The Man Who Made the Movies

by Vanda Krefft

  545 love and respect him: David A. Brown to the Justice of the District Court of the United States, Philadelphia, Apr. 9, 1941, 8, DABP.

  545 “the vitality and voice”: Transcript, 539.

  545 “the man who gave almost all”: Ibid.

  545 repeated the facts of Tauszig’s infidelity: “Tell of Woman Found in Room with Tauszig,” Nassau Daily Star, Oct. 8, 1929, 1.

  545 divorce on October 22, 1929: “Cut for Fox’s Daughter,” LAT, Oct. 23, 1929, 20.

  546 out as sales manager of Movietone News: “Grainger Makes Changes in Fox Sales Personnel,” FD, Oct. 3, 1929, 1.

  546 Schwartz was called in only: Milton J. Schwartz deposition, Fox Theatres Corporation v. Gottesman Enterprises, 5–6. “Fox Theatres Corporation vs. Gottesman,” FLC.

  546 signed them without knowing: Ibid.

  546 from 900,000 to 4.9 million: “Fox Vests Control of His Vast Holdings in Trustees’ Board,” NYT, Dec. 7, 1929, 16.

  546 from 3.9 million to 7.4 million: “Fox Will Broadcast On His Anniversary,” NYT, Oct. 12, 1929, 32.

  546 first step toward absorbing Loew’s: “Fox Vests Control of His Vast Holdings in Trustees’ Board,” 16.

  547 silver anniversary . . . June 1928: “The Manpower Behind Fox Films,” EH-MPW, June 2, 1928, 93.

  547 August 1928: Fox Film ad, EH–MPW, August 18, 1928, 5.

  547 December 1928: Fox Film ad, “Plain Talk About Talking Film,” LAT, Dec. 22, 1928, 5.

  547 January 1929: “Fox Fetes Silver Anniversary With Plans for 7 Huge Houses,” EH-W, Jan. 12, 1929, 33.

  547 in all the principal cities: David Stock statement, SEPH, Part 3, at 1099.

  547 had gone insane: Glendon Allvine, “Press Heard William Fox Was Insane,” Variety, Jan. 8, 1958, 38.

  547 issue a denial: Glendon Allvine, The Greatest Fox of Them All (New York: Lyle Stuart, Inc. 1969), 11.

  547 hold a press conference: Allvine, “Press Heard William Fox Was Insane,” 38.

  547 six limousines: Allvine, The Greatest Fox of Them All, 11.

  547 thirty reporters: Ibid., 9.

  547 Sun-tanned: “Fox Aims to Reform Education by Movies,” 1.

  547 Appearing relaxed and carefree: “Fox, Movie ‘Columbus’ Celebrates Oct. 12 As Own Start, Visions New Benefits in Films.”

  547 escorted the reporters on a tour: Gene Cohn, “Story of William Fox’s Fight Against Gods of Wall Street Is Real-life Movie Drama,” Niagara Falls Gazette, Jan. 30, 1930, 19.

  547 wicker chairs: “Fox, Movie ‘Columbus.’”

  547 boat landing: Allvine, “Press Heard William Fox,” 38.

  547 “Suddenly, out of a clear sky”: Cohn, “Story of William Fox’s Fight,” 19.

  547 “The past is behind me”: “Fox, Movie ‘Columbus’ Celebrates Oct. 12 As Own Start, Visions New Benefits in Films.”

  547 to spend one-quarter: Ibid.

  547 estimated $36 million personal fortune: Allvine, “Press Heard William Fox Was Insane,” 38.

  547 projector in every U.S. classroom . . . best teachers: “Fox Aims to Reform Education by Movies,” 1.

  547 because “every man, woman”: Ibid.

  548 film operations by top surgeons: Ibid.

  548 expression of gratitude: “Fox, Movie ‘Columbus’ Celebrates Oct. 12 As Own Start, Visions New Benefits in Films.”

  548 without making a profit: Fox Film ad, “Fox Silver Jubilee,” Nassau Daily Star, Oct. 16, 1929.

  548 first talking picture of an operation . . . cancer patient: “Fox Aims to Reform Education by Movies,” 1.

  548 shown . . . American College of Surgeons: “Fox, Movie ‘Columbus’ Celebrates Oct. 12 As Own Start, Visions New Benefits in Films.”

  548 reported glowingly on Fox’s plans: “New York Papers Praise Fox Move,” MPN, Oct. 19, 1929, 29.

  548 deliver a special message: Fox Silver Jubilee ad, Glen Cove Record, Oct. 10, 1929, 8; “Fox Will Broadcast On His Anniversary,” 32; Fox ad, New York Morning Telegraph, Oct. 11, 1929, 5.

