by Vanda Krefft
214 Fox personally oversaw: “William Fox Cuts Les Miserables Down,” MPN, Feb. 9, 1918, 853.
215 about two-and-a-half hours’ running time: H. U., review of Les Miserables, NYTR, Dec. 5, 1917, 11.
215 December 3, 1917, premiere at the Lyric Theatre: Ibid.
215 the following month: “William Fox Announces New Releases,” MPN, Feb. 16, 1918, 1013.
215 eight-and-a-half reels . . . “one of the most difficult”: “William Fox Cuts Les Miserables Down,” 853.
215 “the other figures seem rather pale”: H. U., review of Les Miserables, NYTR, Dec. 5, 1917, 11.
215 “a blaze of film glory”: Fox Film ad, Les Miserables, MPN, Dec. 15, 1917, 4269.
215 “greatest melodramatic screen triumphs”: Charles Wesley, Review of Les Miserables, Motography, Dec. 22, 1917, 1304.
215 Phelps wrote to Fox, “I wish every one”: “Professor Lauds Les Miserables,” Trenton Evening Times, Feb. 27, 1918, 7.
215 “spirit of revolt”: “Drama, Two Striking Feature Films,” New York Call, Jan. 17, 1918, 4.
216 joined Farnum on a fishing trip: “Studio Flashes,” MPW, Apr. 21, 1917, 432.
216 Farnum loaned him money: Hedda Hopper, “Looking at Hollywood,” CDT, Apr. 9, 1946, 20.
216 “stand by me”: William Fox to Sol Wurtzel, June 7, 1918, WF-SMW, 48.
216 kept a photo of her: “Big Bill,” Motion Picture Magazine, Sept. 1920, 102.
217 thirty-eight-year-old . . . football captain: “John L. De Saulles Slain in His Home by Former Wife,” NYT, Aug. 4, 1917, 1.
217 shot five times at close range: Ibid.
217 De Saulles disregarded a court order: Ibid.
217 hiding behind a hedge . . . Chilean heiress: Ibid.
217 “I killed him and I am glad”: Ibid.
217 affair with a dancer: Fox Film Corporation ad, Woman and the Law ad, MPN, Mar. 23, 1918, 1671.
217 “notorious Broadway character . . . wife’s money: Peter Milne, review of Woman and the Law, Motion Picture News, Mar. 23, 1918, 1764–765.
218 acquitted . . . justifiable homicide: “Mrs. De Saulles Is Acquitted of Husband’s Murder,” NYT, Dec. 2, 1917, 1.
218 “to arouse the public against”: “Fox Standard Feature Shows Up Divorce,” MPN, Apr. 20, 1918, 2288.
218 “a good many divorce cases”: Ibid.
218 in May 1916 had married . . . Laurell: “Kay Laurell Is Bride of Winnie Sheehan,” NYTR, May 12, 1916, 9.
218 In July 1917 . . . cruelty: “Wife Seeks Separation from Winnie Sheehan,” NYTR, July 15, 1917, 8. Evidently Sheehan and Laurell, who were married in a Roman Catholic ceremony, never actually divorced. Although she later fell in love with a London businessman and had a son with him in 1927 (she died in childbirth), reportedly she had been unable to marry. A 1930 newspaper article refered to her as having been Sheehan’s estranged wife (“Kay Laurell Left an Infant Son,” New York Sun, Oct. 2, 1930).
218 “The Grip” . . . “tragedy of womanhood!”: Fox Film ad, The Blindness of Divorce, MPW, May 4, 1918, 656.
218 giant horned devil . . . crying: Fox Film ad, The Blindness of Divorce, MPN, Apr. 6, 1918, 1986–1987.
218 “The woman always pays”: Ibid., Apr. 13, 1918, 2154.
218 only a small profit: William Fox to Sol Wurtzel, Feb. 13, 1920. WF-SMW, 109.
218 “pitiless exposé” of marriage: Fox Film ad, Why I Would Not Marry, MPN, Oct. 5, 1918, 2121.
