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

10 NEW DYNAMO “HOLLYWOOD CAVALCADE" GREAT HIT AT PREVIEW! AUDIENCE CHEERS! “TOPS IN EVERYTHING” HOUSE MANAGER REPORTS FIRST OF FOUITtECHNICOLOR SPECIALS GETS AN OVATION By HARRY BRAND INGLEWOOD, CAL.—Hollywood came of age last week in the opinion of a crowded house that assembled for a sneak preview here of Zanuck’s crowning screen achievement, “Hollywood Cavalcade.” Following the terrific outburst of applause that evi- denced its enthusiasm for the picture, the audience—a mixture of young and old—repaired to the lobby and expressed its critical affirmation on the preview cards expressly provided for that purpose. Sneak preview audiences take this “card writing” responsibility very seriously, and there was long deliberation on the part of these invited critics in making out their reports. That, in itself, is a great tribute to “Hollywood Cavalcade”; for unless the audience deems the picture worthy, it gets scant thought from them, and the quality of a picture can well be evalu- ated from the thought the audi- ence in the lobby gives to the filling out of preview cards. No picture produced by Zan- uck in his wide span of record- breaking successes has received a finer preview reaction. Card after card spoke in glowing terms of the great comedy, the tender heart-warming dramatic scenes, the arresting story and production. But those cards also told an- other story that will be a most important factor in the univer- sal success of the picture. “Hollywood Cavalcade” tells a story that is new to the younger generation, and yet it has that nostalgic magic of reviving grand memories for the genera- tion that can remember back to the early days of filmdom’s struggling infancy. There were wild shrieks of laughter—hysterical laughter— in the scenes where the “Key- stone Kops” were speeding with hair-raising abandon through the streets, and there were wild shrieks when the custard pies hit Alice Faye in the face. That was new to the younger genera- tion, but it was no less impres- sive to those who remembered so well that period in silent screen days. World Premiere On October 4 By Telegraph j LOS ANGELES—Defin- j i ite date for the premiere j ! here of Zanuck’s “Holly- e | wood Cavalcade,” first of I t four Technicolor specials j > for 1939-40 release, was set j I Friday. It will be held on j j Oct. 4 at the Four-Star j • theatre, at a top of $11. i I The entire proceeds will J j be turned over to a film | i charity. | The territorial trade | j showings of “Hollywood > ! Cavalcade” were set in ! | every exchange city for I J either Oct. 1 or 2. The showing in New ' | York City is scheduled for I j Ziegfeld theatre. j “Hollywood Cavalcade” j | is scheduled for national j j release on Oct. 13. It is the jj j first 1939-40 Technicolor ; I special. The other three J GREAT ACTING But more important than the hilarious comedy was the drama of Don Ameche, as a producer who struggles to fame, and Alice Faye, as a star who helps him to make screen history. Theirs was a tender, heart touching love story whose drama grows ever more poignant as the pic- ture unfolds. The scenes between Don and Alice rival those in “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” which critics and public hailed as the sublime heights in screen perfection. Both players are seen in the best performances of their ca- reers, running the gamut of dramatic emotion in a story that gives them their greatest oppor- tunity to date. The performances of J. Ed- ward Bromberg, Alan Curtis, Stuart Erwin, Eddie Collins, Donald Meek, George Givot and Moroni Olson are exceptional. The silent sequences directed by Mai St. Clair, with Buster Kea- ton, Ben Turpin, Chester Conk- lin, Jack Cooper and other stars of the slapstick comedy days, were a brilliant success. A1 Jol- son’s re-enaction of his triumph in “The Jazz Singer” drew raves. Irving Cummings, who di- rected “Hollywood Cavalcade” has reached a new peak in his long and distinguished career. Ernest Pascal has fashioned a truly heart-warming story from the adaptation which Hilary Lynn and Brown Holmes made from the Lou Breslow story idea. The Technicolor values of the photography add greatly to the picture’s impressiveness. Harry Joe Brown’s work as associate producer was also impressively reflected in the production. NEXT WEEK’S SCHEDULE Meetings are scheduled for every day next week, excepting Saturday which is another Jew- ish holiday. Monday will find Drive Lead- er Levy and Eastern Division Manager in Cincinnati. Tues- day will be spent in Cleveland, Wednesday in Buffalo, Thursday in Pittsburgh and Washington and Friday in Philadelphia. The Toronto and Montreal staffs will attend the meeting at Buffalo on Wednesday. A week from Monday a meet- ing is scheduled for Boston, with St. John, New Haven and Albany represented. The follow- ing morning, a meeting will be held at the New York exchange. Preview Exhibitor’s Report On “Hollywood Cavalcade” Alice Faye Don Ameche i General Manager of Distribution Herman Wobber this week forwarded the branches a copy of the following report made by James Brinton, manager of the United Artists theatre, Inglewood, Cal., on the recent review there of Zan- uck’s first all-TechnicoIor 1939-40 super special, “Hollywood Cavalcade”: “To say that this is one of the finest pictures ever pro- duced would be a bad case of under-statement. Everything and everybody who had anything to do with its making should take a mental bow. For, here is everything that a showman could de- sire in a picture: uproarious comedy, hilarious slapstick, tender romance and eye-filling pathos. It is a made-to-order picture, made- to-order for every moviegoer in the land. “The performance by Don Ameche is the finest thing he has ever done, and Alice Faye follows him a close second. Every actor in the picture is marvelous, and that’s just what I mean. “Darryl