by Vanda Krefft
255 one-third less than the legitimate price: Oscar S. Mueller and Alfred Wright to William Fox, Dec. 1, 1917, WF-SMW, 20.
255 around $100,000: William Fox to Sol Wurtzel, Nov. 26, 1917, WF-SMW, 19.
255 private detective agency: Fox Film Corporation to Sol Wurtzel, telegram, Nov. 19, 1917, WF-SMW, 16.
255 guilty plea: “Arthur Horsley Acquitted in Court,” MPW, June 1, 1918, 1293.
255 stopped seeking orders: William Fox to Sol Wurtzel, Aug. 19, 1918, WF-SMW, 63.
255 October 1917: “News of the Film World,” Variety, Oct. 19, 1917, 29.
255 private secretary: Semenov, “Introduction,” WF-SMW, 7.
255 “a bad-tempered hedgehog”: An oral history with Philip Dunne / interviewed by Douglas Bell, 9, AMPAS, Oral History Program, 1991.
255 fifteen-hour days: Semenov, “Introduction,” WF-SMW, 7.
255 “highly capable”: Ibid.
255 “His handshake was vigorous”: Walsh, Each Man, 136.
255 no snow in Truckee: Sol Wurtzel to William Fox, Dec. 22, 1917, WF-SMW, 23.
255 “You know from past experience”: William Fox to Sol Wurtzel, Dec. 27, 1917, WF-SMW, 25.
256 “With the great facilities” . . . “What in the Hell”: William Fox to Sol Wurtzel, Jan. 30, 1920, WF-SMW, 107.
256 “fit for the junk pile”: William Fox to Sol Wurtzel, June 23, 1919, WF-SMW, 69.
256 “miserable, terrible, rotten”: William Fox to Sol Wurtzel, Dec. 9, 1919, WF-SMW, 106.
256 “stupid, insipid pictures”: William Fox to Sol Wurtzel, June 23, 1919, WF-SMW, 70.
256 “in over his head”: Ibid., 73.
256 “If you have changed”: Ibid., 75.
256 “I now admit”: Sol Wurtzel to William Fox, Dec. 22, 1917, WF-SMW, 23.
256 “bonehead,” . . . “wanted to go beyond”: Sol Wurtzel to William Fox, July 16, 1919, WF-SMW, 91.
256 “very carefully”: Sol Wurtzel to William Fox, June 21, 1918, WF-SMW, 54; Sol Wurtzel to William Fox, July 16, 1919, WF-SMW, 79.
256 “in every detail”: Sol Wurtzel to William Fox, July 16, 1919, WF-SMW, 79.
256 “more work I have”: Ibid., 91.
256 stern Jewish immigrant father: Appendix, WF-SMW, 171.
256 a quiet, scholarly man: Angela Fox Dunn, “The Lone Fox,” 8, unpublished manuscript, AFD.
257 “spirit of friendship”: William Fox to Sol Wurtzel, June 23, 1919, WF-SMW, 75.
257 “in spite of everything”: Ibid.
257 “want your unbiased opinion”: William Fox to Sol Wurtzel, Dec. 27, 1917, WF-SMW, 30.
257 “I am highly pleased”: William Fox to Sol Wurtzel, June 12, 1918, WF-SMW, 51.
257 “will only make me work”: Sol Wurtzel to William Fox, June 21, 1918, in WF-SMW, 55.
257 fifty-dollar-a-week raise: William Fox to Sol Wurtzel, Aug. 19, 1918, WF-SMW, 63.
257 “Play the game”: William Fox to Sol Wurtzel, Nov. 8, 1917, WF-SMW, 14.
257 discovered Theda Bara at Churchill’s . . . thirty dollars a week: Lottie Lee, “Here’s a ‘Real’ Account,” Cleveland News, Mar. 7, 1918, 6.
257 Fox Film dropped her: Ibid.
257 “slanderous” and “most insulting innuendo”: Theda Bara to Winfield Sheehan, telegram, undated, WF-SMW, 41.
257 “cannot admit of delay”: Ibid.
