The Man Who Made the Movies

by Vanda Krefft

  525 bribing . . . Martin T. Manton: Borkin, The Corrupt Judge, 42.

  526 not as profitable as it might be: Transcript, 664.

  526 in early April 1929: “Fox Buys Big Plot Near Roxy Theatre,” NYT, Apr. 11, 1929, 56.

  526 over lunch . . . build him an 8,000-seat theater: Transcript, 664–65.

  526 305-by-200-foot strip of land: “Fox Buys Big Plot Near Roxy Theatre,” 56.

  526 next to the Roxy Theatre: Transcript, 664.

  526 Sixth and Seventh Avenues and Fiftieth and Fifty-First Streets: “Fox Buys Big Plot Near Roxy Theatre,” 56.

  526 only available property . . . large enough: Transcript, 664.

  526 make millions, Rothafel said: Ibid., 665.

  526 By 3:00 p.m . . . . $3 million: Ibid.

  526 “poor stockholders”: Ibid.

  526 “servant girls, barbers”: Ibid., 663.

  526 bought $5 million in Roxy Theatre stock: Ibid.

  526 investment would be wiped out: Ibid., 665.

  526 joint enterprise . . . fully protected: Ibid.

  526 “Tell that bastard”: Glendon Allvine, The Greatest Fox of Them All (New York: Lyle Stuart, Inc. 1969), 114.

  526 seven years . . . rank of corporal: “Major Roxy, USMCR,” MPN, June 26, 1926, 2944.

  526 in 1925 . . . major in the Marine Reserve: “Roxy Joins ‘Captain Jinks’ For Two Weeks as Devil Dog,” Radio Digest, July 1, 1926, 13.

  526 an honorary major . . . world war: “John Zanft Dead; Movie Executive,” NYT, Nov. 20, 1960, 86.

  527 “Delivering this message . . . Zanft and Fox”: Allvine, The Greatest Fox of Them All, 114.

  527 took over Rothafel’s office: Ibid., 24.

  527 did not have clear titles . . . attachments: “Wm. Fox and Indies: May 1 Closing, Report,” Variety, Apr. 10, 1929, 28.

  527 auditors’ reports showed that owners had overstated: “No Hitch in Fox Deal for N.Y. Independents,” FD, Apr. 5, 1929, 1.

  527 taken title to and paid for only five: “New York Indie Owners Sue Fox To Complete Theatre Purchases,” Variety, Apr. 3, 1929, 14.

  527 unable to sign contracts . . . or to retrofit: Ibid.

  527 On April 1, 1929: “Sue Fox for Million,” New York Sun, Apr. 2, 1929.

  527 two theaters in Queens . . . breach of contract: “Sue Fox Alleging Conspiracy In Deal For Their Houses,” MPN, Apr. 6, 1929, 1026.

  527 Samuel Schwartz and Herbert Muller . . . ignore their sale: “Sue Fox for Million.”

  527 had never been serious . . . lost all interest: Ibid.; “Sue Fox Alleging Conspiracy In Deal For Their Houses,” 1026.

  528 “clambered over balconies”: “A Few Close-Ups,” FD, Apr. 7, 1929, 3.

  528 all the managers . . . reapply for their jobs: “Sweeping Changes in Met. Theatres Taken Over by Fox,” MPN, July 6, 1929, 62.

  528 substantial reduction . . . assigned to theaters other: Ibid.

  528 two partners from Dillon Read and Company: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3736.

  528 Loew’s stockholders . . . were planning to sue Fox: Transcript, 134–35.

  528 hold up the Fox-Loew’s merger: Ibid., 176.

  528 “That I had not anticipated”: Ibid.

  528 let Dillon, Read handle: Ibid., 134.

  528 agreed not to cause trouble: Ibid., 135.

  529 feared Fox was planning to develop: FCC-ERPI, Part II, 479.

  529 the following month Otterson: Transcript 125 and 242.

  529 How much did Fox . . . think about it: Ibid., 125.

  529 Leo had sat in . . . “violently objected”: Ibid.

  529 Leo’s reasoning . . . why was the telephone company: Ibid., 126.

  529 circumvent the flywheel: “WB-ERPI Settlement Forerunner to AT&T’s 100% Bow-Out from Pix?” Variety, June 26, 1934, 4.