218 Aided by a clairvoyant . . . suitors: Why I Would Not Marry review, Exhibitors Herald and Motography, Nov. 30, 1918, 22.
218 wealthy banker pushed by: P. S. Harrison, review of Why I Would Not Marry, MPN, Dec. 14, 1918, 3594.
218 rejects them all, forswears: Ibid.
218 starts a store: Why I Would Not Marry review, Wid’s Daily, Nov. 18, 1918.
218 Why I Would . . . failed: William Fox to Sol Wurtzel, Feb. 13, 1920, WF-SMW, 110.
219 population of about 170,000, some 6,000: The Honor System theater program, “The Honor System” file, Box 105, NBR.
219 bought for $250: William Fox to Sol Wurtzel, Feb. 13, 1920, WF-SMW, 111.
219 to pay only $1,250: “Judgment Against Fox,” Variety, May 11, 1917, 29.
219 Premiering at the Lyric . . . nearly three hours: Harriette Underhill, review of The Honor System, NYTR, Feb. 13, 1917, 13.
219 Yuma, Arizona . . . nation’s worst: “Honor System Release at Psychological Moment,” MPN, Nov. 11, 1916, 3007.
219 “flogged at the stake” . . . maggots: Peter Milne, review of The Honor System, MPN, Mar. 3, 1917, 1418.
219 cockroaches crawled along: Victor O. Freeburg, The Art of Photoplay Making (New York: Macmillan, 1918), 187.
219 on scraps of paper . . . cockroaches: Harriette Underhill, “Making The Honor System,” NYTR, Apr. 1, 1917, C4; “Honor System Comes to the Lyric,” unidentified publication, Feb. 13, 1917, HTC.
219 “light, airy cells”: Milne, review of The Honor System, 1418.
219 some of them actual prisoners: “Prison Reform Has Plea in Photoplay,” Times-Picayune, Nov. 12, 1916, 39.
219 loud applause: Milne, review of The Honor System, 1418.
220 intertitles pleading for prison reform: Jolo, review of The Honor System, Variety, Feb. 16, 1917, 24.
220 “Whoever is . . . justice, honor”: The Honor System brochure, Miriam Cooper Walsh Papers, Drafts & Typescripts 2, 24. LOC.
220 an audience of one hundred thousand: “Fox Polls the Country,” Variety, Mar. 16, 1917, 27.
220 activate a “public conscience”: “The Honor System Great Success,” MPW, Mar. 31, 1917, 2133.
220 twenty-four-page booklet . . . widest diffusion: “Fox Polls the Country,” 27.
220 American Prison Association convention: “Honor System Release at Psychological Moment,” 3007.
220 “love and faith,” . . . “in the struggle”: “Amusements,” Olympia Record, Dec. 21, 1917, 4.
220 “sincerity of purpose,” . . . “a benefactor”: Jolo, review of The Honor System, 24.
220 $500,000 in rental fees: William Fox to Sol Wurtzel, Feb. 13, 1920, WF-SMW, 111.
221 only Aryans had built: William E. Leuchtenburg, The Perils of Prosperity, 1914–1932 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1958), 206.
221 “suicidal”: Madison Grant, The Passing of the Great Race (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1922, fourth revised edition), 91.
221 “the sweepings”: Ibid., 89.
221 “many amazing racial hybrids”: Ibid., 92.
221 terrified that her child . . . white baby dissolving into: The Liar review, Wid’s Daily, Sept. 1, 1918, 5.
221 an African American “mammy” . . . unintelligibly: “Sixteen Words Cost William Fox $300,000,” Colorado Springs Gazette, Oct. 7, 1917, 27.
221 “Old Jumbo,” . . . “Ol’ massa”: Robert Foster, review of The Conqueror, Picture Play Magazine, Dec. 1917, 206.
221 African American U.S. Cavalry: Betrayal review, Variety, Aug. 31, 1917, 29.
221 slave boy who has come to hate him: “Miss Theda Bara in Heart and Soul, at Springer Today,” Columbus Daily Enquirer (Columbus, GA), July 10, 1917, 5.
221 “I do not want”: William Fox to Sol Wurtzel, Dec. 27, 1917, WF-SMW, 27.
