The Man Who Made the Movies
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397 unlike Warner Bros.: Gomery, “The Coming of Sound” (diss.), 84.
397 would then split: FCC-ERPI, Part II, 207.
397 concentrate on the motion picture business: Sponable, “Historical Development of Sound Films” (May 1947): 409.
397 with Otterson as general manager: Gomery, “The Coming of Sound” (diss.), 158.
397 have Fox take over . . . sound-on-disk: Transcript, 109.
397 “[I]t was not an easy matter”: Ibid., 112.
397 sixteen days after: Sponable, “Historical Development of Sound Films” (May 1947): 408.
397 demonstration to the press: Mordaunt Hall, “Movietone Shown in the Fox Studio,” NYT, Jan. 6, 1927, 27.
397 screening of What Price Glory: Swensen, “The Entrepreneur’s Role in Introducing the Sound Motion Picture,” 414.
398 unadvertised beforehand: Sponable, “Historical Development of Sound Films” (May 1947): 408.
398 hissing sounds . . . imprecise synchronization: Hall, “Movietone Shown in the Fox Studio,” 27.
398 response was ho-hum: Sponable, “Historical Development of Sound Films” (May 1947): 408.
398 gave away four weeks’ . . . customers: Transcript, 111.
398 main part . . . amplifiers and loudspeakers: “How Movietone Films are Produced,” MPN, Apr. 1, 1927, 1164.
398 common to both Vitaphone and Movietone: James R. Cameron, Talking Movies (New York City: Cameron Publishing Co., Inc., 1927), 72.
398 required that an optical sound reader be added: “Fox-Case Movietone Is Ready for Market,” MPN, Mar. 11, 1927, 862; “Fox Film Corp. Will Develop Movietone,” WSJ, Jan. 8, 1927, 3.
398 all the exhibitors signed: Transcript, 111.
398 more than any other newsreel service: Ibid., 112.
398 buy back the Vitaphone contract: Ibid., 113.
398 try to buy Warner Bros.: Ibid., 112.
398 no more than $4.5 million: Ibid., 113.
398 “take over the entire company”: Ibid.
398 $3 million in debts: Ibid.
398 “He said to divide”: Ibid.
398 “perfectly willing” to accept $6.5 million: Ibid.
398 net income in 1926 of $155 million: “AT&T Reaffirms Policy of Service,” NYT, Mar. 3, 1928, 24.
398 “It was a great mistake”: Transcript, 114.
398 handed him a typed piece of paper demanding termination: John Otterson deposition, Nov. 10, 1932, 3. Stanley Company of America v. AT&T, et al., WBA.
399 threatened to announce publicly: Waddill Catchings’s statement in Edgar S. Bloom deposition, Nov. 11, 1932, 2, Stanley Company of America v. AT&T, et al., WBA.
399 Warners claimed . . . sales leads: Gomery, “The Coming of Sound” (diss.), 167–69.
399 stalled on equipment delivery: “Untermyer Warners’ Atty. In W. E. Arbitration,” Variety, Apr. 25, 1928, 20.
399 “it would be impossible”: Waddill Catchings’s statement, quoted in Edgar S. Bloom deposition, Nov. 11, 1932, 2, Stanley Company of America v. AT&T, et al., WBA.
399 “intimidated, terrorized and coerced”: Bill of Complaint, 7, Stanley Company of America, Inc. v. AT&T, et al., WBA.
399 May 18, 1927 . . . April 2, 1927: Ibid.
399 ERPI . . . full control: “Warner Bros. History,” 21, WBA.
399 unconscionably and illegally: Complaint, William Fox Isis vs. AT&T. NARA-NYC
399 uncommitted major companies—Paramount: “Talking Film Pool Nears Agreement,” MPN, Apr. 15, 1927, 1355.
399 one-year moratorium: FCC-ERPI, Part II, 174.
CHAPTER 29: ALL FOR FOX FILMS
400 “Fox Films for all”: Fox Folks, Sept. 1925, masthead. MHL.
