The Man Who Made the Movies

by Vanda Krefft

  87 sued twice by Biograph: “Biograph Company Moves Against Edison Exhibitors,” Variety, May 23, 1908, 12.

  88 In July 1908: “Change of Officers,” Edison Phonograph Monthly, Sept. 1908, 2.

  88 had been grossly overcharging: “Edison Didn’t Testify,” NYT, July 19, 1912, 18.

  88 Edison Company’s general counsel: “Change of Officers,” 2.

  88 family of patent lawyers: Ibid.

  88 “a system of business in which”: “‘A Square Deal for All,’” 12.

  88 “not yet . . . thoroughly civilized”: “Defense Resumes in Patents Company Suit,” MPN, Nov. 22, 1913, 18.

  88 sell their movies exclusively: Robert Anderson, “The Motion Picture Patents Company: A Reevaluation,” in The American Film Industry, ed. Tino Balio (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1985), 139.

  88 at a uniform price: Ibid., 143.

  88 “conserve the interests”: “Applications from Exhibitors,” MPW, Jan. 23, 1909, 92.

  89 at least $2,500 worth of films: “Manufacturers Assume Control of All Moving Pictures,” Variety, Jan. 16, 1909, 13.

  89 returned . . . within six months: Ibid.

  89 had never been enforced: William Fox testimony, USA-MPPC, Vol. II, at 784–85.

  89 projectors purchased before: “‘Movies’ Sued by Uncle Sam,” LAT, Aug. 17, 1912, I-6.

  89 January 20 . . . or get cut off: Manufacturers Assume Control of All Moving Pictures,” 13.

  89 Exhibitors had until February 1: Ibid.

  89 would mean leaving the industry: Complaint, Greater New York Film Rental Company v. Motion Picture Patents Company and others, at 27. (Microfilm Part V, Reel 224, Image 17, TAEP).

  89 to protest the harshness: William Fox testimony, USA-MPPC, Vol. II, at 660–62.

  89 Take it or leave it: Ibid., 663.

  89 January 20, 1909: William Fox affidavit, Greater New York Film Rental Company v. Motion Picture Patents Company and others, at 90. (Microfilm Part V, Reel 224, Image 49, TAEP).

  89 “simply ruin his business”: William Fox testimony, USA-MPPC, Vol. II, at 665.

  89 4,800 of . . . 10,000 theater owners: “Cut Rate War May Follow Independents’ Aggressions,” Variety, Mar. 13, 1909, 13.

  89 immediately began . . . “the Trust”: “Moving-Picture Men in Row,” NYT, Jan. 10, 1909, 3.

  90 offering the exact same movies: OLIVER, “Observations by Our Man About Town,” MPW, Apr. 24, 1909, 511.

  90 not to license any more theaters: “Applications from Exhibitors,” 92.

  90 exhibitor in Albia, Iowa: “An Exhibitor Voices a Grievance,” MPW, Jan. 29, 1910, 130.

  90 very little creative progress: “On the Screen,” MPW, Nov. 13, 1909, 680.

  90 Senseless plots, bad acting: “To the Manufacturers Again,” MPW, Apr. 3, 1909, 397.

  90 twenty-five dollars for a film script: Fox, “Reminiscences and Observations,” 303. USPWF gives the price as $62.50 (39).

  90 couldn’t afford to work for the movies: OLIVER, “Observations by Our Man About Town,” MPW, Apr. 17, 1909, 471.

  90 fifty dollars for directors and sixty dollars for performers: Fox, “Reminiscences and Observations,” 303.

  90 Lubin and Edison films are so shaky: “Exhibitor Displeased With Quality Of Films,” MPW, Apr. 3, 1909, 375.

  90 film with no sprocket holes: John Carter letter to MPPC, undated. UCLA Special Collections, USA-MPPC Trial Records, in Box 4, File 6, “Memoranda on testimony collected by H. K. Stockton on Western Trip.”

  90 “state of putrefaction”: “Broken Promises Hurt the Business of Many Exchanges,” MPW, Jan. 29, 1910, 118.

  91 six to seven thousand . . . nationwide: The number is imprecise because while new theaters were continually signing on, existing licensees were dropping out.

