Screen became a bimonthly magazine, but in 1985 publication of the magazine ceased.