257 Theda had denied: Lottie Lee, “Theda Up an’ Says It’s All Wrong, Boys,” Cleveland News, Mar. 15, 1918.
258 Carlos resigned: “Carlos Leaving Fox,” Variety Mar. 29, 1918, 49.
258 Carlos Film Corporation: “Incorporations,” Variety, Apr. 12, 1918, 47.
258 son of a former Tammany Hall boss: This was Richard Croker Jr., “Incorporations,” Variety, Apr. 12, 1918, 47.
258 “a little picture I love”: William Fox to Sol Wurtzel, Dec. 27, 1917, WF-SMW, 29.
258 “Few actresses have”: Hanford C. Judson, review of “Confession,” MPW, May 25, 1918, 1186.
259 sales manager of the local Studebaker Automobile office: “Charges Piling Thick and Fast,” LAT, Apr. 28, 1913, II-5.
259 reappeared at Triangle in May 1915: Jewel Carmen deposition, Oct. 10, 1918, Jewel Carmen v. Fox Film Corporation and William Fox Vaudeville Company, USDC Vol. 15-254, 1918. NARA-NYC.
259 “out of the gutter”: Sol Wurtzel to William Fox, July 13, 1918, WF-SMW, 61.
259 private detectives: Special Report, Los Angeles, Apr. 3, 1918, WF-SMW, 42.
259 work only two hours . . . disappeared again: Sol Wurtzel to William Fox, 13 July 1918, WF-SMW, 58–60.
259 more lucrative agreement: Rogers opinion, Jewel Carmen v. Fox Film Corporation, Circuit Court of Appeals, Nov. 10, 1920. NARA-NYC.
259 “tremendous expense” . . . trying to steal: William Fox deposition, Jewel Carmen v. Fox Film Corporation, et al., 1–2.
260 stage acting . . . three days: “Jewel Carmen Carries On,” LAT, Apr. 11, 1926, C23.
260 “She means nothing . . . ‘tie a can,’”: William Fox to Sol Wurtzel, Dec. 27, 1917, WF-SMW, 26.
261 long-term contract with Goldwyn Pictures: “Walsh to Remain With Fox,” MPW, Jan. 19, 1918, 345.
261 all his own fault: Ibid.
261 “one of the most precious things”: “Fox Gets Many Sunshine Comedies Ready for Release,” MPN, Oct. 27, 1917, 2934.
261 “the best comedies in the world”: “Fox Orders World’s Best Comedies,” Motography, Nov. 3, 1917, 951.
261 “I am going to be first in the field”: “Fox Talks Sunshine Comedies,” MPW, Nov. 3, 1917, 683.
261 shoot as much film: “Fox Gets Many Sunshine Comedies Ready for Release,” MPN, Oct. 27, 1917, 2934.
261 every two weeks beginning November 11, 1917: “Fox Orders World’s Best Comedies,” 951.
262 “that would amuse them”: William Fox, “The Art of Film Making,” Daily Mirror (London), Apr. 9, 1919, 7.
262 “a mind filled with pure and clean thoughts”: “Fox Makes ‘Kiddie’ Features,” Motography, May 5, 1917, 952.
262 ten-reel Jack and the Beanstalk: “Written on the Screen,” NYT, June 24, 1917, 77.
262 Globe Theatre . . . July 30, 1917: H. U., review of Jack and the Beanstalk, NYTR, July 31, 1917, 7.
262 five-year-old Francis . . . and four-year-old Virginia: Harriette Underhill, “Two Precocious Kids,” NYTR, July 22, 1917, C3.
262 eight-foot-six: “Kiddies in Fairyland,” LAT, Aug. 19, 1917, III-3.
262 miraculous potential . . . innocence over evil: “Children Fascinate,” LAT, Aug. 26, 1917, III-1.
262 $500,000 on his film version: “How Fox, the Exhibitor, Decided Upon ‘Standard Pictures,’ ” MPN, Aug. 4, 1917, 819.
262 under the age of ten: Joseph L. Kelley, review of Jack and the Beanstalk, MPN, Aug. 18, 1917, 1151.
262 growing beanstalks . . . golden eggs: Jack and the Beanstalk, review, unidentified publication, Sept. 7, 1917. HTC.
