20th Century-Fox Dynamo (August 5, 1939)

16 NEW DYNAMO r——° L WADING INTO THE KENT DRIVE Continued from Page 9 C ONGRATULATIONS to the publicity and advertising department for the superb ac- cessories created for Elsa Max- well’s “Hotel for Women.” They are the best sellers got out on any picture released so far this season and doing much to help managers, salesmen and book- ers get the proper type of play- time. • U NUSUAL interest was man- ifested in the talk on “The Rains Came” and in “Brigham Young” at the Cleveland ex- change. There was a very good reason for that local interest. Manager Schmertz said that Louis Bromfield, who authored “The Rains Came” and who is screen - adapting the original story of “Brigham Young,” hails from Lima, O. Several Ohio exhibitors have asked for the world premiere on “The Rains Came,” but that is slated for the Roxy theatre in New York. 9 /■HAT Elsa Maxwell’s “Hotel for Women” does in its first weeks will depend on terri- torial showmanship and ex- ploitation, for while this Zan- uck natural opens the season it is not billed to play the Roxy theatre in New York until af- ter the run of “Stanley and Livingstone” there. We will be passing up a whole lot of available money if we don’t make it our business seeing that Elsa Maxwell’s “Hotel for Women” gets a SENSATION- AL exploitation campaign in every key city. This one is a pushover for BIG money—pro- vided it is properly sold and in keeping with the breeziness of the story. 9 TUNE CARLSON, young sis- ” ter in the Jones Family series, was in Chicago en route from New York to the studio. She not only attended the open- ing of the Chicago exchange, but she visited some of the exhibi- tors. June gets her big oppor- tunity in the third K-7 Jones Family comedy, “Down to Earth,” which will find the world’s best-known family in- volved in the Little Theater movement. 9 TIHE Drive crew is particular- ly indebted to the many men and women who drove hundreds of miles from vacation points to be present at the meetings. When an office boasts employees of that type, you can bet your bot- tom dollar that such a branch is going to be right there, among the headliners, fighting for prize money—and we hope they get a prize! 9 'Vf ORTHEASTERN District L ’ Manager Tom Bailey would, in our humble opinion, make an excellent Drive leader. He al- ways delivers a message that stirs and spurs his listeners. We never heard any district man- ager get on his feet and deliver the truly inspiring message that he gave at the Albany, Boston and New Haven branch meet- ings. Rightly, his employees at those branches punctuated his great talk with an ovation. 9 A NEW record for the vol- ume of Drive business cor- ralled in a single day was ef- fected at the official opening of the Chicago branch. Clyde Eck- hardt’s two-day celebration of his silver anniversary brought every exhibitor in his territory into the Windy City. And the bookers and salesmen were ready for them. The volume of Drive playtime secured for the first eight weeks flabbergasted rival branch managers. Watch out for Chicago in the Drive. Nothing J. Corbett E. Teel like making real hay while the sun shines its brightest. Good work, Chicago! 9 T HERE’S new blood partici- pating in the Drive in Mon- treal. Eddie English’s staff boast three newcomers among the girls. And they were the most attentive and interested listeners at the tine meeting held in the Montreal office. • T HE milk industry is seeming- ly having its woes—as what business isn’t? But that fact isn’t worrying Salesmen Dare and Remer, Booker Houlihan and Manager Grassgreen at Albany. The farmers are complaining about the price on milk being too low, but the fact remains that in the midst of all this ter- ritorial headache, the Albany ex- change’s K-7 circulation is far ahead of the same period last year. 9 ARD SCOTT hoped to have the Griffith circuit deal all set by this week. But Western Division Manager Bill Ivupper was delayed on the Coast where he is working on the McNeil chain deal with San Francisco Manager George Ballentine. Bill had expected to be in Oklahoma City Saturday, but he had to postpone that trip until this week. When the Griffith circuit is set as it probably would be by the time this edition reaches you, other important deals in St. Louis awaited the attention of Kupper and Scott. 9 T HIS week-end several im- portant Canadian circuit deals should be in the work— and that is good news for the Dominion managers. The latter have all their possibilities that can be sold at this period of the season in the fold. When these deals are set, the Canadian sales- men may be expected to burn up the road. Charles Krupp of Win- nipeg is still far in the lead in the matter of individual K-7 con- tracts negotiated to date. 9 B ILL SUSSMAN’S statement at the meeting at Harry Bux- baum’s branch left no doubt that he means to resort to the super- human means to pull his divi- sion into first place. The East never was more enthusiastic nor more optimistic regarding its chances of winning a majority of prizes. It’s revenge the East seeks—and Sussman doesn’t care who knows that. A greater meet- ing than the one held Friday never was experienced at the branch housing Harry Buxbaum, Joe Lee & Company. 