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

18 NEW DYNAMO ! Alert? Many Branches Already Have Lined j | Up Circuits to Repeat Past Hits as This j ! Industry Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary j Enterprising district and branch managers, salesmen and bookers already have perfected plans to maximumly capitalize the 50th anniversary of motion pictures this Fall. This fact was stressed in a deluge of telegrams and letters sent to New Dynamo by field forces during the past week. The industry itself has officially designated an early week in October for national celebration of that important event. This company will be in an especially ideal posi- tion to profit from such a commemoration by reason of the fact that Darryl Zanuck’s Techni- color super special, “Hollywood Cavalcade,” will be available for release in the key cities. This dramatization of progress of motion pictures in the last 20 years will be, in fact, the highlight of the celebration. As a matter of fact, Zanuck had been planning “Hollywood Cavalcade” ever since Chairman of the Board Joseph M. Schenck directed the atten- tion of the industry that this year marked the 50th anniversary of the invention of what are today known as motion pictures. In “Hollywood Cavalcade” are not only Don Ameche, Alice Faye, J. Edward Bromberg and many other stars and featured players of today, but also Mack Sennett, the original Keystone Cops, Buster Keaton, Ben Turpin and scores of other famous personalities of the silent days of the screen. But while Zanuck, displaying his characteristic alertness, is on deck with a production that is par- ticularly time for the industry’s celebration, the field’s enterprise embraces other means of getting added revenue. Branch managers like Ed Callahan of Boston, Sidney Samson of Buffalo, Ben Reingold of St. Louis, Harry Buxbaum of New York, Sam Gross of Philadelphia, Herndon Edmond of Seattle, and others are lining up local circuits to celebrate the 50th anniversary of motion pictures by setting aside and exploiting a special week wherein there will be a daily presentation of a different picture that was the outstanding hit when originally re- leased. Exhibitors are acting particularly favor- ably to this idea and falling in line by furnishing valuable dates. This enterprise will be the means of earning many thousands of extra Drive dollars during the week the industry will be celebrating the 50th anniversary. The idea the managers are submitting is this: while first-run key-city houses are featuring “Hollywood Cavalcade” the small- town and subsequent houses will be participating in the local campaign by offering repeat showings of hits of other days, hits recalling the indus- try’s entertainment masterpieces of the past 10 years. LIBERTY MAGAZINE GIVES HIGHEST I ! POSSIBLE RATING-FOUR STARS-TO | I ZANUCK’S “STANLEY, LIVINGSTONE” j I Congratulations! J Below, Clyde W. Eck- j hardt, whose celebration ? of his 25th anniversary in j this industry, brought him i great honors and record- ! breaking July revenue for ! the corporation. Chicago | won two K-6 prizes. 1 Following is the text of the review to be published in the ! | Sept. 9 issue of the nationally circulated Liberty Magazine I j on Darryl Zanuck’s first K-7 super special, “Stanley and j j Livingstone,” the reprint being made possible through cour- ! I tesy of the publishers of that publication. Liberty rates pic- j i tures via the star system: 4 stars signifying the production : ! is extraordinary, three stars excellent, two stars good, one ! j star poor and no star very poor. “Stanley and Livingstone” j j draws its highest possible rating, four stars. The review j = follows: * i “THE PLAYERS: Spencer Tracy, Nancy Kelly, Richard j I Greene, Walter Brennan, Charles Coburn, Sir Cedric Hard- j ] wicke, Henry Hull, Henry Travers, Miles Mander, David * ! Torrence, Paul Stanton, Holmes Herbert, Montague Shaw, j j Brandon Hurst, Hassan Said, Paul Harvey, Russell Hicks, i ■ Frank Dae, Joseph Crehan, Robert Middlemass, Frank Jac- ! I quet, Clarence Derwent. Screenplay by Philip Dunne and | j Julien Josephson, based on research and story outline by j , Hal Long and Sam Heilman. Directed by Henry King. ! I Produced by 20th Century-Fox. Running time, 101 minutes. { jj “For months, Harry Morton Stanley, the first of the great i j newspaper correspondents, had struggled onward into Africa ! [ in quest of the long missing David Livingstone. He had been I j commissioned by James Gordon Bennett, owner of The New j : York Herald, to find Livingstone, then lost to the world for j j four years. Heat, savages, fever, wild animals, desertions, | | even mutiny blocked his way. Finally, on November 10, 1871, J i racked by jungle fever, he came upon Livingstone on the j | banks of Lake Tanganyika. It is typical that he hesitated j | at the head of his safari, took off his hat and said formally, i | “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” ! ! “Stanley had been born in Wales in dire poverty, had been I | raised in a pauper’s workhouse. He came to New Orleans as jj i a cabin boy, was adopted by the merchant whose name he | ! took. But he grew up to become Bennett’s ace reporter, the I j forerunner of such great pen adventurers as Richard Hard- j | ing Davis, Frederick Palmer, James Creelman and Floyd j ! Gibbons. ’ ) “This film spectacle lavishly traces Stanley’s intense, un- i j deviating search for the Scotchman who was torn between = ! being a missionary and a discoverer. It shows, too, Stanley’s I | efforts, upon his return, to