  91 eight to ten thousand) had been licensed: “Motion Picture Patents Company and Its Work,” MPW, July 17, 1909, 82.

  91 office space . . . stenographers: “Cut Rate War May Follow Independents’ Aggressions,” 13.

  91 “As a collection agency”: OLIVER, “Observations by Our Man About Town,” MPW, Mar. 27, 1909, 361.

  91 early May 1909 . . . rental agencies: Motion Picture Patents Company ad, MPW, Apr. 10, 1909, 456.

  91 would allow them more flexibility: “Patents Co. Favors Exchanges,” Variety, May 22, 1909, 13.

  91 German immigrant . . . Oshkosh: “William Lord Wright’s Page,” MPN, Dec. 14, 1912, 15.

  91 MPPC licensee . . . quit to form: “Editorial,” MPW, Apr. 17, 1909, 467.

  91 non-MPPC U.S.-made films had increased: “J. W. Rosenquist Says ‘Independents Have the Goods,’” MPW, Dec. 31, 1909, 957.

  92 “There is a complete understanding”: Frank L. Dyer, “The Moving Picture in Europe and America,” from The Kinetogram, reprinted in MPW, Oct. 16, 1909, 531.

  92 guns and star-shaped badges: Harold L. Mohr, Letter to the Editor, MPN, Nov. 18, 1911, 33.

  92 destroy unlicensed producers’ equipment . . . sets: Budd Schulberg, Moving Pictures: Memories of a Hollywood Prince (Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1981), 35.

  92 from one hundred twenty: Fox, “Reminiscences and Observations,” 303–4.

  92 to sixty-nine: Anderson, “The Motion Picture Patents Company: A Reevaluation,” 145.

  92 in February 1910 . . . GFC: “Mysterious $2,500,000 Points to Patents Co. Change,” Variety, Feb. 19, 1910, 14.

  92 five hundred exhibitor customers: Joseph McArdle, “Arguments in Case of Wm. Fox Against Patents Company,” unidentified source, SUP, Box 37, 1911–1912 book.

  92 customers commented that they could transfer: Louis Rosenbluh testimony, USA-MPPC, Vol. I, at 377.

  92 had to back down: Ibid.

  92 Percy L. Waters . . . invite Fox: William Fox testimony, USA-MPPC, Vol. II, at 666–67.

  92 GFC’s general manager: “Observations by Our Man About Town,” MPW, June 18, 1910, 1041.

  93 200 Fifth Avenue: William Fox affidavit, Dec. 16, 1911, Greater New York Film Rental Company v. Motion Picture Patents Company and others, at 74. (Microfilm Part V, Reel 224, Image 41, TAEP).

  93 it was time: Ibid., 667.

  93 “fly off the roof”: Ibid.

  93 $60,000 to $75,000: Ibid.

  93 “ridiculously low” . . . $150,000: Ibid., 668–69.

  93 “two-fisted, hairy-chested”: “Screen, the Greatest,” NYT, Dec. 31, 1922, 74.

  93 $89,000: William Fox testimony, Feb. 13, 1913, USA-MPPC, Vol. II, at 670.

  93 “don’t want to sell”: William Fox affidavit, Dec. 16, 1911, Greater New York Film Rental Company v. Motion Picture Patents Company and others, at 72. (Microfilm Part V, Reel 224, Image 40, TAEP).

  93 “don’t blame me”: Ibid.

  93 in the building’s café: Ibid., 73.

  93 “great, big, gigantic wheel . . . crush you”: William Fox testimony, USA-MPPC, Vol. II, at 671.

  93 transferred their business to the GFC: Abraham Carlos affidavit, Dec. 15, 1911, Greater New York Film Rental Company v. Motion Picture Patents Company and others, at 119. (Microfilm Part V, Reel 224, Image 62, TAEP).

  93 notice canceling his license: Petitioner’s Exhibit No. 137, William Fox testimony, USA-MPPC, Vol. II, at 672–73.

  93 shown in a Hoboken, New Jersey, brothel: Transcript, 41.