222 hired young African American women: “Colored Girls Are Displaced, in Fox Film House,” New York Amsterdam News, Nov. 6, 1929, 9.
222 first time in the Lyric’s history: Ibid.
222 at all the major Fox theaters: Ibid.
222 “It seemed the melting pot”: Peter Pad, St. Louis Times, reprinted in Exhibitor’s Bulletin, Oct. 1917, 16–17.
222 relatively small theaters: “Four-Sided Film Battle Hovering Over Exhibitors,” Variety, June 20, 1919, 57.
222 every two or three days: “Sheehan Explains Radical Change in Fox Program,” MPN, Dec. 30, 1916, 4185.
222 “a lot of three-cent wall paper”: Tangled Lives review, Wid’s Daily, May 3, 1917, 281.
222 “wild-eyed junk�
�: The Island of Desire review, Wid’s Daily, Jan. 4, 1917, 11.
CHAPTER 16: “ALL HIS SECRET AMBITION”
224 “What, then, is the character”: Mencken, from preface to The American Credo, by George Jean Nathan and H. L. Mencken, in A Second Mencken Chrestomathy (New York: Vintage Books, 1994), 9–10.
224 “No amount of fire”: F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (New York: Scribner, trade paperback edition, 2004), 96.
225 “proscribed from entering”: Gabler, An Empire of Their Own, 5.
225 “a new country—an empire”: Ibid.
225 “Hollywood Jews”: Ibid., 3.
225 constructed Southern California social life: Ibid., 6.
225 “small courtroom” . . . “liverish secretary”: Marion, Off with Their Heads!, 28.
225 “pistol shot” interruptions: Ibid.
225 “ogre”: Ibid.
225 “black eyed”: “Messenger Now Worth Fortune,” Duluth News Tribune, Apr. 19, 1914, 9.
225 Mount Hope in the Bronx: USPWF, 243.
226 Between 1900 and 1918, some 325 houses: Sean Kass, “The Long Island Rail Road and its Promotion of Long Island, 1900–1930,” Long Island Historical Journal 17, nos. 1–2 (Fall 2004/Spring 2005): 88.
226 Morgans . . . Tiffany: Ibid.
226 ivy-covered: “He Forgets to Sleep; William Fox’s Nights Spent Viewing Films,” Salt Lake Telegram, Sept. 12, 1916, 15.
226 German immigrant silk merchant Arthur Emmerich: “2 Bankruptcy Suits Against Silk Firm,” NYT, Nov. 13, 1920, 23; 1930 Federal Census.
226 gravel path: “He Forgets to Sleep; William Fox’s Nights Spent Viewing Films,” 15.
226 one-room, fireproof . . . for a meeting: Ibid.
226 several speeding tickets: “A Bargain for Him,” unidentified publication, May 21, 1912. (NYPL, New York Sun newspaper morgue files 1900–1950, William Fox file.)
226 shaved twice: Allene Talmey, “William Fox: A Portrait,” Outlook and Independent, July 31, 1929, 544.
227 standing appointment . . . projection room: William A. Johnston, “What Kind of a Fellow Is—Fox?” MPN, Dec, 15, 1917, 4151.
227 “affords the chance to play”: Charles Leonard Fletcher, “Golf as a Tonic,” Variety, Dec. 11, 1909, 26.
227 “He plays golf”: Johnston, “What Kind of a Fellow Is—Fox?” 4151.
227 “fill-ums,” “Lah Miserable”: Early draft of USPWF, File 16, p. 99, US-MSS.
228 Fox moved his parents: Malvina was born on Feb. 22, 1906, according to her gravestone (photo, AFD) and the California Death Index.
228 black silk dresses . . . jewelry: Angela Fox Dunn, Unpublished William Fox notes, no. 6, p. 18. AFD.
228 “Adolph Menjou”: Angela Fox Dunn interview with the author.
228 production manager: “Aaron Fox Business Manager of Kugler Company,” MPN, Oct. 9, 1915, 50.