400 died of unknown causes: Adolph Livingston death certificate 21004, New York City Municipal Archives.
400 William Fox Jerome Schwartz: “Fox Again a Grandfather,” MPW, May 2, 1925, 33.
400 only ten months old: Ibid.; Alfred M. Greenfield to William Fox, Feb. 13, 1926, AMG; Angela Fox Dunn interview with the author.
401 director of the psychiatric department: “Dr. Menas Gregory Dies on Golf Links,” NYT, Nov. 3, 1941, 19.
401 educated at Albany Medical College: Ibid.
401 remediable nervous responses to . . . modern life: Ibid.
401 “I will see that it is done”: Transcript, 185.
401 served as national counsel: “Double-Crossed,” Wid’s Daily, June 3, 1921, 1.
401 offered to finance . . . $500,000: Transcript, 185.
401 one favor . . . visit to Bellevue’s: Ibid., 185.
401 “He told me to make”: Transcript, 185.
401 early evening of February 24, 1926, Walker, Fox . . . ten minutes: “Walker Visits Bellevue,” NYT, Feb. 25, 1926, 2.
401 fifty inmates . . . “the most terrible sight”: Transcript, 186.
401 weren’t enough beds . . . normal tub: Ibid.
401 “the most dilapidated, unsanitary”: “New City Hospital Started by Mayor,” NYT, June 19, 1930, 23.
401 “the most terrible calumny”: Ibid.
401 Walker assured Fox: Transcript, 186.
402 $4.3 million . . . eight-story building open: “A Bellevue Unit Formally Opened,” NYT, Nov. 3, 1933, 20.
402 benefit the seven million: “Jews’ Campaign Nets $2,000,000 On Opening Day,” NYTR, Apr. 24, 1926.
402 By February 12, Fox had accepted: Felix Warburg to Joseph F. Frankel, Feb. 15, 1926, FMWP.
402 After insisting . . . $6 million: David A. Brown to the Justice of the District Court of the United States, Philadelphia, Apr. 9, 1941, 8, DABP.
402 delayed a trip . . . personal visits: William Fox to Felix Warburg, Mar. 30, 1926. FMWP.
402 ranked third nationwide . . . Warburg: “Jewry’s Great Peace Army Will Rally at Chicago,” United Jewish Campaign News, Oct. 1926. FMWP.
402 Adolph Zukor gave only $3,000: “Rockefeller Sends $100,000,” NYT, 16.
402 “who is not afraid of me”: William Fox to Herbert Brenon, Nov. 9, 1915, 1, Fox Film v. Herbert Brenon, et al. Supreme Court, New York County, Case 29168, 1916.
403 Around the time of the West Coast Theaters negotiations: Transcript, 215, 220.
403 wiped him out . . . had to leave Los Angeles: Ibid., 215–16.
403 Mutual friends had warned Fox: Ibid., 213.
403 “in my own mind”: Ibid., 215.
403 Fox provided the $50,000: Ibid., 216.
403 on November 27, 1925: “New York Charters,” NYT, Nov. 28, 1925, 24.
403 Blumenthal would handle all . . . fifty-fifty: Transcript, 216.
403 He invited Blumenthal . . . for meals: Ibid., 217.
403 began to address Eva as “Mother”: Ibid.
403 “He was no longer . . . Fox was behind”: Ibid.
404 always “in and out”: Courtland Smith testimony, Blumenthal v. Greenfield, Sept. 16, 1932, 142. Alfred C. Blumenthal vs. Albert M. Greenfield, et al., in the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. NARA-PHL.
404 $6.5 million: “Fox Insured for $6,500,000,” FD, June 17, 1925, 1; Marion T. Byrnes, “William Fox Gives His Reasons for Buying $6,500,000 Worth of Insurance,” BDE, July 26, 1925.
404 Wanamaker, who had $7 million in insurance: “W. C. [sic] Fox Insured for $6,000,000, Bulk of Which is for Film Firm,” New York World, July 9, 1926.
