The Man Who Made the Movies

by Vanda Krefft

  359 “financial solid rocks”: “Fox Declares 235 Per Cent Dividend,” MPN, June 13, 1925, 2910.

  359 in June 1919 . . . equal value: Ibid.

  359 had to let the public in: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, June 1, 1932, US-MSS.

  360 “ultimately degenerate”: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, Aug. 17, 1932, 3. US-MSS.

  360 “Every energy”: Fox Film ad, “Fox Achievement,” FD, May 24, 1925, 7.

  361 at age sixty-four: Born Mar. 1, 1861.

  361 to die alone: Angela Fox Dunn interview with the author.

  361 “You must go forward”: “One Million Dollar Photoplay to be Masterpiece Made by William A.(sic) Fox,” Times-Picayune, Dec. 5, 1915, 56.

  361 two greatest types of loves: “Greatest Love in World Forms Theme for Fox Film,” MO, June 11, 1922, 2.

  361 bristled at the suggestion: Angela Fox Dunn interview with the author.

  362 May 27, 1925: “Certificate of Increase of Number of Shares and Reclassification of Shares of Fox Film Corporation,” May 27, 1925, NYCMA.

  362 June 15 . . . following day: “Admit Fox Film Stock to Trading,” 15.

  362 Three months later . . . and M-G-M: “Fox Assets Placed at $24,509,469,” MPN, Sept. 26, 1925, 1479.

  362 gave 235,000 . . . employees: “Fox Declares 235 Per Cent Dividend,” MPN, June 13, 1925, 2910.

  362 forty dollars per share . . . forty-three per share: Transcript, 69.

  362 substantially understated Fox Film’s worth: “Fox Assets $10,000,000 Over Book Value, Analysis of Holdings Indicates,” MPN, 572.

  362 never revised the value of fixed assets: Ibid.

  362 he’d paid, $525,000 . . . five times: Ibid.

  362 $5.6 million investment . . . only $1: Ibid.

  362 most conservative policy: “Fox at Peak,” FD, June 21, 1925, 1.

  363 trading at 50½: “Curb Stocks Stronger Than Big Board Shares,” Variety, July 1, 1925, 24.

  363 By year’s end . . . $85: “Amusement Stocks Quotations,” Variety, Jan. 6, 1926, 31.

  363 initial asking price: Although Fox Film’s share price would drop as low as $55 in early 1926, when a general bear market pounded most entertainment stocks (“Great Boom in Film Stocks,” Variety, Sept. 15, 1926, 20), by September 1926 the stock would have recovered to trade in the upper 70s (“Loew Stock at New High 48,” Variety, Sept. 29, 1926, 9).

  363 More than 75 percent: Floyd W. Parsons, “The Movies’ Business Side,” Saturday Evening Post, Mar. 26, 1921, 26 + 29.

  363 started renting out studio space: “Fox New York Studio To Be Leased,” MPN, June 28, 1924, 3067.

  363 $1 million overhaul: “Out Where Fox Begins,” MPW, Mar. 26, 1927, 391.

  363 Spanish-style . . . wood trimmings: “Improvements on Fox Lot Rushed,” MPN, Jan. 16, 1926, 269.

  363 block-long reception building: Ibid.

  363 largest movie stages: “Improvements on Fox Lot Rushed,” 269.

  363 regulation baseball field: “Sheehan Places Fox Studios on Coast in A-1 Position,” MPW, June 25, 1927, 589.

  363 three-hundred-seat, Mission-style: “Fox Films [sic] Corporation Looks Forward to Most Successful Season,” MPN, May 8, 1926, 2246–47.

  363 small hospital . . . surgeon: “Out Where Fox Begins,” 391.

  363 schoolhouse for fifty child actors: “Sheehan Places Fox Studios on Coast in A-1 Position,” 589.

  363 $150,000 worth of new furniture . . . palaces: “Out Where Fox Begins,” 409, 413.

  363 second-floor . . . research library: “Fox Carrying Out Elaborate Expansion Plans,” MPN, Dec. 21, 1925, 2767.

  363 twenty-thousand-volume: “Improvements on Fox Lot Rushed,” 269.

  363 $100,000 George Ingleton: “George Ingleton,” Variety, May 26, 1926, 36.