  529 rejected Otterson’s $5 million: Transcript, 126.

  529 May 21, 1929 . . . uniform speed: American Tri-Ergon ad, MPH, Nov. 28, 1931, 41.

  530 “his relentless lust”: Allene Talmey, “William Fox: A Portrait,” Outlook and Independent, July 31, 1929, 544.

  530 “It is absurd”: Ibid., 556.

  530 “slashing master”: Ibid.

  530 “He is not making it easier”: Transcript, 33.

  CHAPTER 38: FATE

  531 “greatest pranks”: Transcript, 22.

  531 fifty-year-old actor: Meighan was born Apr. 9, 1879. “Thos. Meighan Dies at Home in Great Neck,” MPD, July 9, 1936, 1.

  531 and . . . Nicholas M. Schenck: “William Fox Hurt; Transfusion Given,” NYT, July 18, 1929, 1.

  531 secretary and treasurer of the Namquit Worsted Company: “Wm. Fox Injured, 1 Killed in Crash,” New York Post, July 17, 1929, 1.

  532 Rubinstein . . . owned 10,000 Class A: “Fox Theaters [sic] Receiver Asked by Stockholder,” New York Herald Tribune, May 22, 1932, 8.

  532 green Rolls-Royce: Charles F. Hynes, “Fox Injured in Auto Accident; Hurt Severe But Not Critical,” FD, July 18, 1929, 1.

  532 lonely, rural: Transcript, 146.

  532 “Fear?” . . . “this car is safe”: John Webb De Campi, Rolls-Royce in America (London: Dalton Watson, 1975).

  532 “I was dreaming”: Transcript, 145–146.

  532 Around 10:50 a.m.: “William Fox Hurt in Crash of Auto; Blood Transfused,” New York World, July 18, 1929.

  532 blinking traffic beacon: “Transfusion for Fox, Movie King, After Car Crash,” Nassau Daily News, July 18, 1929.

  532 small Chrysler sedan: “Fox Crash Probe By Grand Jury Begins Tuesday,” BDE, July 18, 1929, 3; “Exonerate Woman Auto Driver in Fox Motor Crash,” BDE, July 30, 1929, 7.

  532 thickly wooded: “William Fox Hurt; Transfusion Given,” 1.

  532 high-banked intersection: “Transfusion for Fox, Movie King, After Car Crash.”

  532 glancing blow: “William Fox Hurt; Transfusion Given,” 1.

  532 spun around 180 degrees: Ibid.

  532 left side in a ditch: Hynes, “Fox Injured in Auto Accident; Hurt Severe But Not Critical,” 6.

  532 Boyes was killed instantly: “Fox Crash Probe By Grand Jury Begins Tuesday,” 3.

  532 landed on top . . . skull: “William Fox Hurt; Transfusion Given,” 1.

  532 for his brother . . . day off: “X-Ray to be Used,” New York Graphic, July 18, 1929.

  532 Pitched forward: “Wm. Fox O.K.,” Weekly Variety, July 24, 1929, 4.

  532 shatterproof glass was not yet standard: Ibid.

  532 slashed Fox severely: Ibid.

  532 deep gash in his head: Transcript, 146.

  532 Covered in blood . . . was dead: Ibid.

  532 “I got up and shook”: Ibid.

  532 sprained knee, some bruises: “Transfusion Aids Wm. Fox, Hurt in Crash,” New York Herald-Tribune, July 18, 1929.

  532 About twenty feet: “William Fox Hurt; Transfusion Given,” 1.

  532 with hardly a scratch: “William Fox Severely Injured in Auto Crash; Condition is Not Alarming, Says Physician,” MPN, July 20, 1929, 276.

  532 None of its occupants: “Fox, Film Man, Hurt,” LAT, July 18, 1929, 1.

  532 thirty-six-year-old: “Wm. Fox Rallies After Blood Transfusion at the Hospital,” Nassau Daily Star, July 18, 1929, 1.