Zanuck can indeed be proud of this achievement, for it is a pic- ture (hat will live long in the hearts of everyone who sees it. “It has the tragedy of ‘A Star is Born’ and all the color. It has the Keystone Cops and their hilarious antics. It has swell comedy, enough to satisfy the most rabid comedy fan. But, more important, it has a tender, romantic story that will cause the women to storm the doors of the theatre playing the picture. In short, this picture has everything. “Production mounting was outstanding as was Irving Cummings’ direction. All tech- nical departments are excellent. And the performance of J. Edward Bromberg is in- deed a treat to behold. “This, gentlemen, is a picture that every showman in the land will welcome with open arms, for it has what it takes. “Audience reaction: overwhelming.” “I AM A STRANGER” PREVIEWED AT PASADENA RICHARD GREENE AT BEST By Airmail to New Dynamo PASADENA, CAL. — Stirring reaction that stamps it as mass entertainment of sur- prise hit classification, “Here I Am a Stran- ger” unfolded to audi- ence applause the other night at a “sneak pre- view” of the long- awaited Zanuck spe- cial. The sensational modern story of love and sacrifice and college life in which Richard Greene makes his solo debut as a full-fledged star and the new discovery, Brenda Joyce, enjoys an even greater personal tri- umph than she did in “The Rains Came,” alternately kept a packed house at Pas- adena’s United Artists the- atre applauding and laugh- ing. Hundreds of opinion cards, written in the lobby after the preview and mailed to the stu- dio, commended “Here I Am A Stranger”. By far the biggest role in Greene’s career, the romantic star rises to new heights in Ms portrayal of the American-born foster son of a wealthy Briton who is dramatically reunited with his own father when he j reaches manhood. That Miss Joyce, whose de- lineation of Fern Simon in “The Rains Came” has swept this newcomer to overnight fame, is a great artist of unusual ver- satility is attested anew by her inspired enactment of the hoy- denish, unconventional college professor’s daughter with whom Greene falls in love. OTHER FACTS “Here I Am A Stranger” also is a personal triumph for Rich- ard Dix, who plays with dash and emotional restraint the character of a brilliant news- paperman and ex-football star whose improvidence and weak- ness for liquor costs him Ms family, but whose comeback later in life wins him the re- spect of his divorced wife and the love and companionship of Ms son. Other fine performances which made a definite impression on the previewers are given by Roland Young, who provides many laughs as the droll, ec- centric professor; Gladys George, in a mother role destined to be one of the year’s finer screen memories; glamorous Katharine Aldridge, of “Elsa Maxwell’s Hotel for Women” fame; Russell Gleason, in a grand comedy role; George Zucco, Edward Norris and Henry Kolker. Sharing honors of this box office bet are Roy Del Ruth, director; Harry Joe Brown, as- sociate producer; Milton Sper- ling' and Sam Heilman, who au- thored the screen play based on a story by Gordon Malherbe Hillman; Mack Gordon and Harry Revel, composers of “The “RAINS” GETS RAVES ON COAST, TOO Daily and Trade Paper Critics Praise It Continued from Page 7 posing in every facet. With its impressive production. It is im- eminent marquee of stellar names, it thus gives potent promise of proving a big-money attraction at the box office. “Aiding vitally in the sum- mation of money prospects is the interest generated by the Louis Bromfield novel and its acquisition for the screen by 20th Century-Fox. Coupled with this advance, is the promise of exploitable assets, not the least of which will be word-of-mouth generated by one of the most striking spectacles created for the screen. This is the rain tor- rent with its accompanying dam-bursting floods and at- tendant earthquakes. “These catastrophies are tech- nical achievements of superla- tive fashioning, and they are so artfully dovetailed into the pro- duction that their identification is graphic part and parcel of the drama unfolding. HEADLINE STUFF “The scope and domineering bigness of the production re- flect vast credit on its producers, Zanuck and Ms associate, Harry Joe Brown. They have mounted the picture superbly, giving it richness of setting, sweep, pomp, and architectural magnificence. “Much of the conclusiveness of the play hinges on the be- lievableness of the rains and its accompanying phenomena. These are brilliantly executed in every painstaking detail, and in their devastating reign, never once relinquish their hold on the au- dience.” In eight column banner line, the Los Angeles Herald and Express shouted: “The Rains Came Is Deluge of Dramatic Thrills.” Jimmy Starr in his re- view exulted: “ ‘The Rains Came’ is powerful, spectacular, dra- matically thrilling. ‘Zanuck’s new production, a faithful adapt- ation of Louis Bromfield’s best selling and highly emotional novel of India, contains all the sure-fire elements to make it an outstanding hit with even the most jaded of audiences. ‘Deftly weaving Ms interest- ing characters with an unusual amount of ease and restraint, Director Clarence Brown kept his tempo at an intriguing pace —an unsuspecting pace that causes a distinct and direct shock when the catastrophe strikes. ‘While special effects experts poured 33 million gallons of water for rain, flood and earth- quake sequences, Stars Myrna Loy, Tyrone Power and George Brent met the spectacular scenes with an equally thrilling and dramatic set of Mstrionics. Ty’s work lifts Mm to even greater dramatic heights.” Stafford Song”; Arthur Miller, director of photography; Rich- ard Day and Rudolph Sternad, art directors; Thomas Little, set decorator; Louis Loeffler, film editor; Royer, costumer; Arthur von Kirbach and Roger Heman, sound recorders, and Louis Sil- vers, musical director.