  363 rare document collection: “George Ingleton Research Library Acquired by Fox for Coast Plant,” MPW, Feb. 6, 1926, 554.

  363 elaborate new gardens: “Fox Carrying Out Elaborate Expansion Plans,” 2767.

  364 $25,000 donation: James R. Martin to William Fox, Aug. 21, 1925, FLC.

  364 December 29, 1925 . . . permission: “Zoning of Westwood Studio Property,” May 18, 1927, FLC.

  364 at a cost of $2 million: “New Studio Will Open on Sunday,” LAT, Aug. 24, 1926, A2.

  364 Spanish, French, Irish: “Fox Films [sic] Corporation Looks Forward to Most Successful Season,” 2246.

  364 German: “Out Where Fox Begins,” 409.

  364 Siamese: “Fox Films [sic] Corporation Looks Forward to Most Successful Season,” 2246.

  364 Aztec temple . . . Arc de Triomphe: Ibid.

  364 best in the business: “Fox’s New Exchange Bldg. Is Complete,” Variety, Oct. 13, 1926, 13.

  364 Italian tile floors . . . new furnishings: Ibid.

  364 Not a lamp . . . only business records: Ibid.

  365 if Henry Ford could . . . company-owned theaters: “F. P. Replying, Arraigns Comms’n For ‘About Face’,” Variety, Nov. 4, 1925, 30.

  365 “acted like a good boy”: P. S. Harrison, “The United States Government Against Adolph Zukor,” HR, Nov. 28, 1925, 189 + 192.

  365 except that of block booking: “Famous Answers,” MPN, 137; “Expect F. P.-L. Victory,” MPN, 472.

  365 “a theater-buying orgy”: Harrison, “The United States Government Against Adolph Zukor,” 192.

  365 reopen in 1926: “F. P. Case Ordered Reopened; Claimed Victory for Film Men,” Variety, June 16, 1926, 9.

  365 final arguments . . . January 27, 1927: “Expect F. P.-L. Victory in Government Case,” MPN, Feb. 11, 1927, 472.

  365 acquired the Olympia Theatres chain . . . thirty-eight: “F. P.-L. Acquires Gordon Holdings,” MPN, May 30, 1925, 2631.

  365 half of another chain: Ibid.

  365 estimated at $12 million: Ibid.

  366 “a trail of black satchels”: Harrison, “The United States Government Against Adolph Zukor,” 192.

  366 Mildred, had married Marcus Loew’s son Arthur: “Their Wedding Filmed,” NYT, Jan. 7, 1920, 19.

  366 $11 million plan: “Warner Brothers Plan $10,000,000 Transcontinental Theatre Chain,” MPW, Sept. 20, 1924, 197. Despite the headline, the article states that the Warners planned to spend $10 million on theaters outside New York and another $1 million within the city.

  366 “We are taking off our coats”: “Warner Brothers Plan $10,000,000 Transcontinental Theatre Chain,” 197.

  366 acquiring a total of more than a thousand: “Universal to Own 1,000 Film Theatres,” NYT, Nov. 30, 1925, 33.

  366 twenty thousand U.S. movie theaters . . . $700 million: “Universal to Own 1,000 Film Theatres,” NYT.

  366 “The exhibiting end of this business”: William A. Johnston, “Zukor Discusses B. & K. Deal In Exclusive Interview,” MPN, Oct. 10, 1925, 1671.

  366 only about thirty-one theaters: J. S. Dickerson, “Theatres, the Biggest Story of 1925,” MPN, Dec. 26, 1925, 3131.

  366 115 movie theaters along the Pacific Coast: M. Gore, “Magic Rise of West Coast Theatres,” Variety, Jan. 7, 1925, 28.

  366 $9.5 million in 1924: “West Coast Theatres Gross Increases,” MPN, Sept. 25, 1926, 1171.

  366 half interest in Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre: Gore, “Magic Rise of West Coast Theatres,” 28.

  367 dominated first-run exhibition: Danny [Joe Dannenberg], “Deals,” FD, July 8, 1925, 1.

  367 “You could hardly ride”: Transcript, 213.

  367 described Blumenthal as shady: Ibid.