  93 Upon investigation . . . bribed to divert them: Ibid., 41–42.

  93 Fox sent an employee: Louis Rosenbluh testimony, USA-MPPC, Vol. I, 370.

  93 next two weeks: William Fox affidavit, Dec. 16, 1911, Greater New York Film Rental Company against Motion Picture Patents Company and others, at 74–80. (Microfilm Part V, Reel 224, Images 41–44, TAEP).

  94 Friday afternoon, December 1: William Fox affidavit, Dec. 16, 1911, Greater New York Film Rental Company against Motion Picture Patents Company and others, at 80. (Microfilm Part V, Reel 224, Image 44, TAEP).

  94 “big chief”: William Fox testimony, USA-MPPC, Vol. II, at 668.

  94 he’d give Fox $90,000: William Fox a
ffidavit, Dec. 16, 1911, Greater New York Film Rental Company v. Motion Picture Patents Company and others, at 81. (Microfilm Part V, Reel 224, Image 44, TAEP).

  94 up to $100,000: William Fox testimony, USA-MPPC, Vol. II, at 684.

  94 agreed to sell . . .$90,000: Complaint, Greater New York Film Rental Company v. Motion Picture Patents Company and others, at 39. (Microfilm Part V, Reel 224, Image 23, TAEP).

  94 effective December 11, 1911: Ibid., Image 46, p. 84.

  94 “pile of junk”: Transcript, 17.

  94 “That is so, son”: William Fox testimony, USA-MPPC, Vol. II, at 683.

  94 The next morning . . . withdrawing his license cancellation: Louis Rosenbluh testimony, USA-MPPC, Vol. I, at 372.

  94 on December 7 . . . deal was off: Fox affidavit, Dec. 16, 1911, Greater New York Film Rental Company v. Motion Picture Patents Company and others, at 85. (Microfilm Part V, Reel 224, Image 46, TAEP).

  94 effective at 8:00 a.m. on Christmas Day: William Fox testimony, USA-MPPC, Vol. II, at 692.

  94 On December 16, 1911: Complaint, Greater New York Film Rental Company v. Motion Picture Patents Company and others, at 46. (Microfilm Part V, Reel 224, Image 27, TAEP).

  94 two-hundred-plus-page: “Fox Bucks the Patents Co.; Won’t Stand to Be Trimmed,” Variety, Dec. 30, 1911, 13.

  94 stifle and suppress . . . monopolizing: Complaint, Greater New York Film Rental Company v. Motion Picture Patents Company and others, at 18. (Microfilm Part V, Reel 224, Image 13, TAEP).

  95 Samuel Untermyer . . . and Alton B. Parker: “Fox Bucks the Patents Co.,” 13.

  95 former judge . . . presidential candidate: “Judge Parker Dies in His Auto in Park,” NYT, May 11, 1926, 1.

  95 Fox as the “David” . . . ruthless giant: “Perhaps Picture String of Theatres Next Season,” Variety, Mar. 9, 1912, 5.

  95 a meeting with . . . Wickersham: “Independents Propose Organization,” MPW, Sept. 12, 1914, 1521.

  95 lodged his complaint: “Explains Court’s Decision,” NYT, Oct. 2, 1915, 17.

  95 “a rather pitiful failure”: Theodore Roosevelt to Gifford Pinchot, June 28, 1910, in Theodore Roosevelt, Letters and Speeches (New York: The Library of America, 2004), 628.

  95 “one of the most important statutes”: William Howard Taft, The Antitrust Act and the Supreme Court (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1914), 2.

  95 “Wall Street, as an aggregation”: Judith Icke Anderson, William Howard Taft: An Intimate History (New York: W. W. Norton, 1981), 200.

  95 trade monopolies as “evil”: George W. Wickersham, The Changing Order (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1914), 106.

  95 “Only free men”: Ibid., 70.

  96 $10 million . . . cover the salaries: Joseph R. Darling, Darling on Trusts (New York: Neale Publishing Company, 1915), 14.

  96 sixty staff lawyers: Ibid., 15.

  96 young and inexperienced: Ibid., 20.

  96 “an electric searchlight”: Ibid., 21.

  96 April 30, 1912: “Harvester Company Sued as Monopoly,” NYT, May 1, 1912, 5.

  96 years of investigation: “Sees One Big Trust in Harvester-Steel,” NYT, July 27, 1911, 3.

