“all publicity records”: Variety, October 6, 1922.
Ten thousand circulars: Los Angeles Express, February 7, 1922.
that was a storyline: See Bruce Long, “Did Drug Gangsters Kill Taylor?” in William Desmond Taylor: A Dossier.
“Billy Taylor threatened”: New York Evening World, February 14, 1922.
“one of the hardest fighters”: Moving Picture World, March 4, 1922.
“a number of persons”: San Francisco Examiner, February 9, 1922.
“took an absorbing interest”: Boston Globe, April 21, 1918.
“Because of the Taylor murder”: Boston Globe, February 14, 1922; see also Variety, February 17, 1922.
“vigilance committee”: New Castle (PA) News, February 15, 1922.
After spending about a week: Edwin Schallert’s column, Los Angeles Times, February 23, 1922.
CHAPTER 44: TAKING HIM FOR A FOOL
“a wonder at concocting”: Denver Post, March 3, 1922.
the former valet requested: Los Angeles Times, February 6, 1922.
“I am not doing”: Los Angeles Times, February 22, 1922.
a fireplug of a man: Details on Carson come from Florabel Muir, Headline Happy (New York: Henry Holt, 1950); New York Times, March 20, 1941; Time, March 31, 1941. Although Muir gave the impression that she went along on the jaunt to the cemetery, contemporary reports and Peavey’s statements do not give any evidence of a woman being present outside the Examiner office.
Under further questioning: San Francisco Examiner, February 21, 1922.
the NAACP filed: Chicago Defender, March 11, 1922.
CHAPTER 45: MR. HAYS GOES TO WORK
“satisfactory progress”: Dr. Mark O. Davis to Will Hays, March 9, 1922, WHH.
“an extremely early”: Boston Globe, April 9, 1922.
“I am reminded”: Will H. Hays to Frank Munsey, January 21, 1922, WHH.
“To attain and maintain”: Will Hays to W. V. Robb, January 24, 1922, WHH.
“clean-up campaign”: Madison (WI) State Journal, March 4, 1922.
“developing economies”: Madison State Journal, March 4, 1922.
“sanity and conservatism”: New York Times, July 23, 1922.
“If the public does indeed”: New York Times, July 23, 1922.
“never have to turn red”: New York Times, March 17, 1922.
A friend at the New York: James G. Blaine to Will Hays, January 17, 1922, WHH.
“The motion picture industry”: New York Times, March 17, 1922.
CHAPTER 46: THE MORBIDLY CURIOUS
“a cozy little place”: Hartford (CT) Times, March 13, 1922. See Los Angeles Times, March 9, 1922, for Patterson’s death.
“She giggled all afternoon”: Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang, June 1922.
In Lynn, Massachusetts: Boston Globe, February 14, 1922; see also Variety, February 17, 1922.
“Mabel knows enough”: New York Globe, February 13, 1922.
“to talk above”: Los Angeles Examiner, February 15, 1922.
“I talked with Mabel”: Boston Advertiser, February 20, 1922.
“a typically Mabel Normand”: Chicago American, February 11, 1922.
“Following this theory”: Chicago American, February 11, 1922.
“a large roll of bills”: Los Angeles Record, February 17, 1922.
in a sudden burst of determination: Film Daily, March 29, 1922.
CHAPTER 47: HER OWN BOSS
Boasting connections: A thorough digital search of the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Film Daily, Exhibitors Trade Review, and Exhibitors Herald revealed no “Independent Producers Distributing Syndicate,” which was the way the company was referenced in newspaper notices of Gibby’s new production concern. But a new “Independent Producers Syndicate,” formed by James Calnay, was mentioned in Film Daily, June 19, 1922, at the same time Gibby’s notices were appearing in newspapers. At the time, Calnay was gathering many investors for various start-up companies, as subsequent court fights would detail. Gibby’s distributor was not the longer-established Independent Producers and Distributors Association, which was a trade organization, not a distributing company.
“a series of six five-reel”: Variety, May 24, 1922; Oakland Tribune, June 18, 1922.
she was planning to roust Don Osborn: I am speculating about this, given Gibby’s statement to the FBI: “When I was to produce my own pictures, I offered him a job.” November 1, 1923.