228 Columbia University Law School: Unpublished William Fox notes, no. 6, p. 10. AFD.
229 in Atlantic City: “Two Millionaires Seek Brides on Boardwalk,” PI, Sept. 4, 1917, 2.
229 “I’d rather not discuss”: “Woman Film Star to Wed Tulsa Man,” Tulsa World, Oct. 31, 1915, 3.
229 millionaire family: “Two Millionaires Seek Brides on Boardwalk,” 2.
229 owned considerable stock: “Woman Film Star to Wed Tulsa Man,” 3.
229 “protected, guided”: Angela Fox Dunn interview with the author.
230 head of the scenario department: “Leo Heads Fox Scenario Department,” MPW, July 21, 1917, 431.
230 assistant to the general manager: “Fox Circuit Promotes Joe Leo,” MPW, Dec. 15, 1917, 1656.
230 “with the drive and push”: “These Are the Men and Women Who Write Fox Picture Plays,” Fox Exhibitors’ Bulletin, June 1918.
231 five million Jewish victims: “Jews Begin Drive in City Today for $5,000,000 Fund,” NYTR, Dec. 3, 1917, 7.
231 “Conditions indescribable . . . sole help”: “$5,000,000 in Sight for Jewish Fund,” NYT, Dec. 11, 1917, 5.
231 $50 million personal fortune: “Jacob H. Schiff, Noted Financier, Dies in Fifth Av. Home After a Long Illness; Stricken by Heart Disease 6 Months Ago, “ NYT, Sept. 26, 1920, 1.
231 3:00 a.m. making speeches: Transcript, 187–88.
232 personally gave $40,000 . . . Jacob Schiff’s $200,000: “Jews Begin Drive in City Today for $5,000,000 Fund,” 7.
232 Federation of Jewish Philanthropic Societies: “Col. Wm. Fox Honored at Dinner,” MPW, Mar. 9, 1918, 1348.
232 in the Hotel Claridge: Felix M. Warburg to William Fox, Jan 22, 1918. FMWP.
232 recruited five thousand children: Transcript, 190–91.
232 twenty-six thousand . . . total of fifty thousand: Transcript, 191.
232 “the most spectacular”: David A. Brown to the Justice of the District Court of the United States, Philadelphia, Apr. 9, 1941, 5, DABP.
232 made up names . . . agreed to contribute: “Agenda for Meeting,” 2. FMWP.
232 Fox set up: “Agenda for Meeting of Executive Membership Council,” 1. FMWP.
232 traditional funding sources: “Minutes of meeting of Women Division Superintendents,” Oct. 24, 1918, 1, FMWP.
232 Sunday, February 24, 1918: “Dinner for William Fox,” NYT, Feb. 25, 1918, 10; “Col. Wm. Fox,” 1348.
232 entertainment industry sponsored: David M. Bressler to Felix M. Warburg, Jan. 31, 1918. FMWP.
232 grand ballroom of the Hotel Astor: “1,200 at Banquet for William Fox,” NYTR, Feb. 25, 1918, 5.
233 charitable work and for his leadership: Ibid.
233 More than 1,200 people: Ibid.
233 Schiff and Warburg . . . Schenck: “William Fox Guest at Banquet in His Honor,” New York Morning Telegraph, Mar. 3, 1918, Motion Picture Section, 1.
233 George M. Cohan, and Lee Shubert: “Fox’s Dinner Draws,” Variety, Mar. 1, 1918, 48.
233 fire commissioner and police commissioner: “William Fox Guest of Honor at Dinner,” New York Sun, Feb. 25, 1918.
233 Schoeneck, and . . . Manton: “William Fox Guest at Banquet in His Honor,” 1.
233 “never before have so many”: Ibid.
233 inscribed gold tablet: Ibid.
233 Fox rose to thank: Ibid.
233 standing ovation: “Col. Wm. Fox Honored at Dinner,” 1348.
233 invited by Knights of Columbus leaders: Transcript, 191.
233 only non-Catholic among 100: Ibid., 191.
233 $150,000 . . . Jewish community: Felix Warburg to Adolph Lewisohn, Mar. 20, 1918, 1. FMWP.