  548 Lawrence Chamberlain . . . “My friends”: “The Story of Motion Pictures and the Fox Theatres Corporation,” brochure, 1. AMG, Box 158, Folder 4.

  548 as little as one share, fine: Ibid., 4.

  548 On their way out . . . market price: Ibid., 1 and 9.

  548 closed at 283/8: “Fox Will Broadcast On His Anniversary,” 32. Film Daily reported the closing price on Friday, Oct. 11, at 28¾ (“Financial,” FD, Oct. 13, 1929, 2).

  548 eight hundred of the U.S. movie theaters: “William Fox to Offer Stock via Movietone,” NEN, Oct. 12, 1929

  548 mayor Jimmy Walker . . . Academy of Music: “Walker Praises Fox,” NYT, Oct. 13, 1929, 27.

  549 “I have known William Fox personally”: Ibid.

  549 no dividend . . . volatile history: “Fox May Urge Theater Patrons to Buy Stock,” CDT, Oct. 13, 1929, B3.

  549 October 24, 1929, he returned . . . first time: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, June 8, 1932, US-MSS.

  CHAPTER 40: DISASTER: OCTOBER 1929

  550 “And then came this thunderbolt”: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3694.

  550 to introduce . . . Claudius H. Huston: “Curtis Comes Here for Huston Dinner,” NYT, Oct. 25, 1929, 20.

  550 Charles Curtis: Ibid.

  550 could push the Hoover administration: Transcript, 245.

  551 “sudden deluge”: “Financial Markets,” NYT, Oct. 24, 1929, 43.

  551 liquidate their accounts wholesale: “Demoralized Trading,” WSJ, Oct. 25, 1929, 1.

  551 more than 1.6 million shares: Ibid.

  551 “hysteria . . . without rhyme”: Ibid.

  551 tumbled 50 to 150 points: “Bankers Halt Stock Debacle,” WSJ, Oct. 25, 1929, 1.

  551 no one knew the correct prices: Ibid., 18.

  551 “avalanche of selling”: Ibid., 1.

  551 Thomas W. Lamont, senior partner of J. P. Morgan: “Financiers Ease Tension,” NYT, Oct. 25, 1929, 1.

  551 throw an estimated $1 billion: “Bankers Halt Stock Debacle,” 1.

  551 conditions were fundamentally sound: “Demoralized Trading,” 1.

  551 overall decline of only 6.38 points from the previous day: “Daily Closing Value of the Dow Jones Average,” at https://measuringworth.com/DJA/result.php.

  551 nearly 12.9 million shares: “Bankers Halt Stock Debacle,” 1.

  551 previous record of 8.2 million shares: “Demoralized Trading,” 1.

  551 “staggering, running into billions”: “Losses Recovered in Part,” NYT, Oct. 25, 1929, 1.

  551 worst day so far in stock market history: Ibid.

  551 merely a technical correction . . . Federal Reserve Board: “Bankers Halt Stock Debacle,” 18.

  552 “day of reckoning” . . . “water and hot air”: Ibid.

  552 avoided the grim subject: “Curtis Comes Here for Huston Dinner,” 20.

  552 secretary of commerce Robert P. Lamont: Transcript, 246.

  552 no relation to J. P. Morgan’s Thomas W. Lamont: William J. Barber, From New Era to New Deal: Herbert Hoover, the Economists, and American Economic Policy, 1921–1933 (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1988), 211.

  552 predicted big trouble: Transcript, 247.

  552 “no nation could continue”: Ibid.

  552 suffering from financial “cancer”: Ibid., 248.

  552 “he used the old Roosevelt”: Ibid., 248–49.

  552 “That man is either”: Ibid., 246.

  552 wasn’t sure, either: Ibid.

  552 “a picture so black”: Ibid., 247.

  552 October 25, 1929 . . . for the first time: William Fox, “An Open Letter to the Stockholders,” Jan. 18, 1930, 1, DABP.

  552 “The fundamental business”: “President Hoover Issues a Statement of Reassurance On Continued Prosperity of Fundamental Business,” NYT, Oct. 26, 1929, 1.

  552 5.9 million shares . . . narrow range: “Stocks Gain as Market Is Steadied; Bankers Pledge Continued Support; Hoover Says Business Basis Is Sou
nd,” NYT, Oct. 26, 1929, 1.

  553 got at least as much: Transcript, 249.

  553 another quiet, steady day: “Stocks Hold Firm In Normal Trading; Pool Still On Guard,” NYT, Oct. 27, 1929, 1.

  553 attended the Jewish Theatrical Guild’s: “Jessel Dinner Catches Wits and Laughs,” Variety, Oct. 30, 1929, 65.

