20th Century-Fox Dynamo (September 16, 1939)

2 NEW DYNAMO “RAINS” DROWNING “JAMES” R.O. RE CORDS EVER YWHERE! Philadelphia, Kansas City and Seattle Duplicate Its Big Success In New York — 151,196 At Roxy In First Seven Days! Zaimck’s picturization of Louis Bromfield’s “The Mains Came 5 followed through beautifully! Telegraphed reports from every situation where it had opened by press-time were to the effect that it had exceeded the same days’ grosses on “Jesse James.” At the Roxy theatre in New York it entered its second week, with indications that the second Friday’s attendance would be substantially above that of the opening day, due to the Jewish holiday, opening of doors one hour earlier in the morning and a later night show. In the first seven days of the Roxy theatre engagement, “The Rains Came” had played to a total of 151,196 paid admissions. Wednesday’s attend- ance was the lowest, 17,007, but on Thursday it jumped to 20,382. Thus, in the two days it showed to 37,382 people. In view of conditions, the first week’s attendance and gross, substantially greater than the corresponding seven-day period of the “Jesse James” engagement, were remark- able. The second week promised to be just as big and a third week was cer- tain Friday noon. Meantime, reports reached New York on openings in Philadelphia, Kansas City and Seattle. In the Quaker City the opening day’s fig- ures ran well ahead of “Jesse James.” Playing two houses—the Es- quire downtown and the Up- town—“The Rains Came,” on opening day, outgrossed “Alex- ander’s Ragtime Band” by a little more than $300. From Seattle came figures that showed this spectacle opened $49 stronger than did “Jesse James.” Some tour scores of other en- gagements were starting in as many cities' in the United States on Friday. Following are the daily at- tendance figures for the first week of the Roxy theatre en- gagement: Friday 20,036 Saturday 30,701 Sunday 25,656 Monday 18,093 Tuesday 19,321 Wednesday 17,007 Thursday 20,382 In New York “The Rains Came” was running far ahead of anything on Broadway. En- thusiastic newspaper reviews stimulated trade immediately, although it beat the “Jesse James” opening hour for hour on the opening day. Reviews from other cities where this production opened were even more enthusiastic than those in the metropolis where it was given the highest possible rating. In Seattle, the Seattle Post- Intelligencer characterized “The Rains Came” a “breath-taking and faithful picturization of a great novel.” In Kansas City, the Kansas City Star rated it the best mo- tion picture of its kind, fulfilling every promise made for it. Each and every critic in Phil- adelphia placed “The Rains Came” on the “must” list. Elsewhere in this issue are printed excerpts of reviews pub- lished in newspapers in some half dozen cities where this pro- duction had been shown up to Wednesday of this week. Reports from branch screen- ings indicated “The Rains Came” is the “greatest stimulant we have had in some time,” as the Chicago letter described it. In Mansfield, O., Bromfield’s home town, “The Rams Came” not only outgrossed “Jesse James,” but it also trounced “Alexander’s Ragtimd Band.” | Sweats “Alexander ” Mere ‘" rhe Rai "* Came | broke all records at its first minor city opening, at the Ohio ! theatre in Mansfield, O. In the first three days, it exceeded { the seven-day gross earned there by “Jesse James” which did i an outstanding business. In six days it outgrossed “Alex- ! ander’s Ragtime Band,” the record-holder for the house. It | was, indeed, an historic reception that Mansfield gave Zan- j uck’s picturization of the novel written by its famous resident, who has personally acclaimed the screen version of his best | seller. WHAT OTHER CITIES THINK OF LATEST HIT! PHILADELPHIA—Local critics rate “The Rains Came” one of the best accomplishments of the 20th Century-Fox lot and of Darryl Zanuck personally. Wednesday it opened at the Stanley theatre. The first day’s gross showed it led “Jesse James” in gross and in attendance with every indication that its margin of stronger earning power would grow daily, although the Technicolor special was a sensational hit here. Critics’ comments on “The Rains Came” were most enthusiastic. The Daily News said: “With the showing of ‘The Rains Came’ the Stanley gets a handsome production that does well by its source, the Louis Bromfield best seller of the same name. Every item in the film from settings