262 “more beautifully produced” . . . A Daughter: H. U., review of Jack and the Beanstalk, 7.
262 “surely one of the biggest film events”: George W. Graves, Review of Jack and the Beanstalk, Motography, Aug. 25, 1917, 425.
263 “sensation . . . learned my mistake”: William Fox to Sol Wurtzel, Dec. 27, 1917, WF-SMW, 29.
263 “struck terror to their souls”: Virginia Saunders, letter to the editor, NYTR, Aug. 12, 1917, B2.
263 “Do these babies”: H. U., review of Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, NYTR, Sept. 26, 1917, 9.
263 six talent scouts . . . “a natural, graceful”: “Wouldn’t You Like to Know June Caprice,” Salt Lake Telegram, July 22, 1916, 9.
263 substituted for Mary Pickford: Ibid.
263 academic tutors . . . ideal girlfriend: “Fox Will Train a New Film Star,” New York Morning Telegraph, May 14, 1916, 2.
264 “Here was more money”: A Small Town Girl review, Wid’s, May 31, 1917, 344–45.
264 “the making of me”: Angela Fox Dunn interview with the author.
264 “The
final judgment . . . entirely left with me”: William Fox to Sol Wurtzel, Mar. 12, 1918, WF-SMW, 39.
264 “Very well” . . . “every foot”: Johnston, “What Kind of a Fellow Is—Fox?” 4151.
265 “You have skipped” . . . “go to work”: Ibid.
265 “I cultivated a habit”: Transcript, 58.
265 “Mr. Fox is extremely generous”: Unpublished Bara autobiography, 109.
265 “Yet while he would give away”: Ibid.
266 “a mixture of Machiavellianism”: Ibid.
266 thirty-three dollars in his pocket: Bernard Rosenberg and Harry Silverstein, The Real Tinsel (New York: Macmillan, 1970), 388.
266 distinguished Viennese theatrical family: Ibid.
266 piano player for vaudeville . . . “the sweetest man”: Ibid., 388–89.
266 mishmash of existing compositions: “How Music Is Made to Fit the Films,” Literary Digest, Jan. 26, 1918, 58.
267 view every inch of every movie: “The Story of the Lady Who Lives In The Dark,” Colorado Springs Gazette, May 20, 1917, 21.
267 “best film editor I have ever known”: “These Are the Men and Women Who Write Fox Picture Plays,” Fox Exhibitors’ Bulletin, June 1918.
267 “That an organization reflects”: Unpublished Bara autobiography, 110.
268 “Mr. Fox is so much the head”: Ibid.
268 “the most awesome civility”: Ibid.
CHAPTER 19: THE END OF THEDA
269 forty features: Ibid., 108; “What Does Fate Plan for Bara?” LAT, Aug. 2, 1925, D18.
269 “absurdly exaggerated”: Jane Dixon, “Wrecker of a Million Screen Souls Transformed into Angelic Kathleen Mavourneen,” LAT, Oct. 19, 1919, III-24.
269 “with mud”: Unpublished Bara autobiography, 106.
269 twelve- and sometimes fifteen-hour: Ibid., 107.
269 “hot as Dante’s Inferno”: Ibid.
269 to fast, take cold baths: Ibid.
269 “an art of lies”: Theda Bara, “The Curse on the Moving-Picture Actress,” Forum, July 1919, 89.
269 “primitive impulses,” and “barren emotions”: Ibid.
269 “that . . . is your mission”: Dixon, “Wrecker of a Million Screen Souls Transformed into Angelic Kathleen Mavourneen,” III-24.
269 “There, read that”: Ibid.
269 “Please pardon”: Ibid.
269 Theda did not: Ibid.
269 “How is any girl . . . can’t be done”: Ibid.
269 “heavy, depressed”: Ibid.
269 “verge of a collapse”: Ibid.
269 “worthwhile”: “Theda Bara as She Is in Real Life.” HTC.
269 dignified: “Miss Bara Dignified,” Variety, Aug. 22, 1919, 82.
269 “artistic sincerity”: Bara, “The Curse on the Moving-Picture Actress,” 92.