  553 Cantor joked, “As for myself”: Ibid.

  553 disposed of all $20 million: Transcript, 247.

  553 personal non-Fox or non-Loew’s stock: Ibid., 247, 249.

  553 panic set in . . . falling prices: Galbraith, The Great Crash, 1929, 109–10.

  553 9.25 million shares . . . last hour: Ibid.

  553 day’s losses exceeded: Ibid., 109.

  553 no longer shore up falling prices: “Bankers Mobilize for Buying Today,” NYT, Oct. 29, 1929, 1.

  553 “The speculator’s only comfort”: Galbraith, The Great Crash 1929, 110.

  553 “violent succession of downward plunges”: “Financial Markets,” NYT, Oct. 30, 1929, 37.

  553 General Electric . . . as much as 70 points: Ibid.

  553 declined by $12–$15 billion: “Senator Tydings Lays Crash to Republicans,” NYT, Oct. 30, 1929, 4.

  553 Fox Hall boathouse: Transcript, 250.

  554 would have been bankrupt: Ibid., 247.

  554 no minimum margin required: Peter Rappoport and Eugene N. White, “Was the Crash of 1929 Expected?” The American Economic Review 84, no. 1 (Mar. 1994): 272.

  554 233,400 Loew’s shares: Transcript, 256.

  554 send a $250,000 check . . . “I had no sooner”: Ibid., 249–50.

  555 By noon . . . $4 million: Ibid., 250.

  555 233,400 Loew’s shares: Ibid., 256.

  555 called between 12:30 and 1:00 p.m.: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, June 8, 1932, 2, US-MSS.

  555 official quote of $40 per share: “Financial,” FD, Oct. 30, 1929, 2.

  555 bid price was $5 per share: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, June 8, 1932, 2. US-MSS.

  555 an average of $77 each: Fox said he paid $23 million for the additional 260,990 shares that he bought to make a total of 660,900 Loew’s shares.

  555 “And then came this thunderbolt”: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3694.

  555 “I called my secretary”: Transcript, 250.

  555 receiver off the hook: Ibid.

  555 fell asleep: Ibid.

  555 being called loudly: Ibid.

  555 “yelling for half an hour”: Ibid., 250–51.

  555 “see what we can do”: Ibid., 251.

  555 left Woodmere around 4 p.m.: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, June 8, 1932, US-MSS.

  555 “a perfectly simple matter”: Transcript, 251–52.

  555 suite at the Ambassador: Ibid., 251.

  556 $10 million . . . thirteen brokers: Ibid., 253, 255–56.

  556 Fox asked . . . Courtland Smith: Courtland Smith testimony, Blumenthal v. Greenfield transcript, Sept. 16, 1932, 139. 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.

  556 on a piece of paper . . . $100 million: Ibid.

  556 asked to borrow $3–$4 million: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3696.

  556 “He didn’t say”: Transcript, 252.

  556 Stuart was in Chicago: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3696.

  556 New York office manager: Transcript, 253.

  556 due to settle on November 1: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3696.

  556 single dollar to spare: Transcript, 253.

  556 AT&T . . . would rescue: Ibid.

  556 Smith brought John Otterson: Ibid., 379.

  556 listened “very attentively”: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3696.

  557 sent for Richard Hoyt: Transcript, 254.

  557 tall, thin, chain-smoking: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, June 6, 1932, US-MSS.

  557 at a dinner party: Transcript, 254.

  557 “didn’t seem to be worried”: Ibid.

  557 “to a stone wall”: Ibid., 255.

  557 “my left kidney”: Ibid.

  557 “I am glad to see” . . . “both your kidneys”: Ibid.

  557 “took his tall silk hat”: Ibid.

  557 about midnight: Ibid.

  557 while clerks tried to figure out: Ibid.

  557 calling the thirteen brokerage houses: Ibid., 255–56.

  557 wheel in his breakfast: Ibid., 256.

  557 food for three people: Ibid.

  557 “It was plain to see”: Ibid.

  557 twenty-four-hour moratorium: Ibid., 256–57.

  558 drop to $1: Ibid., 257.

  558 wouldn’t have sacrificed: Ibid.

  558 “waited for a reply”: Ibid.

  558 “What are you hesitating”: Ibid.

  558 AT&T was not willing: Ibid., 253.

  558 called Otterson back: Ibid., 254.

  558 more than $50 million: Ibid.

  558 for both the proposed: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3696.

  558 Five or ten minutes later: Ibid.

  558 answer was still no: Transcript, 254; William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3696.

  558 “So I said to myself” . . . “hundreds of places”: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3697.

  558 “calm, cool” . . . “perfect health”: Transcript, 251.

