20th Century-Fox Dynamo (October 7, 1939)

6 NEW DYNAMO “HOLLYWOOD” LAUNCHED ON RECORD-DYNAMITING CAREER EXHIBS AND CRITICS LOUD IN THEIR PRAISE “BEST TECHNICOLOR SMASH” THEATRE OPERATORS SAY IT WITH MAXIMUM PLAYTIME Continued from Page 3 Pierre Boulogne, city manager for Wilmer & Vincent, Norfolk, Va., jotted down the following: “It’s in the bag. There’s one I don’t have to worry about!” Branch managers’ wires were followed up with batches of com- ments from exhibitors. Most managers invited local critics and these carried advance re- views that will play a big part in arousing interest in the pro- duction. Out of a total of 327 exhib- itors who made comparisons with other pictures, exactly 285 pre- dicted “Hollywood Cavalcade” would equal or better “Alexan- der’s Ragtime Band” business. The total represents exhibitors’ cards that had already reached the Home Office when New Dyna- mo went to press Friday. A total of 350 day-and-date engagements on “Hollywood Cavalcade” start next week-end. This is the largest day-and-date showing any release of this com- pany has ever enjoyed. In addition to Los Angeles and Cincinnati, “Hollywood Cav- alcade” was to open Friday in Philadelphia, Dallas and Hous- ton. Largest audience of trades- people at a preview was reported by B. B. Reingold of St. Louis. There some 750 showmen and others, including newspaper crit- ics, were in attendance. The lat- ter will carry reviews this week- end. As New Dynamo went to press clippings from trade papers and advance newspaper reviews were pouring into this department. While the Home Office hummed with enthusiasm over exhibitors’ reception of “Hollywood Caval- cade,” significant of this pro- duction’s box office potentialities were the reports of the audiences’ reaction it enjoyed in Los An- geles and Cincinnati. This week’s issue of Life car- ried and featured an eight-page pictorial resume of “Hollywood Cavalcade” selecting it as “the picture of the week.” This and other nationally circulated mag- azines this week carried an eye- catching, multi-colored full-page ad. The world premiere in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, incidentally, was this industry’s single observance and recogni- tion of the fact that Oct. 4 marked the 50th anniversary of the invention that was to be uni- versally known as the motion picture. Variety, the weekly “bible of show business,” said: “There is box office lure and highly satis- factory entertainment. Film has an abundance of novelty and will be a strong contender in the early season lineup of attrac- tions and draught. Excellently produced and brightened by col- or, the film should score heavily in theatres of every type.” Following is the review pub- lished in Daily Variety, printed in Hollywood: “This introspective and essen- tially historical account of the birth and growth of the world’s greatest medium of entertain- ment is as fascinating and stir- ring as any outside drama the screen has projected. In ‘Holly- wood Cavalcade,’ a grandiose and nostalgic reminiscence of succes- sive phases of the motion picture industry, woven around a com- pelling heart interest story, Dar- ryl F. Zanuck and his aides have a hit show about film show busi- ness which is both monumental and commercial. Exhilarating, inspiring, it carries also a note of encouragement to picture pro- duction and exhibition personnel in these days when the industry faces, as it has faced before, a seemingly crucial period. “Fundamentally, ‘Hollywood Cavalcade’ is a splendidly con- ceived, acted, directed and pro- duced emotional drama. Alice Faye and Don Ameche carry f long a powerful love story with a sincerity and conviction neither has ever excelled. The intimate, personal drama dominates at all times. But behind and inextri- cably a part of this heart-interest narrative all the epochal high- lights, the awkward beginnings, the changing technique and the emergence of the film’s dominant figures are vividly depicted or suggested. To the older genera- tion of picturegoers the pie- throwing slapstick, the Mack Sennett bathing beauties, the Keystone Cops of the nickelodeon days will bring chuckles and perhaps a gulp, while to the younger generation these un- couth but bellylaugh comicalities will be an entertaining prelude to the coming of the talkies which they know. One of the im- pressively grand bits in the cav- alcade is a dignified and very touching toast to romance by Mack Sennett himself, looking very gallant as the genius-pro- ducer emeritus. “GREAT ACTING” “Alice Faye is portrayed as the first important stage star to turn to the flickers. Don Ameche is the ambitious prop boy who signs her up and becomes a great director, who rises and falls and rises again through the love these two bear each other after Alan Curtis, the leading man, has married Miss Faye and dies in an auto accident. “J. Edward Bromberg contrib- utes a remarkably fine perform- ance as the business manager whose heart outweighs his finan- cial monitorship in his emotional relationship with his friends, the star and the director. “Curtis carries his romantic assignment very effectively. Stu- art Erwin has a responsible part, well done, as an early camera- man. Donald Meek scores as the producer of early film efforts. Old timers recalling their early comic chores are Jed Prouty, Buster Keaton, Eddie Collins, Hank Mann, Heinie Conklin, James Finlayson, Ben Turpin, Chester Conklin. Many contribu- tary roles are excellently played in the long list of credits. “Irving Cummings’ direction is masterful, both in catching the nostalgic elements and in making the love story a powerfully stir- ring crux of the vivid and well paced narrative. Entertainment is constantly maintained, despite temptations to go afield in his- torical reminiscences. “Harry Joe Brown admirably and most competently handled the associate producer responsi- bilities under Darryl F. Zanuck, j At New Yorh Showing pV^sidenMv'T’ I j Michel and General Manager of Distribution Herman Wobber { j were among the Home Office officials who attended the New | j York trade showing of “Hollywood Cavalcade.” Eastern ! Division Manager William Sussman and Director of Adver- j I tising. Publicity and Exploitation Charles E. McCarthy also j • were present. giving the show splendid presen- tation and importance. Screen play is commendable screen craft and a credit to Ernest Pascal, with Hilary Lynn and Brown Holmes sharing story credits and Lou Breslow getting the original idea honor. “Picture is one of the finest examples of Technicolor magnifi- cence. Allen M. Davey did the color camera work, and Ernest Palmer wielded the dramatic camera. Art direction and set- tings are exceptionally lavish but in best taste, as are the costumes. “An outstanding emotional scene is in the advent of sound, when A1 Jolson sings his ‘Col Nidre’ for the ‘Jazz Singer.’ Notable figures of the industry, directors, stars, producers, the genius personalities of the indus- try are plainly suggested, if not named by name. The anxieties, the tragedies, the triumphs, the antagonisms and cooperations which went into the beginnings and the establishment of the mo- tion picture colossus are remark- ably combined to make this a great and memorable show.” FILM DAILY Here is what the ace critic for Film Daily had to say: “Smash box office attraction with a brilliant cavalcade of film history, superbly projected to screen. “Hollywood here holds up the mirror to itself as never before and the result is absorbing, thrilling romance for audiences everywhere and, for exhibitors, not merely ‘pay dirt’ but a vein of purest ore. As entertainment, it can’t miss; and as a chronicle of the film’s rise from low to high estate, it is faithful to the essen- tials however they may have been adapted to serve the needs of the swell Hilary Lynn-Brown Holmes story and the equally swell Ernest Pascal screenplay. There is nostalgic footage a- plenty for woven into the roman- tic fabric is the ‘bii'th’ of the custard pie and Keystone Cop slapstick, the advent of the bath- ing beauty school of cinema, the ‘discovery’ of the De Millean type of spectacle and, finally, the debut of sound by way of A1 Jol- son and ‘The Jazz Singer.’ And, being candid about it, while Alice Faye as Molly Adair, star, and Don Ameche as Director Michael Linnett Connors play effectively upon the heartstrings, turning in outstanding performances, the picture’s socko ‘punch’ is found when it frankly reverts to the screen’s elementals. The re-en- actment of a Keystone Cop comedy, with Miss Faye as the heroine, supported by Jed Prouty, Buster Keaton, Eddie Collins, Hank Mann, Heinie Conklin and James Finlayson, will have ’em rolling in the aisles. “You see this equivalent of a two-reeler in black and white and there is similar resort to it for plausibility’s sake on occa- sion. Otherwise, the film is in Technicolor, and what Techni- color! Corking camera work can- not but add to the professional stature of Allen M. Davey and Ernest Palmer. And while on the subject of credits, generous commendation to Harry Joe Brown, associate producer, and Irving Cummings, director. By virtue of background adn experi- ence, both were ideal selections for this assignment. Cummings has created a well nigh perfect illusion and, additionally, carries the story briskly forward with no let-down in suspense and in- terest. And the comedy scenes, slapstick and otherwise, are wows. 350 OPENINGS FOR NEXT WEEK Meantime, “Rain” Continues Big- Generally Miss Faye is an ideal Molly. No torch singer here, she turns in a deft and sympathetic char- acterization. And, physically, it is a punishing role; after all, slapstick IS slapstick. Ameche, too, giyes more than a surface performance, and is certain to add to his following. Bromberg’s Spingold is another gem, and another to shine is Stuart Erwin as Ameche’s cameraman. The trade will get a kick out of Hicks’ banker. The parade of veterans —Mack Sennett, Lee Duncan, Ben Turpin, Chester Conklin, among them—heightens the au- thenticity. Finally, there’s a fit- ting musical setting, directed by Louis Silvers. Direction, aces. Photography, brilliant.” M. P. DAILY Following is a classic, in the line of reviews, printed by Mo- tion Picture Daily: “ ‘Hollywood Cavalcade,’ with no pretensions at authenticity al- though much of it is reminiscent of the record, is an all-around swell show. Darryl F. Zanuck’s production staff has packed ter- rific audience appeal in sequences that are in turn hilarious, dra- matic, tender and moving. Dyed- in-the-wool fans will find in it much to rave about. It is the type of show for which showmen can pull all the stops in doing a selling job. “Those who have been follow- ing the fortunes of the industry for some years will feel a glow of recognition in names, situa- tions, incidents and scenes which are part of the industry’s his- tory, before and back of the camera. For every type of audi- ence there is a bitter-sweet ro- mance and an intelligent insight into the business of making motion pictures. “Don Ameche and Alice Faye do remarkably well in the pivotal roles of Michael Linnett Connors and Molly Adair. Connors is a brilliant but erratic director who discovers her on Broadway, takes her to Hollywood and builds her by degrees to the peak of cinema fame. This was in the days when Hollywood was still in cocoon, in the days when nick- elodeons began to dot the land- scape. “Irving Cummings does an ex- pert job of directing a large and well remembered cast which in- cludes players who reenact se- quences of early day films. Stuart Erwin is a cameraman, Buster Keaton plays himself, Jed Prouty is the chief of the Keystone cops, and there are Ben Turpin, Ches- ter Conklin, Mack Sennett and a host of others. “Harry Joe Brown was asso- ciate producer of the picture which was based on an idea by Lou Breslow. Ernest Pascal’s screenplay, from the story by Hilary Lynn and Brown Holmes, shows great understanding. The projection of films in black and white in contrast to the color of the picture is most effective. Allen M. Davey and Ernest Palmer did fine camera work.”