  359 in mid-1924 . . . super theaters: “5,000 Seat Fox House,” FD, July 22, 1924, 1; Transcript, 214.

  367 “Blumenthal got under my skin”: Ibid., 215.

  367 about four foot ten: Ibid., 225.

  367 Marcus Loew’s yacht playing bridge with Lesser: Oral History interview with Sol Lesser (1970), 68, CCOHA.

  367 Lesser, who owned 30 percent: “West Coast Stock to Hoyt Syndicate,” MPN, Mar. 6, 1926, 1079.

  367 sell his shares for $1 million: Oral History interv
iew with Sol Lesser (1970), 68, CCOHA.

  367 “Fox reached out his hand”: Ibid., 69.

  368 Lesser had been joking: Ibid., 68–69.

  368 In addition to paying $1 million . . . five-year contract: Ibid., 69.

  368 never dreamed of such success: Ibid., 68–69.

  368 Lesser felt honor bound: Ibid., 69.

  368 lawyer and a stenographer ready: Ibid., 70.

  368 prepared to pay $8 million: “F. P.-B. & K. Giant Merger,” Variety, July 15, 1925, 24.

  368 phone rang for Abe Gore: Oral History interview with Sol Lesser (1970), 70, CCOHA.

  368 his 45,000 shares: “Inside Stuff on Pictures,” Variety, July 15, 1925, 30.

  368 one-third ownership: William Fox interview with William Gray, June 15, 1932, Transcript, 9, US-MSS.

  368 $2.25 million . . . profit of nearly $1.6 million: “Inside Stuff on Pictures,” Variety, July 15, 1925, 30.

  368 seat on West Coast’s board of directors: “Fox Brings Large Sum to Company,” LAT, July 10, 1925, A1.

  368 “without doubt, the outstanding”: “Deal Is on for Sale of West Coast Theatres, Inc.,” MPN, July 11, 1925, 181.

  368 First National . . . panicked and rushed: “F. P.-B. & K. Giant Merger,” 24.

  369 “I sat with him in the taxi”: Oral History interview with Sol Lesser (1970), 70, CCOHA.

  369 Zukor . . . pulling the organization’s strings: “F. P.–B. & K. Giant Merger,” 24.

  369 about 59 percent of First National’s theaters: Ibid.

  369 “opposing each other is just a gag”: “Inside Stuff on Pictures,” Variety, July 22, 1925, 44.

  369 Zukor owned 40 percent . . . next-largest stockholder: “Digest of Gov’t’s Brief in Investigation By Trade Commission vs. Famous Players-Lasky,” Variety, Oct. 28, 1925, 26.

  369 double-crossed . . . refused to speak: “The Future of First National,” HR, Jan. 2, 1926, 1.

  369 “After the excitement . . . Well, how true!”: Oral History interview with Sol Lesser (1970), 70, CCOHA.

  369 voting trust . . . chaired by Ernest Richards: “West Coast Theatre Deal Completed,” MPN, July 25, 1925, 419.

  370 that arrangement was settled on July 7, 1925: “First National Gets Control of West Coast Theatres,” MPN, July 18, 1925, 283.

  370 sixty-nine theater . . . Balaban & Katz: “Examiner’s Report on Famous Given,” MPN, Oct. 23, 1926, 1573.

  370 owned the First National franchise for Illinois: “Balaban and Katz Buy Ascher Interests in First National,” Exhibitors Herald, Aug. 28, 1920, 39.

  370 negotiating a merger with FPL: “F. P.-B. & K. Giant Merger,” 24; “Paramount Negotiating with Balaban and Katz,” MPN, Aug. 1, 1925, 535.

  370 finalized in September 1925: “Famous Players–Balaban and Katz Theater Merger Biggest in World,” MPW, Sept. 26, 1925, 309.

  370 biggest theater merger in history: Ibid.

  370 led to the creation of . . . Publix Theaters: “Famous, B. & K. Launch Publix Chain,” MPN, Dec. 12, 1925, 2764.

  370 didn’t utter a word of protest: “F. P.–B. & K. Giant Merger,” 24.

  370 marginalized within West Coast: “Lesser Sells Out of West Coast for $1,000,000,” Variety, Feb. 24, 1926, 46.

