20th Century-Fox Dynamo (July 8, 1939)

NEW DYNAMO 3 BATTLE ROYAL FOR PRIZES FEATOR ES DELIV ERY RACE! “Second Fiddle” Renews Awards Hope At Branches—Des Moines Vs. Chicago For Championship, But St. John Menace To Both—Southerners Tease Canada! The 48th week of the season found the K-6 total delivery race featured by a particularly exciting last-minute scrap between Clyde Eckhardt's Chicagoans and Stanley Mayer s lowans for the territorial championship. The former went into the 49th week as commanders, but showing the way to the lowans by only two-tenths of a point. In no previous last chapter of any prior season has competition been of the red-hot calibre it is right now, for the lowans are determined to fin- ish first, while the Chicagoans, celebrating Clyde Eckhardt Silver Jubilee, are counting on the latter campaign to smash their way to the first championship in their history. And the two have been running so close in the past six months that not until the last day of the season can the final verdict be determined. But these two combina- tions have no monopoly on the July developments — and the latter indicate the best month, in matter of revenue, since January. That July will be one of the most lucrative months of the season is a foregone conclusion with Irving Ber- lin’s “Second Fiddle” now on the loose. As a matter of fact the week ending July 22 prom- ises to be the biggest since the termination of the K-6 Drive, according to advance information forwarded New Dynamo by district and branch managers. “Second Fiddle” will be the ma- jor factor in making the last two weeks of the season the best in five months. Many branch mana- gers write to the effect their of- fices during the weeks ending July 22 and 29 will constitute the most profitable fortnight this year. Especially significant is this be- cause July 29 comes only two weeks before the beginning of the seventh annual S. R. Kent Drive. However, it is apparent the field force is determined on winding up the K-6 season in a blaze of glory, in accordance with the wishes of Mr. Wobber. Not since “Jesse James” has there been such a clamor for a motion picture as there has de- veloped by “Second Fiddle”. A surprisingly large number of first- run theatres will be showing that Zanuck smash-hit starting with release date. Screening of “Second Fiddle” has resulted in a general speed- up of playoff of prior release, for there is one thing apparent: ex- hibitors are eager to play that musical as quickly as possible, but it is not available until prior commitments are discharged. This rule laid down by Mr. Wob- ber has been relayed to the branches by Division Managers Kupper, Sussman and Gehring. Thus, again the studio has come to the aid of the distribution force, for “Second Fiddle” is mak- ing it possible for the latter to build up the most auspicious windup any season has enjoyed. This is evident from the enthusi- astic communications sent to New Dynamo by managers. Not in months has there been such a display of enthusiasm, nor the optimistic spirit that prevails in the field right now, thanks to the unlimited possibilities for a whirl- wind windup of “Second Fiddle”. THE CONTEST The battle for one of the eight cash prizes for the eight highest delivery cards for the 52-week period of the K-6 season is rapidly nearing its close. But what a close! There is no telling what offices will “finish in the money” below the second spot. That Chicago 1938-39 TOTAL DELIVERY - 48 Weeks; Following is how the branches, districts and divisions stand on accumu- lated total delivery for the first 48 weeks of the 1938-39 season against quota for that period, as of June 24: BRANCHES July June 1st Branch (Manager) 10th 1 Chicago (Eckhardt) 2 2 Des Moines (Mayer) 1 St. John (March) 3 Winnipeg (Huber) 4 Minneapolis (Podoloff) 5 Montreal (English) 6 New Orleans (Landaiche) 8 Charlotte (Longdon) 7 Memphis (Young) 9 Calgary (Skorey) 11 Omaha (Scott) 10 St. Louis (Reingold) 12 Cincinnati (Grady) 13 ^Detroit (Sturm) 15 ^Yfanta (Wilson) 14 Toronto (Bailey) 16 Milwaukee (Lorentz) 18 Seattle (Edmond) 19 New Haven (Simon) 17 July 1st Branch (Manager) June 10th 20 Salt Lake (Walker) 21 21 Washington (Wheeler) 20 22 