  532 Dorothy . . . Agatha . . . Mildred: “William Fox Hurt; Transfusion Given,” 1.

  532 nor the dog: Wm. Fox Rallies After Blood Transfusion at the Hospital,” 1.

  533 crying hysterically: “Fox, Noted Picture Man Hurt in Auto Crash—Chauffeur is Killed,” Far Rockaway Journal, July 19, 1929, 1.

  533 Glen Cove, Long Island: “Wm. Fox Rallies After Blood Transfusion at the Hospital,” 1.

  533 Reginald Moore, other motorists: “William Fox Hurt; Transfusion Given,” 1.

  533 jacked up the Rolls-Royce: Ibid.

  533 Moore drove Fox and Rubinstein: “Fox Crash Probe By Grand Jury Begins Tuesday,” 3.

  533 holding handkerchiefs: “William Fox Hurt; Transfusion Given,” 1.

  533 five-mi
le . . . Hospital: Ibid.

  533 Zukor . . . take her to the hospital: Transcript, 244.

  533 fractured his skull . . . hemorrhage: “William Fox Hurt; Transfusion Given,” 1.

  533 Chief attending physician: Ibid.

  533 “certain that he is badly hurt”: “William Fox Severely Injured in Auto Crash; Condition is Not Alarming, Says Physician,” 276.

  533 that Fox had died: “Fox Stocks Decline,” NYT, July 18, 1929, 14.

  533 fell from 923/8 to 87: Ibid.; “Industry Hails Fox’s Recovery from Injuries in Auto Crash,” EH-W, July 27, 1929, 22.

  533 had his bankers throw buy orders: “Fox Stocks Decline,” 14.

  533 88¼, off only 23/4 points: Ibid.

  533 slight abrasion of the scalp . . . two days: “Fox Injured in Auto Accident; Chauffeur Dead,” Fresno Bee, July 17, 1929, 1.

  533 “Mr. William Fox not seriously injured”: “Fox’s Injuries Slight, Grainger Wires Force,” FD, July 18, 1929.

  533 ready to leave . . . placate the doctors: “William Fox Hurt; Transfusion Given,” 14.

  534 conducting business . . . parade of visitors: “Transfusion Aids Wm. Fox, Hurt in Crash,”

  534 In midafternoon: “Wm. Fox O.K.,” 4.

  534 “Does a bricklayer get”: Ibid.

  534 into her car around 10:00 p.m.: “Fox Injured in Auto Accident; Hurt Severe But Not Critical,” 1.

  534 “suffered chiefly from shock”: “William Fox Hurt; Transfusion Given,” 1.

  534 pint of blood: Ibid.

  534 “unfavorable symptoms” . . . “safeguard” . . . “Mr. Fox laughed”: “William Fox Hurt; Transfusion Given,” 1.

  534 full of energy: “Fox May Undergo New Transfusion,” New York Post, July 18, 1929, 3.

  534 no evidence of a skull fracture or brain injury: “Transfusion Aids Wm. Fox, Hurt in Crash.”

  534 doctor suspected brain damage: Transcript, 245.

  534 Zukor . . . suggested . . . a brain specialist: Ibid.

  534 Eva . . . refused: Transcript, 245.

  534 suffered a severe heart attack: “Wm. Fox O.K.,” 4.

  534 no brain specialist: Transcript, 245.

  534 seventy-one-year-old: “Fox’s Father Injured in Ambulance Crash,” NYT, July 20, 1929, 15.

  534 just checked into the Rose Garden Hotel . . . Hospital: Ibid.

  535 sideswiped by a truck: Ibid.

  535 not allow her husband to hear about: “Fox Kept in Dark on Father’s Injuries,” NYT, July 21, 1929, 28.

  535 Kane, said yes: “Clears Girl in Fox Crash,” NYT, July 31, 1929, 24; “Fox Crash Probe By Grand Jury Begins Tuesday,” 3.

  535 expired sixteen days before: “Exonerate Woman Auto Driver in Fox Motor Crash,” 7.

  535 requiring driver’s licenses until 1924: “Evolution of the New York Driver’s License,” NYT, Mar. 16, 2013.