CHAPTER 48: NO TIME TO TALK
Charlotte Shelby had known: Exactly when detectives first tried to interview Shelby is unclear, but Jesse Winn said that it was “immediately after the discovery of Taylor’s body”; Los Angeles Daily News, September 9, 1937. Although it doesn’t appear to have been “immediately,” the attempted interview probably occurred within the first few weeks of the investigation.
“for the purpose”: King, “I Know Who.”
“whoever killed Taylor”: Interview with Nicole Westwood, granddaughter of Thomas Woolwine.
She was heading back: Mrs. Miles’s trip and her disposal of the gun were revealed in her granddaughter Margaret’s testimony. See, for example, the Los Angeles News, September 13, 1938.
CHAPTER 49: A GREAT INJUSTICE HAS BEEN DONE
“Every inch of his huge frame”: Washington Herald, April 13, 1922.
“Acquittal is not enough”: New York Times, April 13, 1922.
“very pleased”: Los Angeles Times, April 13, 1922.
“for the purpose of gauging”: Associated Press, as in the Ogden (UT) Standard-Examiner, April 13, 1922.
On the announcement: Variety, April 21, 1922.
“If [audiences] flock”: Alton (IL) Evening Telegraph, April 14, 1922.
“the fans who have waited”: Los Angeles Times, April 17, 1922.
“without any reference”: Film Daily, April 18, 1922.
Liberty Theatre polled: Film Daily, April 21, 1922.
“the privilege to be the first”: Helena (MT) Daily Independent, April 18, 1922.
“The public knows full”: Kokomo (IN) Tribune, April 13, 1922.
“to intervene and prevent”: San Antonio Express, April 16, 1922.
In Hartford, Connecticut: Hartford Courant, April 16, 1922.
reformers made sure: These two examples were reported in Film Daily, April 22, 1922.
Hays was summoned: Although some news reports implied the meeting took place at Hays’s office, it seems more likely, given the Famous Players memo that the agreement was written upon, that the principals all gathered in Zukor’s office.
“well-nigh bankrupt”: Memoirs of Will H. Hays.
Hays who had “prevailed upon”: Variety, April 21, 1922.
“After consultation at length”: The draft and the typed release are both in Hays’s files, WHH.
“hat and coat in hand”: New York Times, April 19, 1922.
“I thought I was well-started”: New York Times, April 20, 1922.
“very homesick for you all”: Will Hays to Mrs. S. D. Puett, April 18, 1922, WHH.
“The action is regarded”: New York Times, April 20, 1922.
CHAPTER 50: A QUESTION OF MOTIVES
Connette had implied: Honolulu Advertiser, April 26, 1922.
“first society man”: See, for example, the Salt Lake Tribune, February 2, 1913; Washington Post, October 28, 1913; Indianapolis Sunday Star, January 11, 1914; and San Antonio Light, January 17, 1915. Other biographical detail on Connette comes from the US Census, his passport application, ship passenger lists, and his World War I registration file.
he wrote articles: See, for example, Hilo Tribune, March 14, 1922.
7000 HOLLYWOOD RUMORS: Variety, February 10, 1922.
received a police report: Oakland Tribune, February 11, 1922.
“a moment of levity”: Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 26, 1922.
CHAPTER 51: A COMPANY OF OUTLAWS
“not cooperating with the studio”: This comes from “Twisted by Knaves,” an unpublished, incomplete manuscr
ipt, generally accepted to have been Charlotte Shelby’s attempt at a roman à clef. Located at the Margaret Herrick Library, AMPAS, it was also briefly available in a synopsis form online. That Shelby was with the company in Wyoming was confirmed by an item in Variety, August 11, 1922.
her costar, a spitfire: I am speculating that Mary and Gibby developed a close relationship on this film, but it is based on some reasoning. If we accept “Twisted by Knaves” as an accurate description of Shelby’s feelings, then her concern over Mary’s friendship with the “least desirable” of the company is quite telling. Tom Moore, the leading man, was pretty upstanding, and I’ve found no negative reports about others on the film. But Gibby, Leonard Clapham, and Viora Daniel, who’d later be called a gold digger by her wealthy husband’s family in divorce court (Galveston Daily News, September 11, 1932), had somewhat unsavory connections. It seems likely this trio were the ones Shelby described as a “motley crew.”
Mary had known Palmer: Indianapolis Star, March 1, March 4, 1916.