showing the gaudy trappings of the maharajah’s palace to the overwhelming disaster, created by the heavy downpour of the wet season, is given detailed attention with the result that the photoplay is allotted a fitting share of eye- filling moments. “Power is better than usual, while George Brent is his usual capable self. Brenda Joyce makes an auspicious start. Best remem- bered of all the players is Maria Ouspenskaya, Nigel Bruce, Joseph Schildkraut and Mary Nash contribute other important roles.” Laura Lee in the Philadelphia Bulletin wrote: “An earthquake, cloudburst, flood, fire, -the, plague and heart break have been stirred up by Darryl Zanuck to tell the story of Louis Bromfield’s best seller. These natural phenomena were mag- nificent created by Lou Witte, who started the conflagration for Mrs. O’Leary’s cow in ‘In Old Chicago.’-Little wonder that those Continued on Page 7 COAST RAVES, TOO! PRESS AND TRADE AGREE REACHES HIGH EXPECTATIONS TRADE CRITICS PREDICT THAT IT’LL BE SRO HIT EVERYWHERE MOVIETONE CITY —Unleashing a terrific barrage of advance good will fulfilling in highest praise the press expectations surround- ing Zanuck’s greatest production to date and the costliest picture in 20th Century-Fox his- tory, more than two score Hollywood critics, wire service aces, trade paper representatives, columnists, magazine writers, radio commen- tators and others were privileged to see “The Rains Came” the other day in special projec- tion screenings at the studio. Unanimously, these moul- ders of picture opinions of readers running into count- less millions, hailed Zan- uck’s monumental achieve- ment as undisputed “tops” in star-studded, spectacular entertainment destined to make new box office history. The press legion heaped trib- utes on Zanuck, Director Clar- ence Brown, Associate Producer Harry Joe Brown and everybody else connected with the epochal production; lauded the stars, Myrna Loy, Tyrone Power and George Brent, for the finest per- formances of their careers; hailed the sensational new per- sonality, Brenda Joyce, and ac- knowledged the earthquake, fire and flood scenes as the screen’s supreme thrills. Zanuck approved the special showings a week in advance of the official Hollywood press pre- miere at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on Sept. 14 to permit many of the writers and corre- spondents to meet publications deadlines in nation-wide cover- age. Among the reviewers and press guests were Louella O. Parsons* motion picture editor of International News Service; Thornton Delehanty, New York Herald-Tribune; Harrison Car- roll, King Features; A1 Wright, Time Magazine; Richard Pol- lard, Life Magazine; William R. Weaver, Motion Picture Herald; Ruth Waterbury, Photoplay Magazine; Jimmy Starr, Los Angeles Herald and Express and King Features; Ralph Jordan, International News Service. ON HAND Robbin Coons, Associated Press; Jimmy Fidler, radio net- works and McNaught Syndicate; Ralph Wilk, Film Daily; Whit- ney Bolton, New York Tele- graph; James Crow, Hollywood Citizen-News; Harold Heffer- nan, North American News- paper Alliance and Detroit News; Hedda Hopper, Hopper Syndicate; Frank Daugherty, Christian Science Monitor; Jack Grant, Picture Reports. Clark Wales, Screen and Radio Weekly; Paul and Luci Harri- son, Newspaper Enterprise As- sociation; Mark Hellinger, King Features; Philip K. Scheuer, Los Angeles Times; Elizabeth Wilson, Silver Screen and Screenland Magazines; Joe Blair, Hollywood Review; Whitney Williams, Movies Magazine; Richard Ames, Hollywood Script. Hubbard Keavy, Associated Press; Frederick Othman, United Press; Walter Green, Weekly Variety; Jack Jung- meyer, Daily Variety; William R. Wilkerson, Hollywood Re- porter; Harry Mines, Los An- geles Daily News; Virginia Wright, Los Angeles Evening News; Ted Magee, Picture Play Magazine; Ivan Spear, Box Of- fice; Dudley Early, Family Circle Magazine; Robert E. Welsh, Box Office Digest; Julius Lewis, Showman’s Trade Review; A1 Kahn, United Press; Sidney Skolsky, New York Evening Post Syndicate; Lois Svensrud, Modern Screen Magazine. PARSONS SAYS _ The morning after the projec- tion room, screenings, Louella O. Parsons wrote a column and • a half rave review in which she said: “ ‘The Rains Came’ so com- pletely fulfills every expectation in 1 its transition to the screen that I know not a single reader pf the popular-novel will be dis- appointed. I accepted 20th Cen- Continued on Page 7