233 pressed Fox Film stars and directors: “Fox Again Active in Fund Drive,” MPW, Apr. 6, 1918, 110.
233 resented being approached: Felix Warburg to Adolph Lewisohn, Mar. 20, 1918. FMWP.
233 “doing this most unselfishly” . . . generously: Ibid.
233 reached its $5 million goal: Transcript, 191.
233 Church authorities called Fox: David A. Brown to the Justice of the District Court of the United States, Philadelphia, Apr. 9, 1941, 4, DABP.
234 none for entertainment: Transcript, 192.
234 head of the local Red Cross effort: “Cornelius Bliss, 74, Financier, is Dead,” NYT, Apr. 6, 1949, 29.
234 already printed the stationery: Transcript, 192.
234 “Junior” . . . neighborhood restaurant: John W. Harrington, “John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and What He Means,” NYT, Oct. 3, 1915, 54.
234 “Rockefeller turned around”: Transcript, 194.
234 others in the room snickered: Ibid.
234 “a privilege and honor”: Ibid.
235 appearances by stars every night: American Red Cross Benefits ad, NYTR, May 19, 1918, C5.
235 gala ball . . . Astor: “Money Flows Into Red Cross Coffers,” MPN, June 8, 1918, 3385.
235 “If you hear an ambulance”: Ibid.
235 $1.1 million: Transcript, 197. Technically, the banking industry team, led by Mrs. George F. Baker Jr., wife of the vice president of the First National Bank, led the field with $
1.5 million, but because she had given a $1 million personal check, she was credited with raising only $500,000.
235 Rockefeller Jr., with $1,026,000: Transcript, 197.
235 wasn’t even present: Ibid.
235 handwritten congratulatory letter: Ibid., 198.
235 that he had no desire to surpass: Ibid.
235 refused to negotiate: “Hold Rockefeller At Fault in Strike,” NYT, Aug. 28, 1915, 8.
235 pressured the governor of Colorado: “Walsh Charges All to Rockefeller, Jr.,” NYT, June 1, 1915, 18; “Hold Rockefeller At Fault in Strike,” 8.
235 two hundred state troopers: “45 Dead, 20 Hurt, Score Missing, In Strike War,” NYT, Apr. 22, 1914, 7.
235 fourteen hours on April 20 . . . dynamite: Ibid.
236 with their clothes on fire: Ibid.
236 charred debris: Ibid.
236 forty-five people: Ibid.
236 more than two-thirds of them: Ibid.
236 blamed Rockefeller Jr.: “Walsh Charges All to Rockefeller, Jr.,” 18.
236 “massacre”: “Hold Rockefeller At Fault in Strike,” 8.
236 “autocratic and anti-social”: Ibid.
236 add patriotic scenes: Transcript, 187.
236 “the very highest medium”: Kristin Thompson, Exporting Entertainment: America in the World Film Market, 1907–1934 (Great Britain: BFI Publishing, 1985), 94.
236 “very generously” placed its entire organization: “Funkhouser Hit By George Creel for Ban on Film,” 1.
237 “Ridiculous . . . very cheap junk,”: “The Spy,” Wid’s, Oct. 11, 1917, 654.
237 “Germans boobs and brutes”: Ibid.
237 two-thirds full of newsreel cut-ins: The Prussian Cur review, Wid’s Daily, Aug. 25, 1918, 19.
237 no discernible story: “Title and Subject Will Pull This, But Advertise Carefully,” Wid’s Daily, Aug. 25, 1918, 20.
237 Kultur . . . reveal the salacious truth: “Kultur,” Variety, Oct. 18, 1918, 39.
237 “It might be expected . . . wild sometimes”: Kultur review, Wid’s Daily, Sept. 22, 1918, 5.
237 Why America . . . Pershing: “Fox Has Large Plans for 1918–1919,” MPW, Aug. 10, 1918, 820.
237 thirty-five-thousand-word biography . . . in one hundred newspapers: Ibid., 825.
237 one million copies of a sepia-toned portrait . . .”framing”: “Fox Has Large Plans for 1918–1919,” 825.