The Man Who Made the Movies

by Vanda Krefft

  579 December 17, 1929, six members: “Charges Fox Threatened Receivership If Bancamerica Plan Was Not Adopted,” MPN, Mar. 29, 1930, 43.

  579 “round robin letter”: Transcript, 321.

  579 instigated by Sheehan: “Affidavit of Winfield R. Sheehan,” Winfield R. Sheehan v. Fox Film Corporation, et al., Mar. 18, 1930. Attached to Halsey, Stuart to the stockholders, Fox Film Corporation and Fox Theatres Corporation, Mar. 24, 1930, 34, HTC.

  579 “highly immoral” . . . “nothing short of disaster”: “Affidavit of Winfield R. Sheehan,” Winfield R. Sheehan v. Fox Film Corporation, et al., Mar. 18, 1930, attached to Halsey, Stuart to the stockholders, Fox Film Cororation and Fox Theatres Corporation, Mar. 24, 1930, 36, HTC.

  579 Rogers . . . Courtland Smith: Ibid., 37.

  580 December 23 . . . disloyalty: “Charges Fox Threatened Receivership If Bancamerica Plan Was Not Adopted,” 43.

  580 “frank and honest conviction” . . . Fox himself: Ibid.

  580 “Mr. Fox thereupon”: Ibid.

  580 convoluted explanation . . . useful to Fox: Transcript, 321.

  580 “That reasoning sounded”: Ibid.

  580 “So I overlooked it”: Ibid.

  580 “I am not going to cry and weep”: Ibid., 697.

  580 “a complete and stony silence”: “Trustees Maintain Complete Silence,” MPN, Dec. 14, 1929, 15.

  580 whispering campaign: William Fox, “An Open Letter to the Stockholders,” Jan. 18, 1930, 2, DABP.

  580 lied about . . . speculation” William Fox to Halsey, Stuart, Jan. 10, 1930 (Draft), 2–3. US-MSS.

  580 “Wicked falsehoods”: Ibid., 3.

  580 “the trustees thoroughly believe” . . . $16 million: “Draft to be sent to banks,” Dec. 12, 1929, 5, US-MSS.

  581 Traders hammered Fox Film: “Drastic Action Due Momentarily by Fox ‘A’ Group,” MPN, Dec. 21, 1929, 15.

  581 December 19, 1929 . . . crawling back up: Ibid.

  581 “outstanding figures” . . . “AT&T won’t move”: “Lines On Otterson,” MPN, Dec. 21, 1929, 15.

  581 Smith’s most prominent supporters . . . reelection campaign: Pierre de Rohan, “Politics Seen Behind Fox Troubles,” New York Morning Telegraph, Jan. 6, 1930, 1.

  581 lighthearted affair: “Movie Film Gives Speeches at Dinner,” NYT, Dec. 21, 1929, 5.

  581 Short, slender, and bald: Transcript, 742.

  581 warm, sympathetic manner: Transcript, 742–43.

  581 Shearn listened for nearly five hours: Ibid., 743.

  581 take up a client’s cause: Ibid.

  582 vacation in Bermuda: Hughes, The Autobiographical Notes of Charles Evans Hughes, 289.

  582 “quite intimately”: Oral History interview with John Lord O’Brian (1967), 606, CCOHA.

  582 “didn’t take things personally”: Ibid., 64.

  582 “The bearded iceberg”: James Chace, 1912: Wilson, Roosevelt, Taft & Debs—The Election That Changed the Country (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004), 100.

  582 “inordinately conceited”: Theodore Roosevelt to Kermit Roosevelt, Jan. 27, 1908, in Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Letters and Speeches (New York: The Library of America, 2004), 555–56.

  582 totaling $6.85 million: “Draft to be sent to banks,” Dec. 12, 1929, 2, US-MSS.

  583 acknowledged that the agreement was defunct: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3734.