Portland (Powers) 23 23 Kansas (Fuller) 22 24 Dallas (Beiersdorf) 24 25 Indianapolis (Landis) 25 26 Los Angeles (Dillon) 26 27 Pittsburgh (Cohn) 27 28 Philadelphia (Gross) 28 29 Cleveland (Schmertz) 29 30 Boston (Callahan) 30 31 Buffalo (Samson) 31 32 New York (Buxbaum) 32 33 Vancouver (Patterson) 33 34 Denver (Morrison) 35 35 Frisco (Ballentine) 34 36 Oklahoma (Clark) 36 37 Albany (Grassgreen) 37 DISTRICTS July June 1st District (Manager) 10th 1 Prairie (Levy) 1 2 Great Lakes ( ) 2 3 Canada (O'Loghlin) 3 4 South (Ballance) 4 5 Midwest (Scott) 5 July June 1st District (Manager) 10th 6 Mid-East (Roberts) 6 7 Atlantic (Moss) 7 8 Coast ( ) 8 9 Northeast (Bailey) 9 DIVISIONS July June 1st Division (Manager) 10th 1 Central (Gehring) 1 2 West (Kupper) 2 July 1st Division (Manager) June 10th 3 East (Sussman) 3 and Des Moines will be occupants of the two top berths is a fore- gone conclusion. A wire from Manager Stanley Mayer to New Dynamo predicts unusually big over-quota perform- ances for the season’s final two weeks and a minimum of quota for the first two. That is what Chicago will have to top to beat out the lowans for the champion- ship. That Drive Leader Levy will walk off with the President’s prize is a foregone conclusion. Right now two of the Prairie offices—Des Moines and Podo- loff’s Minneapolis—are occupants of prize paying berths. Joe Scott’s Omaha ranks 11th, but the lat- ter’s manager wired New Dyna- mo Wednesday that that branch will wind up with a bang. Scott is insistent that when the final re- turns are checked, Omaha will be among the eight prize winners. And Scott’s claim was a logical one. In 11th place, Omaha was only 1.2 points behind Longdon’s Charlotte, occupant of the eighth prize-carrying berth. And to stay in that position Charlotte will have to deliver a little more than quota every week of the final chapter to hold off the Omahans. But then the North Carolinians are always at their best when seemingly cornered and they are prepared for any emergency, judging from the letter Manager Longdon sent to the writer last week. However, not only Charlotte, but Tom Young’s Memphis and Verne Skorey’s Calgary stand in Omaha’s way to prize money. Memphis is more dangerous than ever. A word from that office reports solid bookings on “Sec- ond Fiddle” and a potential week- ly revenue that “is expected to shoot us up three or four places in the prize-money”, according to a letter from there. Whether that happens time will have to deter- mine, but, like Charlotte, the vet- erans from Tennessee represent a dangerous challenge to the Ne- braskans. The Memphis office also anticipated a last-minute attack from the Omaha outfit and others — and no doubt is pre- pared for any such movement. Calgary, which won a prize in the 1938 Kent Drive, will have to step on it to move in ahead of either Charlotte or Memphis and hold back Omaha. The Southern- ers have been consistently out- delivering the Canadians and Calgary and Omaha at the end of the 48th week were virtually tied and only one-half point behind Memphis. The Tennessee aggre- gation was seven-tenths of a point behind Charlotte. BATTLE ROYAL The Centrals are reasonably certain of finishing the K-6 deliv- ery season as divisional cham- pions, but the Kent Drive cham- pion Canadians will have to watch their steps. O’Loghlin’s Canadians are rep- resented by three branches that occupy berths carrying cash awards for every employee. They are March’s St. John, Huber’s Winnipeg and English’s Montreal. As a matter of fact, regardless of final outcome, prize winners of the Drive will dominate the cash awards for 52-week returns. When the 52-week total delivery contest was decided upon early in Prairie Branch Managers Assure Levy That “President’s Prize Is In Bag!” Prairie Branch Managers Stanley J. Mayer of Des Moines, Joe Podoloff of Minneapolis and Joe Scott of Omaha the other day wired New Dynamo that not only are they prepared for a “last minute splurge” to place them in money-winning positions, but that “the President’s prize is in the bag for Levy”. Manager Podoloff wired: “We are doing everything humanly possible to get Levy the President’s prize which will mean a prize for us as well. So