  535 driving for fourteen years: “Coroner Clears Dorothy Kane,” New York Sun, July 30, 1929.

  535 didn’t pay strict attention: “Wm. Fox O.K.,” 4.

  535 only a suspended sentence: “Clears Girl in Fox Crash,” 24.

  535 completely unavoidable: “Fox Crash Accidental,” Variety, July 31, 1929, 6.

  535 sisters Tina and Bessie: “Fox Improves; Callers Barred,” BDE, July 19, 1929, 13.

  535 high-ranking Fox employees: “Wm. Fox O.K.,” 4.

  535 policeman was stationed: “Fox Has Restful Night at Hospital,” New York Sun, July 19, 1929; “Fox Improves; Callers Barred,” 13.

  535 “icicle tactician”: Allene Talmey, “William Fox: A Portrait,” Outlook and Independent, July 31, 1929, 542.

  535 visited every day: Transcript, 245.

  535 discharged on Saturday, July 27: “Fox Leaves Hospital,” NYT, July 28, 1929, 24.

  535 “I never again heard”: Transcript, 245.

  536 with Eva and her brother Jack: “Fox-Cove Owner Rewards Moore,” Glen Cove Record, Aug. 1, 1929, 1.

  536 After thanking the staff . . . Naish: Ibid.

  536 donated blood for his transfusion: “Fox, Film Man, Hurt,” 1.

  536 receive a Fox Film contract: Harry N. Blair, “Short Shots from New York Studios,” FD, Nov. 25, 1929, 3.

  536 only a piece of court plaster: “Fox-Cove Owner Rewards Moore,” 1.

  536 He was fully recovered: “Fox Leaves Hospital,” 24.

  CHAPTER 39: RECOVERY

  537 “to the future I look”: “Fox, Movie ‘Columbus,’ Celebrates Oct. 12 As Own Start, Visions New Benefits in Films,” New York Daily Investment News, Oct. 14, 1929.

  537 “I was wrecked”: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3670.

  537 three months before . . . office in New York: Ibid., 3671.

  537 boathouse overlooking Woodmere Bay: Transcript, 250.

  537 on August 12, 1929 . . . seventeenth hole: “Fox, Out of Hospital, Shoots Hole in One,” Daily Boston Globe, Aug. 13, 1929, 22.

  537 $700,000 . . . Roxy: Erich Fritsch, “William Fox, Romantic of Film Business, Soon to Pay Texas Theaters First Visit,” Dallas Morning News, Nov. 24, 1929, 3.

  538 deciding to release silent versions: Louella O. Parsons, “Fox Is Making Silent Versions of Big Talkies,” Tampa Morning Tribune, July 29, 1929, 14.

  538 only about 40 percent . . . installed sound equipment: Ibid.

  538 three-dimensional effect didn’t work: “First Wide Film Publicly Shown,” MPN, Sept. 21, 1929, 1048-g.

  538 Movietone Follies of 1929, was stale: Ibid.

  538 three installed . . . $150,000, plus $5,000: “Wide Film Conferences,” Variety, Sept. 18, 1929, 12.

  538 prototypes . . . broken up and cast in molds: “Revolutionary but Year Away,” unidentified publication, undated. William Fox clipping file, FSC.

  538 marketing at least a year away: Ibid.

  538 had previously been shown to the press: “Wide Film Conferences,” 12.

  538 never before had it and sound: Mordaunt Hall, “Grandeur Films Thrill Audience,” NYT, Sept. 18, 1929, 34.

  538 filled the proscenium arch: Ibid.

  538 bursts of excited applause: Ibid.

  539 “rushing waters” . . . duck farm: Ibid.

  539 sold out every performance: “Revolutionary but Year Away.”

  539 “perfection”: Ibid.

  539 “truly marvelous new cinematic idea”: Hall, “Grandeur Films Thrill Audience,” 34.

  539 war with Paramount’s Publix theater chain to dominate: “Big Companies to Confine Product To Own Houses Is Trend Of Business,” MPN, Sept. 14, 1929, 977.

  539 derived about 85 percent of their revenue: “Line-Up In 2 Circuits,” MPN, Sept. 14. 1929, 977.