  583 offered to collateralize . . . $2 worth of property: Transcript, 366; William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3734.

  583 after one banker asked . . . consternation: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3734–35.

  583 “We received no replies”: Transcript, 367.

  583 settlement right away: Ibid., 389.

  583 “kept cabling for his money”: Ibid.

  583 largest business failure in U.S. history: Ibid., 684.

  583 employed twenty-five thousand people: William Fox, “An Open Letter to the Stockholders,” Jan. 18, 1930, 1, DABP.

  583 Fox sent him to ask President Hoover: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3743.

  584 believed was leading the bankers’ blockade: Ibid.

  584 “a vein of arrogance”: Richard Hofstadter, The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It (New York: Vintage Books, 1989), 381.

  584 to Wiggin’s home for Christmas: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3743.

  584 “interference” . . . mind his own business: Ibid.

  584 “absolutely and entirely false”: Albert H. Wiggin testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3865.

  584 on Christmas or any other day: Ibid.

  584 “The incident can exist only”: “Will Subpoena Fox Records,” WSJ, Nov. 25, 1933, 9.

  584 spent that date together: Transcript, 401.

  584 celebrating their anniversary: Ibid., 400–401.

  584 “I would rather forget”: Ibid., 401.

  584 “very devoted wife”: Ibid., 399.

  584 “I instinctively felt”: Ibid., 293.

  584 “I not only couldn’t come home”: Ibid., 400.

  585 “I told her my affairs”: Ibid.

  585 seriously ill: Ibid.

  585 “I had loved most”: Ibid., 401.

  CHAPTER 42: WAR

  586 finalized on January 24, 1930: “Fox’s Daughter Divorced,” NYT, Jan. 25, 1930, 12.

  586 “Nice boy, dad dearest” . . . “Mommy”: Transcript, 759.

  586 “Courage—General mine”: Ibid., 760.

  586 “poor soul suffering”: Ibid., 401.

  586 270 Park Avenue: Ibid.

  586 “No conference took place”: Ibid.

  587 deferred to Eva’s judgment: Ibid.

  587 Three weeks earlier . . . protective committee: “Demands Full Data on Tax Film Plan,” NYT, Dec. 12, 1929, 48.

  587 “to get at the bottom”: “Fox Holds No Class A Stock, Says Committee,” New York Evening Post, Dec. 13, 1929, 29.

  587 no one recognized the names: “Demands Full Data on Tax Film Plan,” 48.

  587 it did nothing: “Receivership Hint Brings Stock Break,” NYT, Jan. 3, 1930, 24.

  587 “unmovable, almost defiant”: “Trustees-Fox Deadlock,” Variety, Jan. 1, 1930, 5.

  587 receivership was probably inevitable: “Receivership Hint Brings Stock Break,” 24.

  587 the shareholders might do so: Ibid.

  587 from 235/8 to 17: Ibid.

  587 regained only one-quarter: Ibid.

  587 one-day paper loss of $3.8 million: Pierre de Rohan, “Politics Seen Behind Fox Troubles,” New York Morning Telegraph, Jan. 6, 1930, 1.

  587 $73 million . . . projected at $17 million: Pierre de Rohan, “Fox Stockholders Are Reassured,” New York Morning Telegraph. Jan. 4, 1930, 1.

  587 backed off from its receivership threat: “Fox Statement Halts Talk of a Receivership,” CDT, Jan. 4, 1930, 11.

  587 to offer collateral: Transcript, 367.

  587 wanted their money: Ibid.

  587 “[Y]ou might just as well talk”: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3735.

  588 seized at every branch . . . loan balance: Ibid., 3700.

  588 checks came back marked “N.G.”: Ibid; “A New Currency Bill,” The Bankers’ Magazine 56 (Jan.–June 1898): 587.

  588 “man who loans you an umbrella”: Transcript, 686.

