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

NEW DYNAMO 9 SIDELIGHTS T HE so-called smaller branches that more or less monopolized Kent Drive prizes in past years loom the strongest in potential earning power for the remainder of the Drive. But, in actual percentage of departmenal revenue earned so far in this Drive, the larger offices still are out front. Here is how the 37 branches stack up on departmental delivery for the first seven weeks of this Drive, regardless of group affiliation: • F ROM the above tabulation it may be seen that of the first 15 branches on accumulated delivery, exactly 10 fall in the category of larger territories, or are af- filiated with the National group. Among the last 10, seven are Internationals, with Omaha last among the U. S. contingents, 4.7 behind Des Moines, 6.5 to the rear of Buffalo, 8.6 below Cleveland and 10.6 less than its Prairie district colleague, Minneapolis. The Great Lakes has all four of its four branches among the top dozen. The Coast is represented by four of its six ex- changes. South has three out of five up there. At- lantic is represented by one as is Northeast. • B UT, a somewhat different picture is furnished by the departmental status of branches on advance rentals, as reported by branch managers this week. Here are the 37 branches’ standings on accumulated seven weeks’ delivery plus 11 weeks’ advance rentals against 18-week quota: • N INE of the 12 wealthiest branches in advance rentals expectancy are Internationals. The Nationals’ rep- resentatives are Wheeler’s Washington, St. Louis and Kansas City. Scott’s Midwest is picking up momentum and has all three of its offices among the departmental leaders on advance, with Clark’s Oklahoma City leading the department. As commander of the International forces on advance, Oklahoma City is nine-tenths of a point stronger than Nationals’ pacer, Wheeler’s Wash- ington. But the Internationals’ runner-up, Walker’s Salt Lake City, too, is stronger than Washington— some three-tenths of a point healthier in potential earning power. • I T IS beginning to look as if history will repeat itself in the British Isles. Harley’s Britons turned in a delivery that, considering the fact that England is at war, is truly remarkable. It enabled the Overseas de- partment to boast the highest week’s delivery, depart- menlally. But, what happened in England—and there is every reason that it will continue, unless a succession of air raids compel the Government to again close the theatres—is exactly what happened in Spain and in China. Notwithstanding war, both those countries dis- played extraordinary earning power. Here is hoping that England will continue, indefinitely, its remarkable showing of last week. • D ILLON’S Los Angeles deserve honorable mention for their very consistent showing in this Drive. It leads on total delivery and on News revenue. And on adsales it beat quota last week and gives signs of a consistent weekly improvement in that department. On shorts it is seventh, but that status represents a two-pkce drop in the sixth week. Following are the branches leading their respective districts on News and short subjects delivery: District News Shorts Atlantic Philadelphia* Washington* Canada Winnipeg Montreal ('oast Los Angeles* Portland Lakes Detroit Detroit Mideast Cincinnati Buffalo Midwest St. Louis St. Louis Northeast New Haven Boston Prairie Minneapolis Des Moines South Atlanta* Atlanta * Branches so designated are over-quota for the six-week period. • W HEELER’S Washington is looming a potential champion in this Drive. That is indicated by its performance to date and by its increasing strength on | A PROUD HOLLYWOOD! I HOLLYWOOD—(By Wire)—Wherever stars, ! I producers, directors and particularly the old-tim- j I ers gathered here Thursday the topic of convensa- j • tion was the “kick” they said they got at the $11 j world premiere of “Hollywood Cavalcade” the | j night before. Local trade and daily newspapers j 1 editorialized on the picture and stressed their con- = ! gratulations to Zanuck for the story treatment. j | Colonial Stveethettrls j i wood Cavalcade” currently hailed throughout the j ! nation, the attention of distribution organization = I and of exhibitors is focused on another Zanuck ! | Technicolor special, “Drums Along the Mohawk,” j • which will get a spectacular day-and-date world j j premiere in cities in northern New York, accord- ! j ing to present plans. Below are the co-stars in j = this picturization of another best seller—Henry j | Fonda and Claudette Colbert. advance. But, that this combination is no accident is borne out by the fact that continuously Washington is beating its adsales quota. A1 Miller, there, is over quota on adsales for the seven-week period and is on the verge of overtaking the leader, Weinstein of New Haven. Here are the branches that lead their re- spective districts on accumulated film delivery and on adsales revenue for the first seven weeks: District Adsales Delivery Atlantic Wash ington Washington Canada Toronto Calgary Coast Salt Lake Los Angeles Lakes Detroit Indianapolis Mideast. . Cleveland Cincinnati Midwest St. Louis St. Louis Northeast New Haven New Haven Prairie .Minneapolis Minneapolis South Charlotte Atlanta P RESIDENT S. R. KENT once observed: “When you have enthusiasm, you can know you are on the road to success. Enthusiasm embodies determination and am- bition. And enthusiasm renders the seemingly most difficult task a much easier one to accomplish.” And one need only turn back the pages of Drive history to those two campaigns led by the enthusiastic Bill Gehr- ing. He was enthusiasm personified. He possessed the same enthusiasm that inspired the audience at the last Drive meeting at the New York exchange to want to “go out and lick the world.” It