prove his story, for Livingstone j | stayed on in the heart of Africa, to make new finds and new j ! converts—and to die two years later. Stanley finally is vin- I | dicated, but the quest has transformed him. He’s off again j j to the wilds of the dark continent, drawn by the lure of s ! adventure. | “Spencer Tracy lends strength and vigor to the reporter j j who gets his man and his story, no matter what the price, j • There is a curiously honest tang to his screen characteriza- ! | tions and his Stanley has authenticity. There is little romance. I j Stanley dreams of an unrequited love, while he tosses in i ] his jungle tent o’nights and the lions howl in the distance. ! I But Sir Cedric Hardwieke nearly steals the film as the lost j | discoverer in his brief appearance. He makes Livingstone | j a fanatical figure, led by a burning zeal to find new lands, I I new converts and new hymn singers. J “Here is a panorama of high courage. And history vividly J [ retold.” 5 CHICAGO WINS TWICE! Continued from Page 4 1938 Big Push, the 52-week prize contest had little effect in the comparative earning power of the offices as a whole. Offices like Omaha, Toronto, Seattle, Portland, Boston and Oklahoma City lost ground in the post- Drive period. The spectacular jumps enjoyed by Cincinnati, Washington and Kansas City were attributable to sensational and record-break- ing earning's resultant from “Kentucky” and “Jesse James.” On the other hand, Oklahoma City which profited as spectacu- larly on “Jesse James” as did either Kansas City or St. Louis, dropped from 21st place at the end of the Drive to 36th position at the completion of the K-6 sea- son. CHICAGO SMASHES ALL BUSINESS RECORDS FILM ROW FLABBERGASTED! ECKHARDT’S SILVER JUBILEE EXCEEDS HIGHEST EXPECTATIONS CHICAGO—The first week that marked Clyde W. Eckhardt’s silver jubilee in motion picture distribution saw this office break all records for a seven- days’ July business for any local distributing agency. Eckhardt realized h i s every ambition, for the rec- ord over-quota delivery, pat- terned to win the 52-week K-6 total delivery contest, was brought about through annihilation of records for total volume of business, volume of feature and short subject bookings, volume of repeat and reissue en- gagements, adsales, num- ber of shipments and foot- age of film inspected. The Chicago exchange’s ac- complishment was the talk of Filmdom. For weeks it had been whispered in the trade that Eck- hardt and his employees would seek to break all territorial rec- ords for a July week’s business. In view of the economic situa- tion and the fact that box office takings have been territorially off for the past three months, other film men doubted the prac- ticability of the task this ex- change had set as its goal. Thus, when the goal was not only attained, but actually ex- ceeded, Film Row was flabber- gasted. The record week terminated the most profitable July any distributor has enjoyed in this territory. Each and every week found the Chicago exchange ex- ceeding its quota. In fact, offi- cial records show that this office has wound up its season with a 52-week delivery that is in ex- cess of quota fixed for that pe- riod. This is the first time any Chicago office has reached that percentage of an accumulated 52-weeks’ total delivery. Film shipments for the week were more than treble the nor- mal weekly average. The ship- ping department had to be aug- mented to service the record number of theatres that had booked some part of film service. I Pictures that were three and four years old were grabbed up. The vaults of the exchange were absolutely emptied of their con- tents through the seven days. In fact, the office set an unusual record, having to borrow from other exchanges a huge number of prints on pictures. OTHER FACTS Not only the many records established for business by Eck- hardt’s exchange during his his- toric week, but also the unprece- dented exhibitors’ testimonial banquet tendered him at the Con- gress Hotel constituted the chief topic of conversation among film men. The Midwest had never before beheld such an affair. Never had so many distin- guished film men traveled so far and in the numbers they did to pay their respects to one of the best known film men in the in- dustry. More than 500 were present at the affair. They came from as far East as New York and as far West as the Coast. Gen- eral Manager of Distribution Herman Wobber congratulated Eckhardt not only on his 25th anniversary, but for the mag- nificent record he had made for the company in this territory. He was introduced by Felix Men- delssohn, who acted as toast- master. Lew Lehr, at his best, acted as guest toastmaster. Movietone Producer Truman H. Talley was another of the prin- cipal speakers. Every important distributor was represented at the dinner. Territorial exhibitors turned out 100 per cent. Scores of show- men came from Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Detroit, Indian- apolis, Omaha, Des Moines and St. Louis territories. No branch manager ever had lavished on him the honors that were verbally bestowed on him at this affair. Other speakers were Brad Sears, John Balaban, Jack Mil- ler, Central Division Manager W. C. Gehring, Jack Osserman, E. T. (Peck) Gommersall, James Coston, Henry Herbel, Allan Usher, W. E. Banford, Walter Brandson and Construction En- gineer E. H. McFarland. A huge silver service was pre- sented to the guest of honor, who expressed his appreciation and was given an ovation that he will never forget. BUILD FALL PLAYTIME