  588 Paris branch of the Guaranty Trust . . . “We don’t want any”: William Fox testimony, SEPH, at 3700.

  588 “Banking friends who were life-long”: William Fox, “An Open Letter to the Stockholders,” Jan. 18, 1930, 2, DABP.

  588 $9 million: Bill of Complaint, Jan. 20, 1930, SDK-FFC.

  588 support the British Gaumont theaters purchase: William Fox to Halsey, Stuart, Jan. 10, 1930, 1, US-MSS.

  588 thirty days overdue . . . due and payable: Bill of Complaint, SDK-FFC, 8. NARA NYC.

  588 “There has been no default”: William Fox to Halsey, Stuart, Jan. 10, 1930 (Draft), 3, US-MSS.

  589 “you participated in the negotiations”: Ibid., 1. />
  589 “What were you studying”: Ibid., 2.

  589 “Is your letter a challenge?”: Ibid., 3.

  589 after Henry Ford’s: Transcript, 427–28.

  589 with his factories closed . . . $75 million offer: “Financiers Loud in Praise of Ford,” NYT, July 24, 1921, 2.

  589 submit to supervision of . . . spending: Ibid.

  589 “I handed him his hat”: “Ford Tells How He Foiled Wall Street When It Demanded $60,000,000 He Owed; Raised $87,000,000, Turned Banker Out,” NYT, July 23, 1921, 1.

  589 Ford asked his dealers: Transcript, 428.

  589 By April . . . $36 million in cash: “Financiers Loud in Praise of Ford,” 2.

  589 hailed as a genius: Ibid.

  589 “Why couldn’t Fox”: Transcript, 428.

  589 Fox Film had as its merchants: Ibid.

  589 half of those theaters: Ibid.

  589 If each exhibitor bought $2,000: Ibid.

  590 “perfect bond”: Ibid.

  590 hired John Thomas Madden: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3746.

  590 an exhibitor . . . would be able to borrow: Transcript, 429.

  590 $35 million . . . gold notes: “Fox Securities Corp. Organized,” Wall Street News, Jan. 16, 1930.

  590 never owned any stock: David A. Brown to P. S. Harrison, Feb. 20, 1930, 3, DABP.

  590 neither he nor his bank would receive any fee: Undentified sender to Alexander S. Kempner, Feb. 25, 1930, DABP.

  590 “I came into this picture”: David A. Brown to P. S. Harrison, Feb. 20, 1930, 3, DABP.

  590 “every rich Jew” . . . anti-Semitic persecution: Transcript, 435.

  590 On January 16, 1930, the day before: “Fox Finance Plan Seen As Assured,” New York World, Jan. 17, 1930.

  590 “Our telephone lines”: Ibid.

  590 “a wonderful issue”: Ibid.

  591 thirteen exhibitors representing 233 theaters: “To Hold Conference of Fox Creditors,” Journal of Commerce, Jan. 20, 1930.

  591 seating capacity of 300,000 . . . Ambassador Hotel: “Movie Trust Denied In Fox Reply To Suit,” NYT, Jan. 18, 1930, 10.

  591 buy “substantial” amounts: “Independent Exhibitors Are Supporting Fox Finance Plan,” FD, Jan. 19, 1930, 11.

  591 four-page statement: “Solution of Fox Situation Seen In New Moves,” EH-W, Jan. 25, 1930, 28.

  591 “so different from the stories”: “Independent Exhibitors Are Supporting Fox Finance Plan,” 11.

  591 “a privilege to participate in this financing”: Ibid.

  591 “vicious” Wall Street plot against him: William Fox, “An Open Letter to the Stockholders,” Jan. 18, 1930, 2–3, DABP.

  591 “All my life, since the age” . . . “open and clean”: Ibid., 3.

  591 “I am determined”: Ibid.

  591 prompt the U.S. Senate to investigate: Transcript, 615.

  591 would invite a lawsuit: Ibid., 374.

  592 “ ‘Why the hell aren’t’ ”: Ibid.