“more beautiful than the Swiss Alps”: Salt Lake Tribune, August 8, 1922.
“I’ve stood in the stillness”: A page from Mary’s diary, dated February 25, 1922, apparently taken from her estate before her death, was posted on an auction site online.
“Many of those letters”: Los Angeles Herald, August 14, 1923.
later that year a warrant: Los Angeles Times, January 24, 1923; September 6, 1923; May 2, 1924; May 3, 1924; September 7, 1924; US Penitentiary Records, 1895–1936. Calnay had been charged with embezzlement by Olympian Productions, a minor production company, though the charges were dropped (Los Angeles Times, November 5 and 9, 1921). Film Daily had written skeptically of his plans to start a new company on June 19, 1922.
They boarded the Oregon Short Line: Details of the train accident come from the Salt Lake Tribune, August 7 and 8, 1922; and the Ogden (UT) Standard-Examiner, August 7, 1922.
CHAPTER 52: THE SAVIOR
Thirty thousand people: Los Angeles Times, July 30, 1922.
“the Caesar of the Cinema”: Los Angeles Times, July 21, 1922.
From the roof of every studio: Los Angeles Times, July 22, 1922.
“I wish you would let me”: Will Hays to Adolph Zukor, June 22, 1922, WHH.
“Unquenchable enthusiasm”: Los Angeles Times, July 30, 1922.
“For the life of me”: Los Angeles Times, July 28, 1922.
““little Napoleon of the Movies””: Los Angeles Times, July 25, 1922.
“an active young Republican”: Los Angeles Times, March 25, 1921. Other issues of the Times attesting to Herron’s involvement in the party include September 14, 1920, and August 5, 1921, among others.
was declared obscene: Associated Press, as in Hutchinson (KS) News, May 23, 1922; Variety, June 1, 1922.
a cross-section of decent, law-abiding America: The list of the Committee of Public Relations, dated June 1, 1922, is found in the archives, MPPDA.
“If we can preserve”: Will Hays to Adolph Zukor, September 5, 1922, Zukor Collection.
former comedian had written to Hays: Although Arbuckle’s letter to Hays does not survive, some of its contents can be deduced from Hays’s response.
“In this whole matter”: Will Hays to Roscoe Arbuckle, June 5, 1922, WHH.
“What is the matter”: W. D. McGuire to Charles Pettijohn, May 24, 1922, NBR.
“a vast load”: Los Angeles Times, June 25, 1922.
recent brouhaha in Seattle: Film Daily, May 9, 1922.
“very grateful”: Minta Arbuckle to Will Hays, June 20, 1922, WHH.
CHAPTER 53: THE SKY’S THE LIMIT
The gross national product: US Census, Historical Statistics of the United States, 1976.
“A beehive is a slow”: Los Angeles Times, June 29, 1922.
Although earnings were actually: Wall Street Journal, March 23, 1923.
“We believe the depth”: Motion Picture Classic, April 1922.
Zukor’s customary whisper: Unsourced article, September 1, 1922, Adolph Zukor file, NYPL.
That would make the Paramount larger: News reports of Zukor’s plans, however, said that the Paramount would be the “second largest” theater, apparently due to square footage. See New York Times, June 3, 1922.
“sit up to all hours”: Zukor, Public Is Never Wrong.
“to create the perception”: Stephen Vaughn, “The Devil’s Advocate: Will H. Hays and the Campaign to Make Movies Respectable,” Indiana Magazine of History 101 (June 2005).
“Your attitude in this matter”: Carl Laemmle to Adolph Zukor, January 10, 1923; Adolph Zukor to Carl Laemmle, January 11, 1923, Zukor Collection.
“laid a bet on who”: Zukor, Public Is Never Wrong.
CHAPTER 54: THE SPIRITS SPEAK
“As a matter of fact”: Los Angeles Examiner, February 18, 1922.
“a funny thing”: King, “I Know Who.”
“Wasn’t that person”: Joplin (MI) Globe, May 23, 1922.
“Yesterday afternoon an unknown”: Los Angeles Times, October 4, 1922.
“E. C. King, on the district attorney’s staff”: Los Angeles Record, October 4, 1922.
“the name of the woman”: King, “I Know Who.”
