20th Century-Fox Dynamo (August 12, 1939)

NEW DYNAMO 11 | A Xeu\ Glamorous Star ^ da is D f h r ; j j girl of the week. In fact, she is THE talk of exhibitordom. j Her debut in “Elsa Maxwell’s Hotel for Women” was a sen- i I sational success from every angle, judging from comments j I of exhibitors and newspaper critics. Her next appearance j j will be in “Public Deb No. 1” in which she will play the j I title role. WEST, MIDWEST LEAD DRIVE ADVANCE Continued from Page 4 Thus, even before the Drive has been launched, a strenuous district duel for the championship develops, between Kansas City and St. Louis, but with Okla- homa City, also a Midwest- ern branch, though in the International group, boast- ing a higher percentage than either Missouri dele- gation. Wheeler’s Washi n g t o n tops the Eastern offices in the National group, rank- ing fourth, 2.6 behind St. Louis, but only nine-tenths ahead of Beiersdorf’s Dal- las. Cohn’s Pittsburgh, which this week was tied by Tom Young’s Memphis for K-7 feature sales leadership, follows Dallas, need- ing 1.9 to chum with the Tex- ans. But, Pittsburgh is caught be- tween two Southern branches, for with Dallas ahead of it, the Pirates have no easy job ahead as exactly five points behind them stand Paul Wilson’s At- lantans. Landis’ Indianapolis, eighth, is 5.3 behind Atlanta and only one-tenth of a point more pow- er in potential delivery than Ballentine’s San Francisco. Podoloff’s Minneapolis is 10th, nine-tenths behind the Golden Gate aggregation and only six- tenths ahead of Grady’s Cin- cinnatians. Sturm’s Detroiters, 12th, trail Cincinnati by 2.9 and head an- other Mid-Eastern delegation, Schmertz’s Cleveland by only one-half point. Dillon’s Los Angeles are ex- actly one point under Cleveland and one-tenth ahead of Sam- son’s Buffalo. INTERNATIONALS Callahan’s Boston is right at Buffalo’s heels, four-tenths of a point to the Bisons’ rear, and eight-tenths richer than Gross’ Philadelphians. Buxbaum’s New Yorkers need 3.4 to catch the Quakers. Bailey’s Toronto is off to a fast start insofar as the 18-week period is con- cerned among the Interna- tionalists. The Maple Leaf office is 1.4 behind Clark’s pace-setting Oklahoma City. Simon’s New Haveners are 4.2 behind Toronto. But, then New Haven can claim advance rentals score that is greater than that of any other office in Suss- man’s East, topping that of Washington by 2.4. However, two other Canadian exchanges, Skor- ey’s Calgary and Huber’s Winnipeg, are knocking hard on New Haven’s door. Calgary is nine-tenths be- hind the Connecticut crew and two points better off than Winnipeg. Tom Young’s Memphis fol- low, one one-half point behind Winnipeg, but practically tied with Walker’s Salt Lake Citi- ans. One-half point behind Salt Lake stands Morrison’s Denver, which paces March’s St. John by six-tenths. Ernest Landaiche’s New Or- leans is 10th in the Interna- tional group, seven-tenths be- hind St. John, but 1.1 cozier than Grassgren’s Albany. Patterson’s Vancouver fol- lows Albany, needing 1.8 to nail the Knickerbockers and heading off Edmond’s 1938 Drive prize-winning Seattle by 2.9. But, Seattle is actually tied with Mayer’s Des Moines. Only two-tenths of a mark behind the North westerners and the Iowans stand English’s Montrealers. Phil Longdon’s Carolinians, 16th, are three-tenths below Montreal and 2.7 above Lo- rentz’s Milwaukee. Scott’s Omaha is 18th, 1.5 under Milwaukee and 1.6 stronger than Powers’ Port- land. LINDA DARNELL IS A SENSATIONAL HIT IN “HOTEL FOR WOMEN" Shrewd Showmen Flood Studio And Home Office With Congratulatory Wires And Letters After Noting Great Public Reaction Linda Darnell, Dallas’ latest candidate for film fame, scored an instant triumph in her first screen effort, “Elsa Maxwell’s Hotel for Women.” This much was certain this week. It was made so by the flood of tele- grams and letters the studio received from exhibitors all over the country. And the studio was not alone to be so flooded. Mr. Wobber, too received numerous wires from theatre operators who were greatly enthused by Zan- uck’s latest “discovery.” What made her triumph all the more important was that advance reports were particularly lavish. But, Miss Darnell came up to the highest expectations of exhib- itors and newspaper critics. This glamorous creature’s debut is a dramatic success from every angle. She made it that because of her exceptional performance, for she is not only beautiful and wears clothes beautifully, but she is a brilliant actress. That much exhibitors and critics agreed. Not since Zanuck introduced Sonja Henie to motion picture theatregoers has any one girl effected the furore that has followed in the wake of Miss Darnell’s performance. Although not given anything like the dramatic advance campaign that heralded Sonja Henie’s screen debut, “Elsa Maxwell’s Hotel for Women” not being scheduled for New York’s Roxy for another fortnight. Miss Darnell’s first showing, definitely took the public by surprise. And there was no end of surprise among the critics, too. Some of the latter had been tipped off in advance of the local showing, thanks to the alertness of branch managers who staged trade showings. But generally very little, if anything, was known about Miss Darnell in the key cities where “Elsa Maxwell’s Hotel for Women” was shown this week. However, right after the first day’s showings in many cities, exhibitors wisely, but speedily, rushed into print with special ads personally endorsing this new star. The critics followed through with the result that today the Dallas girl is the toast of the trade. Everything Zanuck predicted this newcomer was she turned into fact through her first appearance. Notwithstanding the absence of any spectacular advance campaign in Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, Providence, Baltimore, Cleveland, Dayton, Indianapolis and Houston, “Elsa Maxwell’s Hotel for Women” built to such an extent, on its own merit and sen- sational story contents, that in most of those situations it was being rightly held over. Co-operative newspaper advertising campaigns launched the picture in every situ- ation, with the best “break” being obtained by houses in Hearst cities where the papers went the limit in advance and current publicity. However, by far the best campaign was used in San Francisco. There this first K-7 Cosmopolitan production was given a vigorous campaign. However, it was built mostly on Elsa Maxwell’s local popularity. Hailing from the Golden Gate, Miss Maxwell’s screen debut was awaited with rare interest by her friends there. But, while they applauded the performance of Miss Maxwell, these San Franciscans were surprised by the work and appearance of Linda Darnell. Critics there character- ized her one of the best “finds” in years. They predicted she would enjoy the same measure of popularity that Tyrone Power can boast today. So many critics and exhibitors coupled Miss Darnell and Power that Zanuck this week decided to make plans to team the two. Meantime, he announced Linda Darnell would play the title role in another exploi- tation K-7 special, “Public Deb No. 1.” This one wall go before the cameras early next month. The other roles have not yet been filled. Miss Maxwell, as well as Ann Sothern, drew excellent notices from the newspaper critics. In Cleveland, District Manager Nat Holt of RKO asked his Palace theatre patrons to make comments on Miss Darnell. The response was so enthusiastic that he forwarded all the cards to Mr. Wobber to pass on to Production Chief Zanuck. Do Your Full Share in Exploiting New Personalities