  592 lasted half an hour: Ibid.

  592 didn’t resign . . . bother to sue: Ibid., 383.

  592 Shearn . . . quit as well: Ibid., 375.

  592 “horrified by it all”: Ibid., 374.

  592 “He must have again and again”: Ibid., 743.

  592 “gladiator”: Ibid., 471.

  592 “big bugaboo”: William Fox testimony, SEPH, at 3745.

  592 the major cause: “Semi-Comatose for Days,” NYT, Apr. 1, 1913, 2.

  592 had represented Warner Bros.: “Untermyer Warners’ Atty. In W. E. Arbitration,” Variety, Apr. 25, 1928, 20; “Everything Talkers,” Variety, May 16, 1928, 29.

  592 the “most oppressive” . . . “fleecing”: “Untermyer Ready to Fight AT&T,” New York World, Jan. 1, 1926, 3.

  592 swinging his arms for emphasis: Oral History interview with Ferdinand Pecora (1962), 382. CCOHA.

  592 keen intellect and thorough preparation: Ibid.

  592 urged Fox to hire Untermyer: Transcript, 431.

  592 had wanted to hire him: Ibid.

  593 “lowest type of human”: Ibid.

  593 Born in Virginia: “Untermyer Dead in His 82d Year; Long Had Been Ill,” NYT, Mar. 17, 1940, 1, 48.

  593 store on West Fifty-Fourth Street: Oral History interview with Ferdinand Pecora (1962), 384 CCOHA.

  593 breweries that sold beer to bars: Ibid., 385.

  593 would not take the case: Transcript, 431.

  593 clung to Hughes’s low opinion: Ibid.

  593 a long time to persuade him: David A. Brown to Samuel Untermyer, Feb. 5, 1934, DABP.

  593 Atlantic City’s President Hotel: Transcript, 432.

  593 “a gentleman to his fingertips”: William Fox testimony, May 21, 1941, US-DK, at 500.

  593 pledged $70 million worth of property: “Fox Near Settlement,” Variety, Jan. 22, 1930, 20.

  594 first one . . . Stanley Lazarus: “Fox Stockholders Ask Receivership,” New York World, Jan. 19, 1930.

  594 Lawrence and Arthur: Arthur and Lawrence Berenson were cousins of art historian Bernard Berenson. Ernest Samuels and Jayne Samuels, Bernard Berenson, the Making of a Legend (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1987), 282.

  594 two Massachusetts clients: These were Benjamin Rudnick and Abraham Snider.

  594 allegedly bought 440: Bill of Complaint, Jan. 23, 1930, 1, Benjamin Rudnick and Abraham Snider v. Fox Film et al. NARA-NYC.

  594 total of $47,080: Arthur Berenson statement, SMM, 62.

  594 paid “a million or two”: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3750.

  594 stock to begin this lawsuit: Ibid., 3768.

  594 late husband’s estate, 19,150 shares: Bill of Complaint, Jan. 20, 1930, 2. SDK-FFC.

  594 400 shares of Class A stock: Minutes of Adjourned Special Meeting of Fox Film Board of Directors, Mar. 6, 1930, 10, US-MSS.

  594 loss of more than $1 million: “Suit Says Fox Lost Company Cash In Market,” New York American, Jan. 21, 1930.

  594 “wasteful strife and controversy”: Bill of Complaint, Jan. 20, 1930, 9. SDK-FFC.

  594 “grave peril”: Ibid., 17.

  594 brink of “slaughter”: Ibid., 9.

  595 “virtually all” . . . “utter neglect and disregard”: Ibid., 14.

  595 “exorbitant profits”: Ibid., 10.

  595 basis for federal criminal prosecution: “Criminal Use of Movie Funds Charged to Fox,” New York Evening World, Jan. 20, 1930.

  595 $200,000 investment in 1915: “Fox Near Settlement,” 9.

