20th Century-Fox Dynamo (September 2, 1939)

NEW DYNAMO _ Official ! K-7 TOTAL DELIVERY | ' FOUR WEEKS’ STANDING 1 Following is tin* standing: of lated four weeks total delivery period, as of August *.£«: all branches, districts, and divisions on accumu- against the 1939-10 total delivery quota for that BRANCHES BEGGING FOR $11 TICKETS FOR OPENING Plans Completed for Launching- “Cavalcade” MOVIETONE CITY —It has never hap- pened before! With the unprecedented event still a month away, reservations already are at a premium for the $11 a seat Hollywood world pre- miere of “Hollywood Caval- cade” at the Four Star thea- tre here on Sept. 29. One thing is certain — there will be the greatest turnout of celebrities in film capital history- on that night to pay tribute to a new entertainment world- beater and to help swell the coffers of the Motion Picture Relief Fund. Never before have famous names rallied so spontaneously to a gala preview innovation and vied for the privilege of paying a record price to witness the tri- umphant bow of Zanuck’s Tech- nicolor masterpiece which re- captures in all its fantastic drama, reckless fun and epochal progress the story of Hollywood from primitive days to the ad- vent of talking pictures. As the industry knows, every dollar of the premiere receipts goes to the worthiest of Holly- wood charities, assuring addi- tional thousands for the rigidly- administered fund which enables motion picture people to take care of their own. SELLOUT AT $11 There will not be a single piece of “paper” in the Wilshire Boulevard showplace where “In Old Chicago” and other big pic- tures have first thrilled audi- ences. Twentieth Century-Fox is buying the tickets for the several hundred press repre- sentatives invited to the pre- miere, and the studio is standing every item of expense incurred in connection with the lavish opening. With all arrangements prac- tically completed by the studio publicity and advertising de- partment, a complete sellout is anticipated two weeks before the big night. Elaborate pre- cautions have been taken to keep tickets out of the hands of scalpers. Studio and theatre aides will see to it that the cov- eted pieces of engraved card- board are delivered personally to Hollywood notables and lead- ers in California’s social and of- ficial life. Preparing for record-breaking street crowds, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and studio police are co-operating in mapping plans to handle the throngs. From late in the afternoon un- til the premiere is over, all traffic will be diverted for sev- eral blocks from Wilshire Boule- vard, one of the world’s busiest thoroughfares. Stands seating thousands will be erected in the vicinity of the Four Star Theater, and steel cables to hold back the overflow mass of humanity will be stretched along Wilshire for a mile each way. Special police and guards, in- cluding mounted and uni- formed men and motorcycle units, are expected to be as- signed to the premiere sector. A novel honor guard to help WASHINGTON HOPS TO SECOND POST! With Boston, Its Increasing Earning Power In Drive Race Exalts Rating In K-7 Accumu lated Delivery Contest! Wheeler’s Washington is on the loose! But, it is on a profitable spree! That was turned into fact not only when the figures were compiled for the first two weeks of the Kent Drive, but also when the K-7 season’s total deliv- ery standings were checked! Thus, this week the veterans from the nation’s capital found themselves in second place. But, they are still 12.5 points behind pace-setting, over-quota Los Angeles, which happens to be managed by a former pilot of the Washington branch. Jack Dillon. The Drive found many changes effected in accumulated four weeks’ standings on total delivery. At the end of the first month of the Big Push, Ivupper’s West was still divisional leader, 4.1 ahead “I AM A STRANGER’’ RICHARD GREENE AT BEST THAT IS WORD FROM COAST ‘ WILL FURTHER BOOST HIS POPULARITY,” STUDIO SAYS MOVIETONE CITY—A full-fledged big star by public demand! That is Richard Greene’s reward for making the fastest climb to the popularity heights of any young masculine personality in Hollywood history. What millions of fans and thousands of exhibitors have predicted, Darryl F. Zanuck has brought to consummation in “Here I Am A Stranger” by elevating the romantic idol to sole stellar honors and giving him a superb supporting cast which includes Richard Dix, in his greatest role; Brenda Joyce, the new find who made her triumphant debut in “The Rains Came”; Roland Young, Gladys George and numerous other luminaries. Zanuck’s handling of Greene since the handsome, talented youth first burst to fame in “Four Men and a Prayer” a year ago has been the talk of the industry. In the face of an avalanche of fan mail right from the start and mounting insistent requests that the actor be starred immediately, Zanuck instead groomed Greene for his “big chance” by proving his versatility in a succession of different roles in outstanding pictures —“My Lucky Star,” “Submarine Patrol,” “Kentucky,” “The Little Princess,” “The Hound of the Baskervilles” and “Stanley and Livingstone.” A MILESTONE IN GREENE’S CAREER With each performance, Greene’s fan mail leaped to new highs, and more and more marquees blazoned his name throughout the world. Zanuck knew all along that Greene was a star in the full meaning of the word, but he let the public and exhibitors discover the fact and reaffirm it in repeated box office polls and newspaper and magazine popularity contests. When it came time to cast the powerful story read by millions and hailed as the greatest human document of its kind since “Sorrell and Son,” Zanuck made the decision which marked a new mile- stone in Greene’s career. The actor was to achieve the coveted honor of having his name above the title of “Here I Am A Stranger”! Two hundred and fifty thousand letters addressed to the studio had insisted on this official heralding of stardom. Theatre men everywhere had telegraphed and written, requesting that Greene be starred in his own right and given a vehicle worthy of his tre- mendous popularity. That “Here I Am A Stranger”— a modern saga of love and sacrifice, broken homes and regeneration, laid against backgrounds of luxury and privation, American college life and metropolitan newspaperdom—was a happy choice is attested by the amazing spurt in Greene’s fan mail, which already had assumed staggering proportions, and thousand of congratulatory letters to the studio. Those who have been privileged to see a rough-cut of “Here I Am A Stranger” are making unequivocal predictions of another Zanuck smash hit which will create a far greater nation-wide furore than did the work of fiction when it was published in McCall’s Magazine. celebrities out of cars and min- gle with the street crowds will be recruited from the old-time Keystone Cops who are among the thousands of players ap- pearing in support of Alice Faye and Don Ameehe. Lighting experts have been given carte blanche to provide the most dazzling electrical pyrotechnics in premiere annals. Hundreds of giant arcs will stab the skies with Technicolor hues from a mile radius sur- rounding the theatre, while Wil- shire Boulevard itself will be transformed into the world’s longest “Foyer of Fame.” of Gehring’s Central and 6.8 richer than Sussman’s East. Coast remained first among the districts, but it is now only 2.3 ahead of Tom Bailey’s Drive-pacing Northeast. The Yankees hurdled Great Lakes and the Midwest. Roberts’ Mid- east climbed from the eighth to sixth berth, really an exchange with O’Logh- lin’s Canadians, who re- versed the order. Grassgreen’s Albanians made a smart move. They jumped from 6 to 3, within 1.1 of Wash- ington. Callahan’s Boston went from 16th to fourth place, but still needing 1.6 to nab the Al- banians. Reingold’s St. Louis- ans, ninth last week, are now fifth, two-tenths behind the Bay Staters and nine-tenths of a point ahead of Ballentine’s San Fi anciseans who gained a peg. Denver, Chicago, Detroit and New Haven sustained hard drops in the season’s four- week’s delivery status as did Oklahoma City which lost eight places. Kansas City, too, was pushed far down. Seattle climbed a couple, while Indianapolis ran from 21 to 15, within 1.5 points of Mon- treal which upped three notches. Cincinnati is 18th, a profit of four, which is exactly the ex- tent of Cleveland’s gain. Port- land, though, lost that many. Youne-’s Memphis went from 32 to 27 and New Orleans from 31 to 28. Buffalo made progress. It was 35th a week ae-o, but stands 29th now. two-tenths of a point to the rear of Memphis and the same distance ahead of Des Moines which held on to the 30th post, forcinv Minnanolis to its roar. Winnipeg galloped from 36 to 34, lacking four points to be tied with New York which dropped five pegs. AUSTRALASIANS HOLD CONVENTION SYDNEY—The 20th Century- Fox distribution forces of Aus- tralia and New Zealand have just completed a most enthusiastic convention, with Managing Di- rector C. V. Hake, recently ar- rived from America, presiding. He brought greetings from com- pany officials. He cabled the following wire to Overseas Sales Director W. J. Hutchinson in New York: “I consider the convention just con- cluded the most successful in history of company. All dele- gates highly enthusiastic over forthcoming product.”