404 “I can at least”: William Fox . . . Theatrical Magnate,” Associated Press Sketch 1684. BPL-BC, Brooklyn Daily Eagle morgue, “Fox, William (Movie Pictures Biogs.)” file (also in Newark Evening News morgue, Newark Public Library).
404 long table: O. O. McIntyre, “From the East Side Gutters to the Purple Heights,” Atlanta Constitution, Oct. 23, 1921, F6.
404 “Westminster Abbey,” . . . “as cozy”: Byrnes, “William Fox Gives His Reasons for Buying $6,500,000 Worth of Insurance.”
404 “real, real rich kind of living”: Mary Ford interview, 21, JFP.
404 Adolph Zukor’s eight-hundred-acre: ht
tp://www.paramountcountryclub.com/clubhistory. Zukor’s Mountain View Farm is now the Paramount Country Club, which has no affiliation with Paramount Pictures.
404 Mountain View Farm in Rockland County: “F.P.-L Pays Off $6,000,000,” Variety, Oct. 29, 1924, 26.
404 eighteen-hole . . . designed by A. W. Tillinghast: http://www.paramountcountryclub.com/clubhistory.
405 “on horseback parading”: “All Hail the King!” HR, Sept. 25, 1926, 153.
405 “could walk down the streets”: David A. Brown to the Justice of the District Court of the United States, Philadelphia, Apr. 9, 1941, 11, DABP.
CHAPTER 30: THE ROXY
406 evening of Friday, March 25, 1927: “William Fox Buys Roxy Theater,” New York Sun, Mar. 26, 1927, 3.
406 $10 million: “New Roxy Theatre Purchased By Fox,” NYT, Mar. 26, 1927, 1; “New Roxy Theatre Will Open Tonight,” NYT, Mar. 11, 1927, 24.
406 5,920-seat: Bill Savoy, who had architectural plans for the Roxy, says that 6,214 was the original seat count, but that the plans were revised. As publicity had already gone out, Roxy promoters still gave the figure above 6,000, and rationalized that there were that many seats if you counted furniture in lounges and public spaces. Bill Savoy e-mail to author, Dec. 8, 2013.
406 gold domed . . . green marble columns: Thomas C. Kennedy, “Seeing ‘The Roxy,’ With Roxy,” MPN, Feb. 4, 1927, 379.
406 two-ton, crimson-and-gold: “Two-Ton Rug for Roxy Theatre,” NYT, Mar. 10, 1927, 23.
406 oval chenille: “2 Ton Rug,” FD, Mar. 4, 1927, 1–2.
406 Heywood-Wakefield red mohair upholstered: Heywood-Wakefield ad, MPN, Apr. 1, 1927, 1138.
406 125 blue-uniformed ushers: “Traffic Jammed by Roxy Opening,” New York World, Mar. 12, 1927, 1.
406 send 125 police officers: “Crowd Outside Theatre,” NYT, Mar. 12, 1927, 12.
406 throne-like chair at the head: George Gerhard, “William Fox, Owning Largest Theatre Here, Began with Smallest,” Evening World, Mar. 28, 1927.
406 “visibly pleased”: “Fox Buys Roxy Theater and Chain in $15,000,000 Deal,” New York Herald-Tribune, Mar. 26, 1927, 1.
406 “We were determined to have”: Ibid.
406 vigorously denied the rumors: “Roxy Theatre Added to Fox Chain,” MPN, Apr. 8, 1927, 1254.
407 “Many millions”: “New Roxy Theatre Purchased By Fox,” 1.
407 “Yes, you can say”: Ibid.
407 given as $10 million: Ibid.
407 two planned four thousand-seat theaters in Manhattan: “Fox Buys Roxy Theater and Chain in $15,000,000 Deal,” 1.
407 Ground was now . . . Fifty-Ninth Streets: “New Roxy Theatre Purchased By Fox,” 1.
407 Roxy’s Midway at Seventy-Fifth and Broadway: William Fox to Albert M. Greenfield, Mar. 26, 1927, AMG.
407 Other Roxy theaters . . . Washington, DC: “Fox Buys Roxy Theater and Chain in $15,000,000 Deal,” 1.
407 expand the chain internationally: Ibid.