is that sort of en- thusiasm that will hurry us along to bigger things in this Drive. Show us an enthusiastic worker and we’ll show you one who is happy and doing a better job. There is nothing about this job that a little more en- thusiasm won’t bring about. • T HREE scores of men are at various “fronts” and risking their lives every day to get material for Movietone News. It’s action that exhibitors and ticket- buyers want where the newsreel is concerned. And you got plenty of it in the recent issues of Truman Talley’s great News. But, give a thought to those boys “over there” when selling. They’re risking their lives doing a difficult job—and doing it in the knowledge that you, by getting proper circulation and proper terms, are proving their perilous efforts worthwhile. • M ANY at the New York preview of “Hollywood Cav- alcade” recalled pleasant memories. Many of the veteran showmen on hand recalled the dramatic debut of Mack Sennett’s bathing beauties at what used to be B. S. Moss’ Broadway theatre on Broadway. It was a gala evening and the beauties and the picture in which they appeared were glamorously introduced to the “Big Street.” Their debut “cracked” the front page of every metropolitan newspaper and reserves had to be called to handle the huge crowds that blocked traffic day after day during the performance hours. HIGHLIGHTS WHEN this week’s returns in the Drive are in the ’’ second month of this campaign will have passed into history. And there will be 10 weeks left to this effort. The next four weeks will determine the success of the Drive. Frankly, Mr. Wobber is surprised that some of the branches that trailed at the beginning of the campaign are still in those dingy dugouts at the end of the seventh week. Their sales have increased. The product never was better. Conditions in every sin- gle territory are reportedly much improved over the same period last year, according to all reliable and unbiased authorities on such matters. Still those trailers have not moved up, nor appreciably bettered their posi- tion. This is a matter of much concern not only to Mr. Wobber, but to Messrs. Kent, Schenck and Zanuck, who have several times commented on the situation. • YI/’HICH offices have fed the most amount of potential revenue into its advance report? That was the question asked of New Dynamo by an ambitious district manager the other day. The answer is Lorentz’s Mil- waukee. In the past month the Brewers boosted their advance by some 25 per cent, according to the official figures. So that you may know how your “feed” of the past month compared with other branches the fol- lowing table will be helpful. It is based on percentage of the 18-week Drive quota fed into the advance be- tween the third and eight weeks of the campaign: s !) 10 11 12 Milwaukee Detroit Indianapolis Montreal New Orleans Memphis San Francisco Boston St. John Denver Los Angeles Omaha 13 14 15 10 17 18 10 20 23 21 Kansas City Philadelphia Portland New York Washington Salt Lake Charlotte Atlanta Vancouver Cleveland Calgary Dallas Pittsburgh 28 29 30 31 32 33 31 35 30 37 St. Louis Des Moines Minneapolis Oklahoma Buffalo Seattle Albany Toronto New Orleans Cincinnati Chicago Winnipeg /’’'OAST has seemingly been getting the best results, not only so far as returns are concerned, but in feeding its advance. But, right at their heels are Bal- ance's South and the Great Lakes. True, the Midwest leads the districts on advance rentals, but Scott’s com- bination has not fed into its advance in the past four weeks as much as has Bailey’s Northeast, Moss’ At- lantic. Least contribution to future potential revenue has been made by Roberts’ Mideast, according to the records. But their contribution is only 1.5 per cent below that of Prairie, and eight-tenths of a per cent be- hind O’Loghlin’s Canada. These three districts, in particular, will have to substantially alter their course this month. The divisions’ past four-week’s advance contribution reflects their delivery status in that period, with Kupper’s West first, Gehring’s Centrals seven- tenths of a point behind the pacer and only one-tenth above Sussman’s East. • A MONG the salesmen the past month’s “feed” into -A the figures stacked up against the full 18-week’s quota is just a little behind the earning power reflected by the major zones, according to official statistics fur- nished this department. Healthiest gain against the 18-week quota in the past month has been made by Paul Shalleross of New Orleans, with Zeke Miller of Dallas second, Edgerton of Milwaukee third, Ebersole of Charlotte fourth, James of Oklahoma sixth and Hol- ston of Charlotte sixth. Here are the 30 salesmen who in the past month fed the most into the 18-week figures against quota for that period: ! Of Boston. T HE adsales department had reason to be proud of its seventh week’s delivery, even if it did not quite hit quota level. In any case, the week’s returns did exceed those of the same period last year. Six ad- sales managers exceeded quota, but 17 of them sur- passed their delivery for the corresponding lap of the 1938 Drive. In the order of percentage of increase, these were: Of the above, Elliott and Arthur McManus exceeded quota as did also A1 Miller, Bandy, Lowrey, Youngs and Glasier. r SHE'S A COMEDIENNE Outstanding feature of critics’ reviews on “Here I Am a Stranger” is the emphasis made by many of them on their conclusion that Brenda Joyce is a comedienne. Every important critic seemingly was impressed by the performance given by this newcomer, who gives an even better account of herself playing opposite Richard Greene in “Here I Am a Stranger” than she did in “The Rains Came” in which she made her debut. Her next appearance is in the all-star cast featured in “Little Old New York,” now in production. L.„.