  539 From June 1 . . . 110 points: Jonn Kenneth Galbraith, The Great Crash 1929 (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1997), 66.

  539 fifteen theaters throughout Arizona: “Publix and Fox in Lively Scramble For New Holdings,” MPN, Aug. 31, 1929, 784.

  540 buy into UFA’s theater circuit . . . Central Europe: “London Hears Fox Is Reaching For European Cinema Chains; Also Key to Patent Parley,” Variety, Aug. 14, 1929, 2.

  540 “I couldn’t rely” . . . “on my shoulders”: Transcript, 239.

  540 on August 1, 1929: FCC-ERPI, Part II, 480.

  540 AT&T, had received a letter . . . flywheel patent: Transcript, 130, 243.

  540 Fox denied knowing anything: Ibid., 130.

  540 he should have every right to complain: Ibid.

  540 Four months earlier . . . $5 million: Ibid., 128.

  540 agreed to pay the $10 million: Ibid., 130.

  540 current pricetag was $25 million: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, Aug. 16, 1932, US-MSS.

  541 On July 20, 1929 . . . validity of the Tri-Ergon patents: “Berlin Film Notes,” NYT, Sept. 8, 1929, X5.

  541 monopoly there, with implied patent rights: Ibid.

  541 no higher court of appeal: Ibid.

  541 create a patents company . . . go into film production: Transcript, 244.

  541 The following day: FCC-E
RPI, Part II, 480.

  541 “[W]on’t you please consider”: FCC-ERPI, Part II, 481.

  542 “Impression created”: Ibid., 480.

  542 “friendly, cooperative”: Ibid.

  542 on August 27, 1929 . . . “If UFA opens”: N. R. Danielian, AT&T: The Story of Industrial Conquest (New York: Vanguard Press, 1939), 157.

  542 enter the home talking pictures equipment: “Fox’s Home Talkers Startle Electrics,” Variety, Oct. 16, 1929, 9.

  542 selling 16mm projectors . . . film rental libraries: “Fox Aims to Reform Education by Movies,” NYT, Oct. 14, 1929, 1.

  542 AT&T had given it exclusive rights: “Fox’s Home Talkers Startle Electrics,” 9.

  543 “a token of his esteem”: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, July 13, 1932, 3, US-MSS.

  543 “very friendly”: Transcript, 265.

  543 until September 1, 1930 to pay: William Fox to Halsey, Stuart & Co., Aug. 30, 1929, US-MSS.

  543 For some time . . . investment trust: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, July 13, 1932, 4, US-MSS; Transcript, 265.

  543 tried to ignore him: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, July 13, 1932, 5, US-MSS.

  543 Fox wanted his bankers: Ibid., 4.

  543 their friendship ended permanently: Ibid., 3

  543 Corporation Securities Company: Ibid., 5.

  543 financially unstable Insull utility stocks: Ibid.

  543 letter inviting him to buy: Ibid., 7–8.

  544 run entirely . . . “merest chance”: Ibid.

  544 early August 1929, his Grandeur, Inc. partner: Transcript, 172; Harley L. Clarke testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3761.

  544 offered to buy Fox’s voting shares . . . wanted to help: Transcript, 172–73.

  544 told him next to nothing . . . the books: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3685.

  544 $160,000 a year, guaranteed for five years: Transcript, 422.

  544 “he was not requesting”: Ibid.

  544 “could not afford to have Rogers”: Ibid.

  544 a “hold-up”: Ibid., 425.

  544 forty-eight-year-old: Sheehan was born on Sept. 24, 1881, U.S. passport application. www.ancestry.com.

  545 Sheehan had invented . . . recent movies: “Winnie Sheehan, Hollywood Dynamo, Ex-World Reporter,” Evening World, Oct. 5, 1929

  545 “a supervisor of supervisors”: Ibid.

  545 That same month . . . liver trouble: “Answer to Sheehan Affidavit,” in “Answer of William Fox to ‘Open Letter’ of Halsey, Stuart & Co. of Mar. 24, 1930 and to Statement and Affidavit of Winfield R. Sheehan,” 19, HTC.