  558 “door-to-door canvass”: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3697.

  558 “The way to judge a general”: Transcript, 252.

  558 money to pay in full: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3697.

  558 Fox Theatres’ net earnings . . . for 1928: “Fox Securities’ Aims Outlined,” Wall Street News, Jan. 18, 1930.

  559 $12 million, compared to $8.6 million: William Fox to John D. Rockefeller Jr., Nov. 12, 1929, US-MSS.

  559 “most prosperous [time]”: “What Kind of Year Will ’30 Be?” MPN, Dec. 28, 1929, 9.

  559 Loew’s stock itself and real estate: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3698.

  559 “They listened attentively”: Ibid., 3697.

  559 four-month loan of $550,000: Transcript, 268.

  559 “a sort of miracle”: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3698.

  559 25,001 shares of First National: Ibid.

  559 Warners owned most . . . merge First National: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, July 13, 1932, 2, US-MSS.

  559 Fox had received 21,000 . . . 4,000-plus: Ibid., 1–2.

  559 Oklahoma City original franchise holder: “Fox Holds Key Position in First National Deal,” EDR, Oct. 10, 1928, 1.

  559 “ridiculous”: Transcript, 258

  559 $12.5 million: Ibid.

  560 $10 million from Bankers Securities: Ibid., 257.

  560 by midnight: Ibid., 258.

  560 up to $10 million: Ibid.

  560 $7.5 million in cash . . . $250,000: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3740.

  560 netting $9.5 million: Transcript, 261.

  560 value of $3.8 million: “Warner Bros. Buy Fox First National Stock,” CDT, Nov. 4, 1929, 32.

  560 considered it worthless: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3698.

  560 “from God Almighty”: Transcript, 259.

  560 “The Lord didn’t want”: Ibid.

  560 “great faith in God”: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3698.

  560 another twenty-four hour moratorium: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, June 8, 1932, 2, US-MSS.

  560 gave Fox the $10 million: Transcript, 259.

  560 only $3 million: Ibid.

  560 Before handing the money: Ibid., 260.

  560 $4.5 million: Ibid., 261.

  560 35 percent margin basis . . . end of 1929: Ibid., 260.

  560 highest margin percentage: Ibid.

  560 at $40 each: Ibid., 261.

  561 most of the $3 million: Ibid.

  561 from $40 to $30 each: Ibid.

  561 to get about $26 million:
Ibid., 266; Committee Exhibit No. 177, SEPH, Part 8, at 3738.

  561 “That was long enough” . . . “December 31, 1929”: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3699.

  561 “message of cheer”: Transcript, 265.

  561 “telling that to my friends”: Ibid.

  CHAPTER 41: SIEGE

  562 seemingly friendly . . . three days: Transcript, 516.

  562 shortly before November 15: Ibid., 266; William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3737.

  562 urgent matter was to raise the $26 million: Transcript, 266.

  562 until the Justice Department approved: Ibid.

  562 “We are no longer”: Ibid.

  562 “From time to time during my career”: Ibid., 266.

  562 without any particular spur . . . AT&T: “Stocks Break Again In New Rush to Sell; Steel at Year’s Low,” NYT, Nov. 12, 1929, 1.

  563 weak margin accounts . . . stabilized: Ibid.

  563 deep crisis of confidence: Ibid.

  563 More steep losses . . . Wednesday: Galbraith, The Great Crash 1929, 126.

  563 “Of all the days . . . dreariest”: Ibid.

  563 Investment trusts . . . hard hit: Ibid., 122–23.

  563 advice of John Otterson: Transcript, 274.

  563 In one day: Ibid.; William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3737.

  563 $85 million financing plan: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3737–40. Although Fox told Upton Sinclair that the Dillon, Read plan was for $75 million (Transcript, 274), Dillon, Read documents show a proposed offering of $60 million of three-year collateral trust notes and $25 million in convertible referred stock.

  563 “like Aladdin”: Transcript, 275.

  563 $500,000 loan to make a payment: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3740.

  563 had sold two more: Ibid.

  563 wanted all six notes: Ibid.

  563 “I left there”: Ibid., 276.

  563 Dillon laughed in Fox’s face: Ibid., 277.

  564 stall on the securities issue: Ibid., 276–77.

  564 several years, ever since they were both been duped: Transcript, 405.

  564 detect various flaws: “A Film Inspection Machine,” Motion Picture Projectionist, Oct. 1927, 46.

  564 had met to commiserate: Transcript, 406.

  564 “wildly enthusiastic”: Ibid.

  564 invest $10 million . . . banker friends: Ibid., 407.

  564 hear the other side of the story: Ibid.