  370 sold out—on terms much less attractive: Ibid.

  370 to a newly formed Wall Street syndicate: “West Coast Stock to Hoyt Syndicate,” MPN, Mar. 6, 1926, 1079.

  370 booked its movies into about 85 percent: “Fox in 85% of West Coast Houses in Cal.,” Variety, Sept. 2, 1925, 25.

  370 additional annual income of $800,000: “Inside Stuff on Pictures,” Variety, July 15, 1925, 30.

  370 new $1.5 million: “William Fox to Build New Academy of Music,” MPW, Sept. 5, 1925, 35.

  370 3,800-seat Academy of Music: “Fox’s New Academy,” Variety, Oct. 13, 1926, 22.

  370 sold to the Consolidated Gas Company: “Gas Company Buys Academy of Music,” NYT, Aug. 22, 1925, 6.

  371 In Washington, DC . . . 3,200-seat: F. W. Patterson, “New Fox Corporation to Have Theater Here,” WP, Nov. 5, 1925, 15.

  371 in the new National Press Club building: Ibid.

  371 nineteen-theater Ascher Brothers’ chain: “Fox Buys Interest in Ascher Circuit,” MPN, Jan. 2, 1926, 33.

  371 acquired in Boston . . . Los Angeles: “Fox Carrying Out Elaborate Expansion Plans,” MPN, Dec. 21, 1925, 2767.

  371 Mark Strand theater circuit: “Fox Reported Negotiating for Three Important Theatre Chains,” MPN, Aug. 8, 1925, 696.

  371 Whitehurst chain in Baltimore: “Inside Stuff on Pictures,” Variety, Dec. 16, 1925, 38.

  371 Jensen and Von Herberg: “Fox Reported Negotiating for Three Important Theatre Chains,” 696.

  371 Crandall circuit in Washington: Ibid.

  371 for $7 million . . . Stanley Company: “Fox Reported Seeking Control Of Stanley Company of America,” FD, Nov. 24, 1925, 1.

  371 ninety-theater Stanley: “90 in Chain,” FD, Nov. 24, 1925, 1.

  371 tried to buy Universal: “Warners’ or Fox’s U?” Variety, Nov. 11, 1925, 29.

  371 an interest in 162 theaters, outpacing: “Says 7 Major Units Buy Interest in 669 Theaters Since September, ’24,” FD, 1.

  371 profits more than doubled . . . $954,000: “Fox Earns $2,527,241,” FD, Feb. 8, 1926, 2.

  371 assets had grown to $26.7 million: Fox Film Corporation Annual Report, 1925, 2. Columbia University, Thomas J. Watson Library of Business and Economics.

  371 “more talk along Broadway”: William A. Johnston, “An Editor on Broadway,” MPN, Nov. 21, 1925, 2425.

  371 FPL had spent hundreds of thousands: “Says 7 Major Units Buy Interest in 669 Theaters Since September, ’24,” 2.

  372 thirty-one theaters: Dickerson, “Theatres, the Biggest Story of 1925,” 3131.

  372 took 300,000 Class A shares: Transcript, 100.

  372 25 percent of its $3: “Secret Stock Profit is Laid to Fox in Suit,” NYT, June 22, 1932, 31.

  372 his name on the kickback checks: Ibid.

  373 she ultimately received about $411,000: William A. Gray statement, SEPH, Part 3, at 980.

  373 either any salary or: Transcript, 352.

  373 discontinued his $200,000: Ibid., 353.

  373 charged no personal expenses: Ibid., 352–53.

  373 “paying for the privilege”: Ibid., 353.

  373 largest individual stock offering: “$12,000,000 Fox Theater Common Stock Offered,” CDT, Nov. 12, 1925, 29.

  374 advance demand more than doubled: “Fox Issue Ready,” FD, Nov. 13, 1925, 2.

  374 ninety-three theaters . . . First National theaters: “20,115 Theaters–F.P-L 368,” Variety, Oct. 13, 1926, 12.

  374 “adequate and fair” . . . “no matter how tempting”: “Fox Will Erect Big Theatres Wherever Poorly Represented,” MPW, Mar. 5, 1927, 11.