270 “was not my fault”: Ibid.
270 received regular pay increases: Ibid., 93.
270 earning $1,500 a week: “Theda Bara and Fox Part” Variety, Aug. 1, 1919, 58.
270 to review her new contract: Unpublished Bara autobiography, 140.
270 handled the negotiations herself: Ibid.
270 “a little worried”: Ibid.
270 turned down her request: Unpublished Bara autobiography, 140.
270 “intimidated and threatened”: Ibid.
270 McMahon laughed: Ibid.
270 Theda had contracted . . . issued her checks: Ibid.
270 two distinct entities: Ibid.
270 “You folks don’t . . . go elsewhere”: Ibid.
270 “tremendous flurry of excitement”: Ibid.
270 “I was offered almost anything”: Ibid.
270 year beginning May 26 . . . $4,000 per week: “Miss Bara Dignified,” 82; Transcript, 81.
271 as well as a percentage: “Miss Bara Dignified,” 82.
271 she had her due reward: Bara, “The Curse on the Moving-Picture Actress,” 93.
271 “weird, wicked, wamp”: The Soul of Buddha review, Wid’s, May 19, 1918, 2.
271 “top of her profession”: Fox Film ad, “Standard Pictures,” MPW, Aug. 10, 1918.
271 refused to dress . . . private guard: “Hollywood Happenings,” NYT, Apr. 2, 1933, X3.
271 stopped reporting . . . “appalling”: Agnes Smith, “Confessions of Theda Bara,” Photoplay, June 1920, 110.
271 “Nothing was ever ready”: Ibid.
271 “She was blind as a bat” . . . “fire Maurice”: Unpublished William Fox notes, no. 6, p. 6. AFD,
272 The Siren’s Song (1919): “The Siren’s Song—Fox” MPN, May 17, 1919, 3269.
272 free-spirited princess . . . “stupid and unattractive”: A Woman There Was review, Variety, June 13, 1919, 49.
272 took away her favorite director: “Producers After Theda Bara,” Variety, Jan. 3, 1919, 42.
272 work with William Farnum: “Edwards to Direct Farnum,” MPW, Mar. 1. 1919, 1186.
272 cut back . . . budgets: “Theda Bara Remains with Fox,” Variety, May 9, 1919, 57.
272 “wickedest woman,” . . . “cheap production”: The Light review, Wid’s Daily, Jan. 12, 1919.
272 “went out on strike”: Dixon, “Wrecker of a Million Screen Souls Transformed into Angelic Kathleen Mavourneen,” III-24.
272 torn cotton dresses: Ibid.
272 “run and jump and skip”: Ibid.
272 raise to $5,000 a week: “Theda Bara and Fox Part,” 58.
272 studio’s putting more money: “Theda Bara Remains with Fox,” 57.
272 at $4,000 a week: “Theda Bara and Fox Part,” Variety, Aug. 1, 1919, 58.
273 “as one’s income increases”: Unpublished Bara autobiography, 112.
273 “brusque,” and “unkind”: Ibid., 140.
273 “Bernhardt of the screen”: “Theda Bara on Schedule for Three Fox Films,” MPN, July 19, 1919, 734.
273 patrons walked out: “The Screen,” NYT, Aug. 20, 1919.
273 “Can you fancy Theda”: H. U., review of Evangeline and Kathleen Mavourneen, NYTR, Aug. 21, 1919, 9.
273 “Long and tiresome”: Kathleen Mavourneen review, NYT, Aug. 20, 1919.
273 vamp persona overshadowed: Edward Weitzel, review of Kathleen Mavourneen, MPW, Aug. 30, 1919, 1372–1373.
273 “pigs in the parlor” . . . destroyed reels: “Theda Bara Film Causes Riot,” Variety, Feb. 13, 1920, 49.
273 changed his mind: Ibid.
273 an artist’s wife . . . ballet dancer: “Theda Bara to Try New Style,” Lexington Herald, Aug. 3, 1919, 6.
273 “ancient” and “obvious”: Laurence Reid, review of La Belle Russe, MPN, Sept. 20, 1919, 2471.