  96 $140 million . . . restraint of trade: “Harvester Company Sued as Monopoly,” 5.

  96 began investigatory hearings: “Moving Picture Patents Company’s Brief to Attorney General Denies Sherman Law is Being Violated,” MPN, June 15, 1912, 9.

  96 hundreds of cases of wrongdoing: “Independents Propose Organization,” 1521.

  96 on August 16, it filed . . . eleven company officers: “Motion Picture Men Sued as a Trust,” Moving Picture News, Aug. 24, 1912, 18.

  96 70 to 80 percent . . .”to harass and oppress”: “‘Movies’ Sued,” I-6.

  97 ought to be dissolved: “Motion Picture Men Sued as a Trust,” 18.

  97 “didn’t know pig iron” . . . replacement law: “Edison on the Sherman Anti-Trust Law and Industrial Regulation,” Electrical World, Dec. 16, 1911, 1470–71.

  CHAPTER 9: MADNESS AND MURDER

  98 in a whisper . . .”constant terror”: “Jury Finds ‘Big Tim,’ Is Incompetent,” NYT, Jan. 23, 1913, 8.

  98 Florrie Sullivan . . . died in June: “Two-Mile Funeral for F. J. Sullivan,” NYT, June 28, 1909, 7.

  98 complications of a nervous breakdown: “‘Little Tim’ Sullivan Dying,” NYT, Dec. 22, 1909, 6.

  98 December 22: “Little Tim Sullivan Dead,” LAT, Dec. 23, 1909, I-1.

  98 age forty . . . Bright’s Disease and endocarditis: “Little Tim Sullivan Is Dead at Forty,” NYT, Dec. 23, 1909, 1.

  98 nervous breakdown . . . botched stock deal: “‘Little Tim’ Sullivan Dying,” 6.

  98 Big Tim’s closest friend: Simmons, “Passing of the Sullivan Dynasty,” 413.

  99 began to sob . . . left in tears: “Bowery’s Waifs Feast in Silence,” 8.

  99 crushing defeat: “Tammany Saves Only Gaynor from the Fusion Avalanche,” New York Herald, Nov. 3, 1909, 1.

  99 Tammany lost the Manhattan and Bronx: “Even the Judicial Ticket of Tammany is Defeated,” New York Herald, Nov. 3, 1909.

  99 cut back severely on patronage: “Hard Times These for Tammany Clubs,” NYT, Mar. 6, 1910, 8.

  99 “bad boy” list . . . not be reelected: “City Legislators in A Blacklist,” NYT, Sept. 8, 1910, 3.

  99 “over-cultured, educated gentlemen”: “Bowery Cheers for Timothy D. Sullivan,” NYT, Nov. 3, 1902, 2.

  99 “a person who is simply not fit”: “New York City in Congress,” NYT, Oct. 4, 1902, 8.

  100 An early morning fire . . . souvenir scavengers: “New York’s Playground Goes Up in Smoke of Great Fire,” LAT, May 28, 1911, 12; “Animals Perished by Fire and Bullet,” NYT, May 28, 1911, 3; “A New Coney Island Rises from the Ashes of the Old,” NYT, May 8, 1904, SM5; Dreamland display ad, NYT, May 27, 1904, 6; “Start Up Again in Coney Ruins,” NYT, May 28, 1911, 1; McCullough, Brooklyn . . . and How It Got That Way, 160.

  99 with his mane aflame: David W. McCullough, Brooklyn . . . and How It Got That Way (New York: The Dial Press, 1983), 160.

  100 only $400,000: “Before Coney Island’s $4,000,000 Fire Is Conquered Resorts Spring Up To Entertain Thousands At The Ruins To-Day,” New York Herald, May 28, 1911, 1.

  100 Moments before 2:00 a.m.: “The Motive and the Men,” New York American, July 17, 1912, 2.

  100 July 16, 1912: “Gambler Who Defied Police Is Shot Dead,” NYT, July 16, 1912, 1.

  100 late dinner: “Rosenthal the Gambler Slain in Front of Metropole,” New York American, July 16, 1912, 1.

  100 behind the doorway shrubbery: “Libby Identified as Man Who Slew Rosenthal; Man Who Drove Auto Aids Police,” New York American, July 17, 1912, 2.

