20th Century-Fox Dynamo (June 3, 1939)

10A NEW DYNAMO “Young Mr. Lincoln Special” “LINCOLN” BROADCAST TEARS OPEN TICKET BUYERS’ PURSES SHOWMEN HAIL RADIO PROGRAM STARS WHO PARTICIPATED IN BROADCAST Millions from Coast to Coast learned about “Young Mr. Lincoln,” heard of its triumph at the world premiere and thrilled to the singing of Marian An derson, famous Negro contralto, for some 62 stations on the Mutual network broadcast the event. With Lowell Thomas presiding, the program aired the night of triumph into millions of homes. Below, five of the stars who spoke. As the New Dynamo candid cameraman “caught” them, left to right, they are: Alice Brady, Arleen Whelan, Binnie Barnes, Cesar Romero and Eddie Collins. None Other Than Lowell Thomas Marian Anderson, Thomas, Stars Applauded For the third time in a year this corporation, on “Young Mr. Lin- coln,” sponsored a Coast - to - Coast radio broadcast that brought praise from exhibitors and the public gener- ally. Over a net work of some 75 Mutual and affiliated sta- tions, from the stage of the Fox-Lincoln theatre in Springfield, 111., Monday night, was broadcast a pro- gram that not only pene- trated the heart of millions of people, but that unques- tionably broke the rubber- band around the purse of the motion picture theatre- going public. That millions will begin this week-end finding their way to the box offices of some 60 the- atres scheduled to present “Young Mr. Lincoln,” then, was the contention of exhibitors who wired their congratulations for the broadcast, the manner in which it was put on and report- ing local reaction. Within a half hour after Ma- rian Anderson brought the broadcast to a close punctuated with a thunderous ovation, tele- grams began to reach Publicity and Advertising Manager Charles E. McCarthy, the sing- er, Lowell Thomas, the stars and others. Western Union and Postal Telegraph informed this writer that between 9:15 and midnight Monday, they had cleared some 600 telegrams from all parts of the country. All concerned the broadcast. Every telegram writer reported how much he or she enjoyed the broadcast. It was a broadcast that dif- fered, in every way, from any ever sponsored by a motion pic- ture company. The presence of the great Marian Anderson assured a maximum audience from Coast to Coast. And Lowell Thomas, who served as master of ceremonies, presented the facts as only he can. More exhibitors wired their congratulations on this broad- cast than were heard from on the airing of the Kentucky Der- by for “Rose of Washington Square.” Insofar as potential ticket- goers, the wired response up to Thursday was far greater than that officially reported on last year’s historic Coast-to-Coast “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” broadcast. Several stations reported such great interest that they “played back” the entire program on Wednesday afternoon and night. Cincinnati’s WLW ran the “playback” one hour following the completion of the actual broadcast from Springfield. OTHER FACTS Many exhibitors resorted to use of the long distance tele- phone to transmit their congrat- ulations to the country. Five music critics from as many cities hailed this company for engaging Marian Anderson for the broadcast. Seven newspapers in the Mid- west, including both in Spring- field, editorialized on the dignity and quality of the broadcast. That it was a ticket-selling broadcast was the consensus of opinions of numerous exhibitors who had contacted various branch managers in various parts of the country Wednesday and Thursday. Millions listened to the broad- cast. Messrs. Schenck, Zanuck, Goetz, Wurtzel, Brand and oth- er studio executives, including Director John Ford, listened in from their homes on the Coast. Mr. Wobber listened in from New York. For singing on the program Miss Andersen was paid $6,000. The entire radio contract, which will be supplemented with local newspaper co-operative adver- tising campaigns in the larger key cities, represented an in- vestment of about $30,000. THE BROADCAST Guests and ticket-buyers (the latter paid $3.30 for the ducats) were notified to be in their seats at promptly 7:45 o’clock. Despite the fact there were around 5,000 people in the streets fronting the theatre, police su- pervision of the crowd was again so efficient that no one holding a ticket had any trouble at all getting inside the lobby, walking through a lane day- lighted by huge arclights of varying colors. At promptly 7:45 Lowell Thomas and the stars, Alice Brady, Binnie Barnes, Cesar Romero, Arleen Whelan and Eddie Collins walked onto the stage as the crowd applauded and applauded. This applause lasted for fully two minutes. Mr. Thomas quieted his audi- ence and, ascertining there were some four minutes before he would be “on the air,” proceed- ed to ad-lib, carrying on an en- tertaiinng wordage that was punctuated with seven outbursts of applause before the sound en- gineer announced: “Ten seconds to go!” And following the fanfare splurging on the music accom- panying the usual screen pres- entation of the corporation trade-mark, the announcer took charge for a few seconds. Thus, the broadcast was on. Following is a stenographic report of what the broadcasting artists and artistes said and did: THE ANNOUNCER Good evening, ladies and gen- tlemen. This broadcast is com- ing to you from the stage of the Fox-Lincoln theatre in Springfield, Illinois, where the Premiere of Darryl Zanuck’s production, “Young Mr. Lin- coln,” is being presented by Twentieth Century-Fox. Lowell Thomas, Sunoco News voice of the air and ace commentator for Fox Movietone, will be our chairman-of-the-evening. His will be the next voice that you will hear. LOWELL THOMAS Good evening, everybody; citi- zens of Springfield, Illinois, and our Coast-to-Coast radio audi- ence. I hope you, who are lis- tening to this over the air, will be able to picture in your imag- ination just what is happening tonight in Springfield. If Abra- ham Lincoln is looking down from on high tonight I wonder what he has to say about this scene ? Well, I have been here in Springfield many times. Years ago, I often came here as a newspaper reporter, sent down on assignment by my Chicago editor. And every time I came I had a reverential feeling. For this, as every American knows, is the home country of Lincoln, this is the place where the great Emancipator began his career and built the foundations of his fame. Of course the folks here in Springfield don’t go around with their heads bowed in awe and reverence all the time. This, however, is a special occasion, and one can imagine the spirit of the Great Emancipator brooding over this impressive event. One might even feel that the shade of Lincoln is some- where in this crowd, here in the Fox-Lincoln theatre, here with the people in this audience who are the descendants of Lincoln’s old friends and neighbors. Now, here’s something appro- priate, something most fitting to this occasion. We are cele- brating the memory of the Great Emancipator, and there happens to be in the world of music today a great Negro so- prano. She is at the height of her career, renowned in the in- ternational realm of music, fa- mous, also, among the millions in this nation, among all who love beautiful melody and beau- tiful voice. Could there be any- thing more appropriate, more fitting, than to hear Marian An- derson sing in memory of the Emancipator of her race. So now—Marian Anderson. (Miss Anderson sings “Amer- ica” and at its conclusion, Mr. Thomas resumes.) LOWELL THOMAS Thank you, Marian Anderson. You sang as if you felt, what I myself felt—that the shade of Lincoln might be listening to you. Truth to tell, the shade of The Emancipator is here to- night—in the form of shadows on celluloid, that miracle of the art of representation and mo- tion which we call motion pic- tures. We are about to see the the Premiere of “Young Mr. Lincoln.” For the first time anywhere it will be shown here tonight. Just before I left New York, I saw it at the Fox lab- oratory, and there was one thing that struck me particular- ly— every student of American history knows that young Mr. Lincoln, who flourished here in Springfield, had in an amazing degree the faculty of capturing the hearts of people, the mass of mankind, the humble folk of a pioneer country. This in fact is the central dramatic idea of the picture—“Young Mr. Lin- (Continued on page 16A)