CHAPTER 55: LAST CHANCE
They’d found a creditor: Los Angeles chattel mortgage deeds, February 23, 1923, date entered into agreement “four months ago.”
spent some time in the slammer: FBI file, August 11, 1923. Madsen’s detailed arrest record stretched back to 1916. He was arrested on July 11, 1922, and sentenced on July 20. By early August, according to FBI reports, he was back in Los Angeles.
“a series of petty bunco jobs”: FBI file, November 13, 1923.
“feeling very confident”: Court depositions, Southern District of Ohio, 1923.
Back in her hometown of Brattleboro: Biographical details of Rose Putnam come from the US Census, 1900, 1910, 1920; Vermont Phoenix, November 22, 1907; May 13, 1910; February 24, 1911; May 9, 1911, January 5, 1912; Vermont marriage records, Walter O. Cooley and Rose Putnam, January 2, 1912.
wealthy Beatty Balestier: Divorce suit of Walter Cooley and Rose Putnam Cooley, November 26, 1919, Vermont State Archives. Cooley was apparently content to simply live apart from his wife, but Rose filed suit against him on September 9 charging “intolerable severity and desertion.” Cooley then filed his own suit against Rose on October 20, charging desertion. He also filed an alienation-of-affection case against Balestier. The court dismissed Rose’s suit and gave the divorce to Walter. Brattleboro Weekly Free Press, September 11, 1919, and October 23, 1919. For more on Cooley, see Brattleboro Weekly Free Press, March 5, 1914, January 30, 1919, and May 8, 1919; clipping, June 20, 1947, Brattleboro Historical Society.
John L. Bushnell of Springfield, Ohio: Biographical details from the US Census 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920; 20th Century History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens, 1908; Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, 1922; Springfield, Ohio, city directories; Springfield News, September 16, 1910; Boston Globe, June 10, 1919; New York Tribune, November 20, 1920; passport application, July 23, 1923.
Bushnell wrote asking her: Rose Putnam Cooley, statement, July 11, 1923, FBI files.
“Bushnell had sexual relations”: FBI report, July 16, 1923.
Remarkably, Lasky agreed: At first glance, it’s tempting to speculate that Gibby had been given a three-picture contract by Lasky in spring 1922. But it’s highly unlikely that Lasky (and Zukor) would allow a contract player in the midst of her contract with them to go out and produce independent pictures.
Mr. Billings Spends His Dime: Reid’s drug-related illness would soon force him out of the picture; he would be replaced with Walter Hiers.
CHAPTER 57: TRIGGER HAPPY
“unhappily situated”: FBI report, July 16, 1923.
Blackie Madsen was fifty years old: My description of Blackie Madsen comes from FBI reports, census records, and his military records. Although his death certificate gives
his year of birth as 1864, and indeed the FBI believed him in 1923 to be between fifty-five and sixty years of age, the 1870 and 1880 censuses as well as his military records (1898) agree that he was born in 1872.
“His early youth”: Wichita (KS) Daily Eagle, October 29, 1901.
eighteen-year-old Ross took a job: Independence city directories; Indicator: A National Journal of Insurance 9 (1890).
“highly respected” in her field: Wichita Daily Eagle, October 29, 1901.
When the United States declared: Returns from Military Posts, National Personnel Records Center. Sheridan enlisted on May 12, 1898, in St. Louis, and was discharged on February 24, 1899, at Puerto Principe, Cuba.
Sheridan at least got: Wichita Daily Eagle, October 29, 1901. That Madsen still carried a wartime revolver was referenced when his weapon was described as “Spanish war vintage” (Osborn, 1923).
“the two men were jealous”: Details of Sheridan’s involvement with Clara Williams and his attack on William Arista “Writ” Berkey come from the Kansas City Star, October 28, 1901; Wichita Daily Eagle, October 29, 1901; Jackson (MO) Examiner, November 1, 1901.
But finally he realized: Kansas City Star, April 19, 1902.
“one of a bunch”: San Diego police report, included in FBI report, August 11, 1923.
The five-story Beaux Arts: 20th Century History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens, 1908. Background on the Bushnells and the Bushnell Building comes from various materials compiled by Clark County Historical Society.
The banker’s appearance: My description comes primarily from Bushnell’s passport application, which also included a photo.
He’d just gotten back: New York Tribune, November 16, 1922.
“put up something”: FBI report, July 16, 1923.
Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood Page 48