  100 slate colored Packard: “Automobile ‘No. 41313,’” New York American, July 17, 1912, 2.

  100 Hit twice: “How Rosenthal Was Shot; 2 Bullets; Either Fatal,” New York American, July 18, 1912.

  100 screamed, threw up his hands: “Rosenthal the Gambler Slain,” 1.

  100 facedown onto the pavement: “How Rosenthal Was Shot.”

  100 elected by a landslide: “Even the Judicial Ticket of Tammany is Defeated.”

  100 his partner in the . . . Hesper Club . . . Becker: “Gamblers—Murder As A Fine Art In New York—Police,” New York American, July 19, 1912, 2.

  100 testify before a grand jury at 8:00 a.m.: Benjamin H. Kaufman, “New Evidence upon which Becker’s Hopes Are Based,” New York Herald, July 24, 1915, 1; “Whitman Sends A Stinging Rejoinder to Comm’r Waldo,” New York American, July 19, 1912, 3.

  101 $12,500 to equip the Hesper Club: “‘Big Tim’ Aided Rosenthal,” NYT, July 21, 1915, 6.

  101 president of the Hesper Club: Turner, “Tammany’s Control of New York by Professional Criminals,” 132.

  101 “worried to death” . . . ruin him: “‘Big Tim’ Aided Rosenthal,” 7.

  101 offered him $25,000 to silence: Ibid.

  101 Dr. G. F. M. Bond’s Sanitarium: “‘Big Tim’ Held Under Restr
aint in Sanitarium,” New York Evening World, Nov. 11, 1912, 1.

  101 “kept away from influences”: “Big Tim Very Ill, But Doctor Hopes He Will Get Well,” New York Evening World, Nov. 11, 1912, 18.

  101 lost 60 pounds: “‘Big Tim’ Sullivan Out $700,000 and Ill,” NYT, Sept. 20, 1912, 1.

  101 220-pound: Simmons, “Passing of the Sullivan Dynasty,” 415.

  101 screened second-floor window: “‘Big Tim’ Held Under Restraint in Sanitarium,” 1.

  101 mumbling prayers: “Big Tim Very Ill, But Doctor Hopes He Will Get Well,” 18.

  101 “restraining sheet”: “‘Big Tim’ Held Under Restraint in Sanitarium,” 1.

  101 tied to his bed: Ibid.

  102 $400,000 short . . . impossible to borrow money: Transcript, 54–55.

  102 “was to be destroyed”: Ibid., 55.

  102 plaster contractor showed up . . . “receipted bill”: Ibid. Transcript, 55.

  102 most of the other contractors . . . visit Walker again: Ibid., 55–56.

  103 received Fox cordially . . . “Nassau Bank”: Ibid., 56.

  103 “Anybody that will” . . . entire debt: Ibid.

  103 with his brother Patrick: “Brother Takes Sullivan,” NYT, Apr. 1, 1913, 1.

  103 Eastchester Road: “‘Big Tim’ Missing; Fear For His Life,” New York Press, Sept. 10, 1913, 8.

  103 Escaping occasionally . . . Bowery neighborhoods: Werner, Tammany Hall, 509.

  103 hopped a freight train: “‘Big Tim’s’ Death Accident,” NYT, Sept. 30, 1913, 2.

  103 around the Hudson River docks: Werner, Tammany Hall, 509.

  103 month-long trip: “‘Big Tim’ Sullivan Returns Improved,” NYT, July 17, 1913, 7.

  103 August 31, 1913: “Punishes Sleuths In Sullivan Case,” NYT, Sept. 18, 1913, 6.

  103 “F. J. McClosky”: “‘Big Tim’ Dead; 13 Days in Morgue,” NYT, Sept. 14, 1913, 1.

  103 freight train . . . north of Pelham Parkway: Ibid.

  103 cut him in two: Ibid.

  103 tailor-made salt-and-pepper: “Thousands Mourn at ‘Big Tim’s’ Bier,” NYT, Sept. 15, 1913, 9.

  103 white shirt . . . cufflinks: “‘Big Tim’ Dead; 13 Days in Morgue,” 1.

  103 no steam or vapor: Ibid., 1.