273 In The Lure of Ambition: “Theda Bara to Try New Style,” 6; The Lure of Ambition review, Wid’s Daily, Nov. 16, 1919, 8.
273 “Theda herself is getting tired”: The Lure of Ambition review, Wid’s Daily, Nov. 16, 1919, 8.
274 “dreary monotony” . . . “hideous” burden: Theda Bara, “‘Never Again Will I Vamp,’ Says Vamp-Sick Theda Bara,” Colorado Springs Gazette, Oct. 12, 1919, 21. This article originally appeared in the Oct. 1919 issue of Vanity Fair under the title “The Ex-Vampire” and was evidently syndicated.
274 “a chamber of torture”: Bara, “The Curse on the Moving-Picture Actress,” 86.
274 “much bodily affliction”: Ibid., 90.
274 “sordid filth”: Bara, “The Curse on the Moving-Picture Actress,” 84.
274 “definitely and permanently” . . . reborn: Bara, “‘Never Again Will I Vamp,’ Says Vamp-Sick Theda Bara,” 21.
274 “Men and women in all parts”: Transcript, 93.
274 “Soon the secretary”: Ibid.
274 “From then on, just as they rose”: Ibid., 93–94.
274 Nora in A Doll’s House: “Theda Bara as She Is in Real Life.” HTC.
274 agnostic doctor: Heywood Broun, “The Blue Flame with Theda Bara at the Shubert,” NYTR, Mar. 16, 1920, 15.
274 “resurrection ray”: Charles M. Davidson, “Theda Bara and Big
Flower Show Events of Week,” Idaho Daily Statesman, Mar. 28, 1920, 10.
274 to heaven in a blue flame: Ibid.
274 ribbons-and-ruffles ingénue . . . thief and murderer: Ibid.
274 “stepping stone”: “Theda Bara as She Is in Real Life.” HTC.
275 Woods . . . had spent $40,000: “Theda Bara’s Stage Salary Exceeds Her Picture Income,” Variety, Mar. 12, 1920, 3.
275 $1,500 a week, plus 50 percent: Ibid.
275 “William Fox spent $2,000,000”: Ibid.
275 At tryout performances . . . sold out: Ibid.
275 police reserves were called: “Theda Bara Prophesies Need of Police Reserves to Handle Her Crowds,” NYTR, Mar. 21, 1920, B2.
275 a coach drawn by white horses: “Theda Bara’s Stage Salary Exceeds Her Picture Income,” 3.
275 hundeds of fans mobbed: Davidson, “Theda Bara and Big Flower Show Events of Week,” 10.
275 she made $6,000: “Theda Bara’s Stage Salary Exceeds Her Picture Income,” 3.
275 “Ermine evening cloaks”: Davidson, “Theda Bara and Big Flower Show Events of Week,” 10.
275 Talmadge . . . Tanguay: Ibid.
275 “with hair slicked back”: Ibid.
275 “the audience lost control”: Alexander Woollcott, review of The Blue Flame, NYT, Mar. 16, 1920, 18.
275 “pleasant voice,” . . . “high school commencement exercise”: Ibid.
275 “Miss Theda Bara played”: Broun, “The Blue Flame with Theda Bara at the Shubert,” 15.
275 “Probably she referred” . . . “for much less”: Ibid.
276 had a bad cold: Smith, “Confessions of Theda Bara,” 110.
276 “Many of those in the audience”: Ibid.
276 about four-fifths of the patrons: “Providence Likes Bara in Blue Flame,” Variety, Apr. 30, 1920, 16.
276 to Philadelphia’s Adelphi Theatre: “Theda Bara Speaks,” PI, Sept. 21, 1920, 8.
276 “as open-faced as”: Ibid.
276 Again, audiences laughed: Ibid.
276 In Chicago . . . flopped: “Going on at the Theaters,” Grand Rapids Press, Dec. 2, 1920, 6.
276 He had ruined her career: Ibid.
276 she didn’t speak to him: “Theda Bara to Quit, May Retire Forever,” Variety, Nov. 26, 1920, 1.
276 At the end of the year: Ibid.
276 During her waning days . . . fired McMahon: Unpublished Bara autobiography, 140a–140b.