20th Century-Fox Dynamo (July 22, 1939)

2i NEW DYNAMO 15 OFFICES BATTLE FOR TOTAL DELIVERY PRIZES! Chicago Breaking Over-Quota July Records-New Orleans Bid For Leadership Will Be 100% Plus Delivery —St. John, Des Moines, Too, Menace Cubs-Winnipeg, Montreal, Minneapolis Menacing In no past Drive has there been any closer competition for first position than marks the final fortnight in the K-6 52-week total delivery prize race! No less than 15 branches are battling it out in a last-minute splurge for participation in the distribution of eight cash prizes in which every employee of the eight winning branches will share. And rare performances—rare, indeed, for the final fortnight of a season and with a Drive less than a month off—will be enacted in the next few days! Dramatic and spectacular 11th hour bids will be made by no less than four offices to pull Chicago down from the throne. But, judging from information reaching this department and what the writer learned in Chicago, Clyde Eckhardt’s office is prepared to perform the seemingly impossible in a determined effort to win first place. And no one is more certain that the last-minute splurge will be terrific than Mr. Eckhardt, who will be the guest of honor Monday of almost 1000 exhibitors at a testimonial banquet to be held in that city. Chicago exhibitors have paled the co-operation theatre operators in other territories in the matter of personally and actively getting behind a local distributor. This brand of co-operation will positively have made of this month the most lucrative July any distributor has ever enjoyed in that territory. Two weeks before the 52-week contest was to close Chicago piled up an accumulated 50-week’s delivery in excess of quota for that period. In so doing, the Chicagoans raised themselves a full point ahead of March’s St. John. But the Saints threaten to upset the Chicagoans’ celebration. However, the latter are aware of what St. John may do—and they insist they are prepared. But both Chicago and St. John will do well to watch out for no less than four “dark horses” whose managers this week professed a determination to wind up on the throne. Landaiche’s New Orleans had piled up a final fortnight that will take sales execu- tives by surprise. Both deliveries will be well over quota—and it must be borne in mind that the Crescents are only 3.3 points behind the pace-setters. Whether New Orleans’ decide, but the figures Man- ager Landaiche showed your correspondent on Sun- day were, indeed, flabber- gasting. However, New Orleans will have to cope first with Podoloff’s Minneapolis, Huber’s Winnipeg and Mayer’s Des Moines before it can worry the Chicagoans. That fact was brought to Lan- daiche’s attention, but his an- swer was: “I’m not afraid of those offices; it’s Chicago and St. John I’m worried about.” Nevertheless, Stanley Mayer’s. Des Moines and Huber’s Win- nipeg are definitely bidders for first prize—and logically so, too. Still, to remain where they are they will have to beat quota in the final two weeks. If they fail, they are certain to trail New Orleans. This reportorial predic- tion is made on the basis of fig- ures personally given those of- fices’ managers to the writer in the past two weeks! Minneapolis, though, frankly, not professing it will finish first, may surprise some of its rivals. That the Gophers have prepared for the anticipated last-minute rush among prize-bidders is fact. Yet, at the end of the 50th week they were only two-tenths of a point ahead of New Orleans. Edward English’s Montreal, now seventh, is another branch that may surprise those offices that are above it. The Royalists are determined to add another to the long list of prizes won in the past two years. Phil Longdon’s Charlotte, caught in an epidemic of infan- tile paralysis, is still hopeful of winning an award, standing- eighth at the end of the 50th chapter, but its task is a difficult one, under the circumstances. No less than three branches, with better territorial conditions, are prepared to hurdle the Tar- heels. They are Skorey’s Cal- garians, Tom Young’s Memphi- ans and Joe Scott’s Omahans. Calgary is only two-tenths of a point behind Charlotte, but six- tenths ahead of Memphis. Oma- ha trailed Memphis by one-tenth of one marjc. At the U,vive meeting Mem- phis Manager Tom Young made the statement that “we will be in the prize money—and we two-week score can offset such a margin