9 U P IN New Haven Local Drive Leader Earl Wright has or- ganized the personnel into two competitive groups. Also the Drive push for extra revenue has been split. While Manager Ben Gould and Salesman Wright will concentrate on boosting revenue among regular accounts, with Booker Sam Germaine holding forth in the exchange, the girls have been organized into a team that will devote its efforts to non-theatrical accounts. And already, reported Wright, the girls have secured substantial results — results in excess of what was on the Drive books at the same time last year. 9 yNCIDENTALLY, also in New r- Haven the personnel of the two competing teams have taken on the names of our leading stars. Whether Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, Marjorie Weaver, Arleen Whelan, Nancy Kelly and Don Ameche know it or not, New Haven has definitely placed them in Drive competition, 9 T HE adsales forces can de- pend on managers, salesmen and bookers to corral more rev- enue than in any prior Drive. This statement we base on in- formation we gathered on our recent trip. In every single ex- change, the salesmen and book- ers have voluntarily set adsales goals and there is no doubt in the writer’s mind that from the point of increased sales revenue this will be an outstanding Drive. And if records are not smashed it will not be for any lack of cooperative and vigorous work on the part of salesmen and bookers. Of that we are positive right now. 9 T O ATTEND the meeting at the New York exchange, Mr. Wobber winged his way from Niagara Falls, Ont., to the big city early Friday morning. He set something of a record, for he delivered two informative and inspiring addresses within 24 hours. The first he delivered before the Famous Players Ca- nadian Theatres circuit manag- ers who convened on the Cana- dian side of the Falls Thursday gfternoon, and the second at the New York Drive session Friday morning. 9 S AM BERG, celebrating his 25th anniversary with this company, delivered a speech that rightly made District Manager Tom Bailey and Branch Man- ager Ed Callahan very proud. Speaking for the personnel, the veteran booker did a remarkable job. Levy had never been in Boston before and what he heard there swept him off his feet. The Drive leader has been with this company for some 19 years, but office after office amazed him. While he asked the local Drive leaders “not to be nervous,” none showed the remotest semblance of nervousness; on the contrary, they got on their feet and spoke clearly, smoothly and in every single instance delivered a splen- did message. There is no dearth of national Drive leadership ma- terial in this company’s ranks. Many a manager and employee who spoke at the Drive meetings would make a perfect national Drive leader right now. 9 T HE Boston booker, who is un- questionably one of the most popular men in any Film Row in this country, has a classic cam- paign under way. What is more, he can point to results right now. With every man and woman behind him, Sam Berg has lined up an advance volume of playdates that is the largest any branch can boast for the first six weeks of the Drive. Berg is out to make his 25th an- niversary an event—and New England exhibitors are giving unprecedented cooperation, ac- cording to Manager Callahan. 9 A ND speaking of Callahan, reminds us: notwithstanding the fact that a drought, broken on the very day the Drive meet- ings were held in New England (a good omen?), the Boston manager voluntarily pledged 100 per cent delivery of the biggest 18-week quota any office there E. A. Burkart E. Jacobs has ever been given. And the Boston Drive quota is second in size only to that of Buxbaum’s New York office, which also an- nounced, through Manager Har- ry Buxbaum and Local Drive Leader Joe Lee, that that fixed figure “has had only one effect on us: to whale the blazes out of it!” Here is hoping both Boston and New York do just that. And they will, too! 9 l^EW YORK Drive Leader Joe ' Lee will bear close watch- ing. He positively flabbergasted the audience at the meeting at that exchange. And in that au- dience were Home Office execu- tives and departmental heads and an ex-Drive leader. But Joe left no doubt that he has the stuff of which Drive leaders are made! Fortunate, indeed, is the metropolitan office to have an executive of the type of Lee to act as their local Drive com- mander. , 9 R EG MARCH, speaking in Boston, said that the break- up of branches into two groups “enhances the chance of St. John winning another Drive.” And the Saints are going to go into the campaign wealthier than ever, from what March told us! And remember that it’s harder to earn $10 in the isolated, sparsely settled St. John terri- tory than it is for some of the bigger U. S. exchanges to get $ 1000 ! 