far as we are concerned that is in the bag.” Manager Mayer, whose lowans are battling Chicago and St. John for first place, telegraphed the following: “Just to inform you 1 am sure Des Moines will finish first in the Prairie district and in the national contest on the 52-weeks’ campaign as weeks of July 22 and 29 should be well over quota and two weeks prior quota or very close thereto. We are bending backwards in our endeavor to contribute everything humanly possible, so there will be no question as to Levy winning the President’s prize.” Manager Scott wired: “We have ‘Fiddle’ booked all key situa- tions beginning release and are out for quota or better each week.” But, from Manager Eckhardt of Chicago comes this signifi- cant note: “1 know this is the first and best chance Chicago has had of finishing first and anyone who may think we are going to lose this wonderful opportunity is crazy. Roger, we will be where we are now when this race is over—in first place. We have prepared for any emergency.” And from St. John comes this word: “The record shows that St. John has never muffed a chance for finishing first when the opportunity was there. We have all the respect in the world for Chicago, Des Moines and the other offices, but we’ll be in there fighting for that first position right up to the last hour of the season.” 1938, it had been hoped that such a competition would give non- winners in the 1938 Drive a chance to win some money. With the exception of Charlotte and Memphis, all of the potential winners of prizes on the basis of 52 weeks’ accumulated total de- livery are branches that earned cash in the Kent Drive. But there is some question as to whether the three Canadian branches mentioned as occu- pants of prize-carrying positions will finish where they were at the beginning of this week. St. John was still hopeful of “sneaking” up on both Des Moines and Chi- cago and planting itself in first place. And do not be surprised if that actually happens! The St. John office was less than a point behind over-quota Chicago and Des Moines! Huber’s Winnipeg was one-half point behind St. John, but Joe Podoloff’s Minnesotans are a threat to both St. John and Win- nipeg. That manager wired the writer that his office was “all set for a great over-quota finish”. That should mean trouble for St. John and Winnipeg, and not even Chicago or Des Moines can ignore that appraisal from Minneapolis. Minneapolis at the end of the 48th week was only four-tenths of a point behind Winnipeg. But Eddie English’s Montreal, which have consistently figured in prize distribution for several straight seasons, is also a bidder for the championship. The Royal- ists are sixth, nine-tenths of a mark behind Minneapolis, but only three-tenths of a point ahead of Landaiche’s New Orleans. LAST MINUTE That the winners of the eight prizes — in which all employees at the fortunate offices will par- ticipate — will not be determined until the very last week is stressed by the strength and plans of New Orleans. The Cres- cents are in seventh place, having nosed Charlotte out of that posi- tion. That means they stand only two-tenths of a point ahead of the Tarheels. Harry Ballance’s South, which has done a particularly fine job in the K-6 post-Drive period, and has kept Kupper’s West in second place, divisionally, is still hope- ful of boasting the occupants of the first three places. Keeping the Southerners out of a prize berth is going to be next to im- possible. It’s South against Canada! Ballance had hoped that his dis- trict would snatch leadership from the Prairie combination, but Dixie trails the latter by 6.1 points. However, with a picture like “Second Fiddle” loose and with many managers admittedly plan- ning “last-minute” surprises, there is no telling what may hap- pen. Anything can happen — and that is not particularly gratifying news to either Levy or any of his hard-working branch managers. If the South does swing three offices into prize money, it is al- most certain that the move will be at the expense of O’Loghlin’s Canadians. That is the way things looked at press-time, on the basis of advance rentals and reliable reports sent to New Dy- namo by branch managers.