407 “The deal puts Fox”: “Fox Buys the ‘Roxy’ ; Rothafel to Manage,” New York Mirror, Mar. 26, 1927, 3.
407 “I have no vanity”: “Fox Buys Roxy Theater and Chain in $15,000,000 Deal,” 1.
407 overdue business necessity . . . national publicity: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, July 13, 1932, 6, US-MSS.
407 “a man in evening clothes”: “Another Movie Miracle,” NYT, Apr. 3, 1927, X7.
408 controlled the Rialto and the Rivoli: “New Roxy Theatre Purchased By Fox,” 1.
408 November 19, 1926 . . . 3,664-seat Paramount Theatre: Ross Melnick, American Showman (New York: Columbia University Press, 2012), 264.
408 First National . . . Warners’ Theatre: “New Roxy Theatre Purchased By Fox,” 1.
408 losing as much as $250,000: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, July 13, 1932, 6, US-MSS.
408 work harder to make more great movies: “Another Movie Miracle,” X7.
408 Rather than being square . . . center of the stage: C. S. Sewell, “Roxy Shows the Roxy to the Press,” MPW, Mar. 5, 1927, 17.
408 eliminated lateral sound pockets: Ibid.
408 giant megaphone: Kennedy, “Seeing ‘The Roxy’ With Roxy,” 379.
408 “No producer in five years”: “Another Movie Miracle,” X7.
408 Waiting for their caddies . . . “startle a stranger”: Ibid.
409 entire city block . . . Fifty-First Streets: Ibid.
409 owned by the Metropolitan Street Railway . . . “car barn”: “Fox Bids on New York Car Barn,” Hartford Courant, Dec. 23, 1923, 4C.
409 $5 million, and he wanted Kempner: “Another Movie Miracle,” X7.
409 get expert appraisals: Ibid.
409 considerably lower than $5 million: Ibid.
409 made a conservative, unsuccessful bid: “Fox Bids on New York Car Barn,” 4C.
409 news was announced . . . $1.9 million: “Roxy of the Radio to Have Own Movie Theatre With Seats for 6,000 at 7th Av. and 50th St.,” NYT, June 3, 1925, 1.
409 world’s largest movie theater, with 5,300 seats: “Capitol Theatre to Open,” NYT, Aug. 28, 1919, 8.
409 Even when the movies . . . were terrible: Helen Klumph, “Rothapfel Will Open New House,” LAT, June 7, 1925, 17.
409 “never again shall anyone”: “Another Movie Miracle,” X7.
409 escalated to $8 million: “Roxy Ready Oct. ’26,” FD, Oct. 8, 1925, 1.
409 difficult time finding bankers: Benjamin B. Hampton, A History of the Movies (New York: Covici Friede Publishers, 1931), 329.
409 underwrote realty bonds: Ibid.
409 sponsored a public stock offering: “Theatre Stock Offered,” NYT, Nov. 13, 1925, 30.
410 responsibility for cost overruns: Hampton, A History of the Movies, 332.
410 “the opinion was practically unanimous”: William A. Johnston, “The Spirit of the Motion Picture,” MPN, Oct. 7, 1927, 1045.
410 prices that were too high: Hampton, A History of the Movies, 332–33.
410 nearly every day: Ibid., 333.
410 Fox accompanied Blumenthal . . . walked about quietly: Ibid., 333–34.
410 “small man in shirt sleeves”: Ibid., 334.
410 “a fragile little cuss”: James R. Quirk, “Close-Ups and Long-Shots,” Photoplay, May 1927, 78.
410 $2 million in cost overruns: “Roxy Financing Planned,” NYT, July 24, 1927, E24.
410 bankers would foreclose: Hampton, A History of the Movies, 332.
410 profit of more than $3 million: Ibid., 334.
410 “the greatest genius”: “Another Movie Miracle,” X7.
410 “advice, counsel” . . . “I am very happy”: “Fox Buys Roxy Theater and Chain in $15,000,000 Deal,” 1.