9 A LL of the Boston salesmen, excepting Sales Manager Harry Alexander, worked in the booking department there. We refer to Salesmen Matt Simons, Harry Gold and Johnny Feloney. Manpower development has been an outstanding accomplishment in Ed Callahan’s great record as manager of the Boston exchange. It is no wonder to us that every film man in New England views the Boston exchange as Film Row’s heaven! 9 T HE finest display of acces- sories we viewed at Sidney Samso n’s Buffalo exchange. That should not surprise you, for there’s showmanship written all over the Buffalo office. The accessories are attractively ex- hibited—and we observed that not an item has been overlooked on “Stanley and Livingstone,” which should be the means of many an exchange setting up a new record for adsales revenue derived from a single release. 9 T HE fact that there will be a minimum of five Zanuck super specials, some six Movie- tone short subjects, including Vyvyan Donner’s Fashion Fore- casts, and 10 Terry-Toons done in Technicolor has had an ex- cellent effect on showmen throughout the country. Every- where we went exhibitors raved over the Fashion Forecast and Ed Thorgersen’s Sports Reviews series. Truman Talley can well be proud of the unprecedented record his Movietone organiza- tion established during its first year as producer of short sub- jects. The Movietone short sub- jects program is conceded by unbiased showmen in the best position to judge to be definitely the best on the market. 9 E DGAR MOSS’ Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Washington exchanges lead the district that has locally raised the largest sum for territorial distribution during the Kent Drive. Moss himself is offering $50 to every exchangee. Each office boasts a local prize pot ranging from $85 to $135! 9 ]^OT since “Cavalcade” and ’ the days of the Gaiety thea- tre road-shows has this com- pany put forth such an elaborate billposting campaign behind a special as it has under way on “Stanley and Livingstone.” Al- though the world premiere takes place at the Roxy theatre in New York, this Zanuck special is be- ing given a road-show exploita- tion campaign in the metropolitan area. We were some 40 miles out of New York when we caught sight of the first of those eye- catching 24-sheets on this pro- duction. 9 FJILL CLARK never has been -R-' as enthusiastic as we found him the other day. He had seen some of the Movietone K-7 fea- turettes and he raved and raved! And with reason, too, for you also will have much to cheer about when you see the first re- lease in the Father Hubbard, Ed Thorgersen, Lew Lehr and Adventures of News Cameramen ITANLEY AND LIVING- STONE” is to open in some score of major key cities sev- eral days prior to the national release date, but following the world premiere in New York, according to bookings approved during the past week by the Home Office. 9 P AUL TERRY, producer of Terry-Toons, was among those who attended the exhib- itors’ testimonial dinner to Clyde Eckhardt in Chicago. And from all sides, exhibitors congratu- lated him on his Technicolor Terry-Toons. Paul, as you know, has given $1000 of that $2000 in prizes that will be available for outstanding Drive delivery on short subjects. The other $1000 came from Movietone. 9 I T WAS a happy week-end in Philadelphia, Washington, San Francisco and Minneapolis, for those branches received checks representing prizes won in the recent Educational Month campaign. Now let’s see what you can do in the Drive short subjects test. 9 A NOTHER few days and the Summer vacation period will have passed. However, the Drive crew wants to express its sincere thanks to the some score of vacationing employees who took time out to be present at the meetings. 9 O WING to the length of the meetings—about 45 minutes longer than those of past Drives insofar as the first swing around the branches was concerned—the initial trip of this Drive ran about 10 days longer than those of the first six campaigns. But then tied in with the meetings just concluded were other impor- tant sales matters that concerned not only the Drive, but the K-7 season as a whole. However, the first series of Drive meetings this season was completed two weeks ahead of past years, but the trip was started a little bet- ter than three weeks earlier. The first meeting this year was held on June 29. Last year’s first session was held on July 19.