  595 $5.7 million . . . fifteen years: “Second Receivership Suit Charges Fox Speculation,” New York World, Jan. 21, 1930.

  595 most of the fortune that Kuser left: Transcript, 451.

  595 one of his best friends: Ibid.

  595 Fox immediately issued: “Suit Says Fox Lost Company Cash In Market.”

  595 “Whatever else may happen”: Ibid.

  595 12,000 Class B . . . 28,000 Class A: “Fox Affidavit Filed in Court,” New York Sun, Jan. 30, 1930.

  595 declare their support: Kuser family letter to Samuel Untermyer, Jan. 24, 1930, SDK-FFC.

  595 had been tricked . . . no ill feelings: Transcript, 455.

  596 she appreciated all the money: Ibid., 455.

  596 “[W]e lawyers know”: Emory R. Buckner statement, SMM, 114.

  596 common stock was wiped out: Ibid.

  596 annual interest burden of $2.45 million: “Fox Securities’ Aims Outlined,” WSN, Jan. 18, 1930.

  596 buy about $15 million worth . . . rescinded: “Fox Finance Plan Seen As Assured,” New York World, Jan. 17, 1930.

  596 Ford also declined: Transcript, 334.

  596 only gesture of support . . . “ ‘All roads lead to Rome’ ”: Transcript, 334.

  597 ask his partner, wife: Ibid., 446.

  597 “Confidentially it was reported”: Ibid., 447.

  597 only $200,000: Ibid.

  597 “my coming in personal contact”: Ibid.

  597 “I was trying to sell”:
Ibid.

  597 “fallen by the wayside”: Ibid., 448.

  597 By February 1 . . . canceling the gold notes: Guggenheimer, Untermyer & Marshall to David A. Brown, Feb. 1, 1930, DABP.

  597 at Fox’s insistence: Ibid.

  597 only expenses . . . company’s literature: Unknown sender to Alexander S. Kempner, Feb. 25, 1930, DABP.

  597 “racketeering gangs” . . . “shyster lawyers”: David A. Brown to Harry M. Warner, Aug. 23, 1930, DABP.

  597 “these leeches trying”: Ibid.

  598 entire stack of financial documents: Transcript, 430.

  598 “Every time I saw him”: Ibid.

  598 “report to him the number of million”: Ibid., 447.

  598 Dillon, Read . . . he wanted the firm included: Ibid., 460.

  598 “Never avoid your enemy”: Ibid., 461.

  598 $65 million in debenture bonds and preferred stock: “Opponents of Fox’s Idea Thwart Action,” WP, Feb. 12, 1930, 14; “Bankers Modify Demand on Fox,” New York Morning Telegraph, Feb. 20, 1930, 1.

  598 neither owned even a single share: William Fox to the Stockholders of Fox Film Corporation and Fox Theatres Corporation, Apr. 8, 1930, 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,” 4, HTC.

  598 fifty-eight accountants and twenty-two lawyers: Transcript, 438.

  599 Walker summoned Fox: Ibid.

  599 asking about the Tri-Ergon: Ibid.

  599 half of the Grandeur company . . . Movietone News: Ibid., 438–39.

  599 quarter interest: Ibid., 439.

  599 as much as $600,000: Ibid., 438.

  599 “From their cross examination”: Ibid., 623.

  599 graying quickly: 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.

  599 quit or was fired on January 17, 1930: “Fox Near Settlement,” 20.

  599 Mussolini . . . King George: Peter Vischer, “Broadway,” EH-W, Mar. 16, 1929, 24.

  599 “worth even half as much”: “The Value of Movietone News Has Shrunk By More than 50%,” HR, Feb. 22, 1930, 32.

  599 mastectomy: JoAnn Fox Weingarten interview with the author.

  599 recently returned from Europe: Alfred C. Blumenthal testimony, Trial transcript, Sept. 16, 1932, 15. 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.