410 “an ideal one”: “New Roxy Theatre Purchased By Fox,” 1.
402 bought a controlling share . . . Roxy Circuit, Inc.: “Fox Buys the ‘Roxy’; Rothafel to Manage,” 3.
410 holding company . . . more than half the stock: “Bank Sues Fox For $1,000,000 On Lubin Deal,” New York Herald-Tribune, July 31, 1932.
411 price . . . $4.5 million: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, July 13, 1932, 6, US-MSS.
411 ending in March 1932: “Receivers Named for Fox Theaters [sic],” WP, June 23, 1932, 15.
411 Fox personally to guarantee the last $1 million: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, July 13, 1932, 6–7, US-MSS.
411 at least $80,000: “Pictures and People,” MPN, Nov. 4, 1927, 1391.
411 had a long-term contract: “World’s Biggest House Planned for Roxy in New York,” MPN, June 13, 1925, 2907.
411 “Not only did he play”: Transcript, 661.
411 self-pitying “sob sister”: Allene Talmey, Doug and Mary and Others (New York: Macy-Masius, 1927), 173.
411 “pail of tears”: Ibid., 176.
411 “man without intimates”: Ibid., 178.
412 known him since around 1912: Ross Melnick, “Station R-O-X-Y: Roxy and the Radio,” Film History 17, no. 2/3 (2005): 227.
412 “The owners of
the Rivoli Theater”: Transcript, 662.
412 Thus arose the Capitol Theatre: Ibid.
412 Rothafel began showing . . . met Lubin: Ibid.
412 “I want you all” . . . “our own big theatre”: Roxy Theatres Corporation ad, NYT, Nov. 12, 1925, 23.
412 “From now on, Roxy”: Transcript, 662.
412 “The fact of the matter was”: Ibid., 662–63.
412 no wealthy, knowledgeable investors: Ibid., 663.
412 “The funds of servant girls”: Ibid.
413 more than thirteen thousand: Ibid.
413 “After the Fox enterprises had acquired”: Ibid., 664.
413 “Pitting unusual ideas”: Bernard Edelhertz, “The Soul of a Master Showman,” American Hebrew, Mar. 18, 1927, 642.
413 first six months . . . $105,000: Johnston, “The Spirit of the Motion Picture,” 1045.
413 “world’s most successful theatre enterprise”: Ibid.
413 “Well, what does”: “Fox Buys Roxy Theater and Chain in $15,000,000 Deal,” 1.
CHAPTER 31: SUNRISE (1927)
414 begin in February 1926: “Fox in Buffalo,” FD, Oct. 26, 1925, 1.
414 “a man who can accomplish”: “Leaders Welcome Murnau to America,” MPN, July 17, 1926, 209.
414 six foot four: “Fox Company Expanding By Leaps and Bounds,” NEN, Feb. 23, 1928.
414 reddish-blond hair: Fox Film Sunrise press release, Oct. 1927, JSP.
414 “pose of a grand seigneur”: Salka Viertel, The Kindness of Strangers (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969), 116.
415 in the Prussian Guards: “Mr. Murnau, the Screen Artist,” NYT, Oct. 16, 1927, X7.
415 Art was international: “Murnau Insists Camera Angles Shall Be ‘Dramatic,’ If Anything,” MPW, Apr. 2, 1927, 490.
415 “practical, as well as inspirational”: F. W. Murnau, “Real ‘Motion’ Pictures,” June 7, 1925, 21.
415 “A director should not work” . . . “outside minds”: Ibid.
415 “aims to turn a man’s mind”: “Murnau to Produce for Fox Film Corp.,” MPW, Jan. 2, 1926, 69.
415 “Murnau will do nothing spectacular”: Ibid.
415 “essential differences” . . . “American viewpoint”: Murnau, “Real ‘Motion’ Pictures,” 21.
415 movie might take a year . . . retakes: Ibid.
416 “When I read this book”: F. W. Murnau to W. R. Sheehan, Nov. 16, 1925, 1, JFP.