  374 “Fighting Bill Fox”: “Fighting Bill Fox,” FD, May 2, 1926, 4.

  CHAPTER 27: “THE WONDER-THING”

  375 “the wonder-thing”: “William Fox, Wonder Worker,” Exhibitor’s Bulletin undated (New York Sun morgue, NYPL).

  375 twenty-five staff directors: “Fox Films [sic] Corporation Looks Forward to Most Successful Season,” 2246.

  375 promise of great stories: Raoul Walsh to Miriam Cooper, Nov. 16, 1925, “Telegrams” folder, Miriam Cooper Papers, Manuscript Division, LOC.

  375 $6.6 million . . . $12 million: “Answer of William Fox to ‘Open Letter’ of Halsey, Stuart & Co. of March 24, 1930 and to Statement and Affidavit of Winfield R. Sheehan,” 30. HTC.

  375 until July 1, 1926: Kann, “Murnau,” FD, July 2, 1926, 1.

  376 record-setting, long-running: “Fox Presenting Six Big Stage Successes,” MPW, May 16, 1925, 332.

  376 copied the play slavishly: C. S. Sewell, review of Lightnin’, MPW, Aug. 1, 1925, 533.

  376 “crude and farfetched” clowning: George T. Pardy, review of Lightnin’, MPN, Aug. 1, 1925, 619.

  376 wins a high-stakes race and saves his mother:
C. S. Sewell review of Kentucky Pride, MPW, Aug. 29, 1925, 919.

  376 Man o’ War, in his feature film debut: “Man o’ War to Be Featured at Boulevard,” LAT, Oct. 18, 1925, 23.

  376 Morvich . . . 1922 Kentucky Derby: “Morvich Foaled In Napa,” LAT, May 17, 1922, III-3.

  376 undistinguished story about a prize-fighter: George T. Pardy, review of The Fighting Heart, MPN, Oct. 3, 1925, 1610.

  376 “tepid, draggy”: “Newspaper Opinions, Thank You,” FD, Nov. 6, 1925, 11.

  376 “silly, dull”: Ibid.

  376 paralyzed Irish immigrant jockey: The Shamrock Handicap review, FD, May 2, 1926, 6.

  376 “genius of John Ford”: Grace Kingsley, “Fox to Expand,” LAT, Oct. 21, 1925, A9.

  376 wide release on October 4, 1925: “Fox Announces Season’s Release Dates,” MPN, May 23, 1925, 2519.

  376 “Whatever success . . . William Fox”: “My Best Picture,” FD, June 7, 1925, 19.

  376 mid-1926: Released Aug. 28, 1926.

  376 cost $800,000: Johnston, “An Editor on Broadway,” MPN, Aug. 28, 1926, 741.

  376 eight months . . . 2,500 horses: Fox Film ad, 3 Bad Men, MPW, Jan. 9, 1926, 119.

  377 reproduction of . . . Custer: “Town Rebuilt in Middle of Western Desert,” LAT, Oct. 6, 1926, A9.

  377 “his best silent film”: Ford, Pappy, 39.

  378 spellbound audiences: “Straight from the Shoulder Reports,” MPW, Mar. 5, 1927, 60–61; “Straight from the Shoulder Reports,” MPW, May 2, 1927, 856; “Straight from the Shoulder Reports,” MPW, May 7, 1927, 70.

  378 “among the elect”: “Newspaper Opinions, 3 Bad Men,” MPN, Sept. 25, 1926, 1210.

  378 Fox paid $100,000: Walsh, Each Man in His Time, 186.

  378 Stallings . . . lost a leg: Ibid.

  378 best movie of 1925: Mordaunt Hall, “Ten Best Films of 1925 Helped by Late Influx,” NYT, Jan. 10, 1926, 213.

  379 more than seven months: “What Price Glory” review, NYT, Nov. 21, 1926, X7.

  379 following a relief map . . . town of Bouresches: “What Price Realism?” MPN, June 26, 1926, 2944.

  379 watched thousands of feet of film: Ibid.

  379 trench warfare . . . engagements: Ibid.

  379 “They came back once”: What Price Glory, YouTube video.

  379 Carthay Circle Theatre on November 19: “War Story Comes Up To Notices,” LAT, Nov. 21, 1926, C25.