time will have to ATLANTIGS RE-ISSUING “WINGS OF THE HORNING”, WITH HENRY FONDA AND ANNABELLA (MRS.tyrone power) PHILADELPHIA—Atlantic District Manager Edgar Moss wants every possible print of “Wings of the Morning” that is available. As a matter of fact, Branch Manager Sam Gross has ascer- tained there is a tremendous demand for the re-issuance of this British-made Technicolor super special, co-starring Henry Fonda and Annabella (Mrs. Tyrone Power). This is one of the best color productions produced. The fact that Annabella is now known to every theatergoer in this country by reason of her recent marriage to Tyrone Power has apparently induced exhibitors to them conclusion that now is the time to re-issue “Wings of the Morning.” The personal triumph of Henry Fonda in “Young Mr. Lin- coln” is another reason advanced by exhibitors for the re- issuance of “Wings of the Morning.” It is the belief of Moss that the re-issue will bring to this picture a gross greater than the amount earned when the picture was originally released. He plans to earn a considerable extra amount during the Drive on this picture and he has asked New Dynamo that it pass along word that his three branches stand ready to book solid every available print. On this Drive trip your correspondent has talked with many exhibitors and at least 15 of them pointed out the timeliness of re-issuing “Wings of the Morning,” pointing out that the publicity Annabella has earned here in the past year, plus the triumph of Fonda in “Young Mr. Lincoln,” places a higher domestic value on that production that it possessed when originally released. No British-made production distributed by this company ever earned the superlative praise from press and exhibitors that “Wings of the Morning,” 100 per cent Technicolored, was given. In fact, there are numerous key city first-runs that have not played it—and there right now it can be booked as a new production. That this situation may be the means of earning many extra dollars for the Drive is the belief of practically all branch managers with whom your correspondent has talked in the past month. 1 know what to do to get up there.” There is no doubt that the 52-week race’s eight prize win- ners will be determined entirely by the size of revenue territori- ally earned in the final stanza. That it will be over-quota that will set the winners in that week is something else that the know- ing must concede. Unquestionably the Canadian branches will put forth a spec- tacular effort to prevent the U. S. continents from pushing them “out of the money.” St. John will unquestionably win an award, unless it falls completely to pieces. Chicago’s possession of first prize loomed a greater possibil- ity than ever at the end of the 51st week of the season. One thing is positive: Drive i '38-'39 TOTAL DELIVERY — 50 Weeks — BRANCHES July 15th Division (Manager) 1 Central (Gehring) . . 2 West (Knpper) „ . . . . DIVISIONS .Inly 1st •Inly July 15th Division (Manager) 1st 3 East (Snssman) 3 Leader Morton A. Levy’s offices have not failed him and have se- cured the President’s prize for him. His Prairie district is now just four full points ahead of its nearest bidder, the Great Lakes, and 5.3 richer than O’Loghlin’s Canadians. That Gehring’s Central will emerge as the K-6 delivery champion division is another foregone conclusion. The 51st week found the Centrals about five points ahead of Kupper’s West and 8.3 above Sussman’s East. “Second Fiddle” was playing an important part in the reve- nue-building campaign of all branches, for this Irving Berlin hit was giving an excellent ac- count of itself. Its box office earnings in the key spots will do much to deter- mine the final status of every branch on K-6 delivery. Higher, too, rose the revenue hopes of district and branch managers as well as salesmen and bookers when they received word from General Manager of Distribution Herman Wobber re- garding the Home Office’s en- thusiastic reaction to “Frontier Marshal,” starring Randolph Scott, Nancy Kelly, Binnie Barnes and Cesar Romero. Considering the fact that the seventh annual Kent Drive is three weeks distant, the current season’s windup is without doubt the most exciting and, certainly, dramatic on record. Every avail- able “last dollar” is being poured into the treasury by branches feeling they still have an opportunity to win one of the available eight prizes. ADSALES DELIVERY