The Man Who Made the Movies

by Vanda Krefft

  599 he had received $1.25 million: Transcript, 222.

  599 “knew nothing more . . . than a little dog”: Ibid.

  599 hiding behind the door eavesdropping: Ibid., 230.

  600 “She said, ‘He won’t’”: Ibid.

  600 Forcefully . . . “locked her in”: Ibid.

  600 In December 1929, Grace Leo . . . was hospitalized: “Woman Patient Found on Snowbank in Park,” NYT, Jan. 23, 1930, 48.

  600 Neurological Institute: Ibid.

  600 changed into street clothes . . . out of the hospital: Ibid.

  600 West 168th Street: “Queens Woman Hurt, Victim of Amnesia,” Daily Star, Queens Borough, Jan. 24, 1930, 10.

  600 unnoticed: “Woman Patient Found on Snowbank in Park,” 48.

  600 lying in a snowbank . . . in pain: Ibid.

  600 cuts and abrasions: “Queens Woman Hurt, Victim of Amnesia,” 10.

  600 After overnight . . . mental institution: “Woman Patient Found on Snowbank in Park,” 48.

  600 “critical point, due to”: “Wm. Fox Rejects All Overtures for Compromise—Civil Suits Started?” Variety, Jan. 8, 1930, 9.

  601 2.8 million shares changed hands: Untitled item, NEN, Jan. 21, 1930.

  601 “I prefer stocks”: T. R., “Notebook of a Tape Reader,” Investment News, Jan. 24, 1930.

  601 heard within a year: “Group to Subscribe to Fox Securities,” Journal of Commerce, Jan. 18, 1930.

  601 “a pathetic old man”: Transcript, 293.

  601 adequate safeguards: Ibid., 487.

  601 all his time, day and night: Albert M. Greenfield testimony, Trial transcript, Sept. 16, 1932, 210. 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.

  601 “more faithfully and harder”: Transcript, 462.

  601 with Fox absent: “Trustees Likely to Guide Affairs of Fox Concern,” New York Evening World, Jan. 23, 1930.

  601 twenty-five lawyers: Nelson B. Bell, “Behind the Screens,” WP, Jan. 25, 1930, 5.

  601 Woolworth Building: Transcript, 481.

  602 composed of Charles Evans Hughes . . . Lehman Brothers representative: Bell, “Behind the Screens,” Jan. 25, 1930, 5.

  602 former U.S. solicitor general: “John W. Davis, 81, Is Dead In South,” NYT, Mar. 25, 1955, 24.

  602 forty-five minutes late: Transcript, 481, 483.

  602 Wearing a dark suit . . . blue-and-maroon tie: “Fox Won’t Yield Control of His Film Interests,” New York Sun, Jan. 23, 1930.

  602 mumbling, chattering men: Transcript, 481.

  602 keep his voice down: Ibid., 483.

  602 Coleman was annoyed: Ibid.

  602 Nervously puffing . . . brusquely: “Fox Won’t Yield Control of His Film Interests.”

  602 be a trustee . . . full power to appoint: “Stocks Advance in Active Buying,” Wall Street News, Jan. 24, 1930.

  602 Flushed with anger . . . bespectacled: Transcript, 486.

  602 appoint a receiver for the Fox companies: Ibid., 484.

  602 “I looked him”: Ibid.

  602 For half an hour: “Fox Won’t Yield Control of His Film Interests.”

  602 he was entirely serious . . . too much integrity: Transcript, 484.

  602 “No, you won’t” . . . left the room: Ibid., 485.

  602 “Like him or not”: Bell, “Behind the Screens,” Jan. 25, 1930, 5.

  602 issue a “show cause” order: “Fox Receiver Case Goes Over,” New York Morning Telegraph, Jan. 23, 1930, 5.

  603 high of 34 to close at 27½: “Bears Lose Heavily as Fox Stock Soars,” NYT, Jan. 24, 1930, 24.

  603 “the most active stock”: George L. Edmunds, “Buyers in Force, Shorts on Run,” Investment News, Jan. 24, 1930.

  603 494,800 shares . . . changed hands: Ibid.

  603 more than half the total outstanding: “Bears Lose Heavily as Fox Stock Soars,” 24.

  603 one-sixth of the day’s trading: Edmunds, “Buyers in Force, Shorts on Run.”

  603 surgery ordered by her doctor: Transcript, 402.

  603 Before going . . . to the voting trust: Ibid.

  603 “I gave her my sacred word”: Ibid.

  603 “In the morning she was”: Ibid.

  603 “[S]he didn’t care about”: Ibid.

  603 “rather have a receivership”: “Fox Retains His Grip of Film, Theater Companies,” CDT, Jan. 28, 1930, 29.

  604 sent a sheriff’s deputy: “Fox Proposes to Resign for New Trustees,” Herald-Tribune, Jan. 28, 1930.

  604 $342,158 debt within six days . . . auctioned off: Ibid.

  604 Allegheny, Pennsylvania, stockholder . . . 100 shares: “Fox Chiefs Ready to Quit to Save Company,” New York Morning Telegraph, Jan. 28, 1930, 1.

  604 repay AT&T and Halsey, Stuart in full, with interest: “1929 Fox Earnings Double 1928 Figure,” WP, Mar. 8, 1930, 3.

  604 “What are they doing there?”: Transcript of hearing before Judge Coleman, Feb. 11, 1930, 89, US-MSS, Box 24, File 4.

  604 fifteen-year preferential financing: “Fox Letter Hits Halsey, Stuart Co.,” NEN, Feb. 27, 1930.

  605 Coleman ordered a two-week hiatus: “Court Grants Fox Financial Respite,” WP, Jan. 29, 1930, 10.

  605 no banks could execute . . . or take any property: Ibid.

  605 considered the plan illegal: Alfred C. Blumenthal testimony, Trial transcript Sept. 16, 1932, 16. 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.

  605 “was angry at me”: Ibid., 111.

  605 “never so angry”: Ibid.

  605 twelve wealthy parties headed by Halsey, Stuart and ERPI: Ibid., 19.

  605 very close to agreeing . . . on a price: Ibid.

  605 tension between Blumenthal and Fox: Ibid., 20.

  605 A second syndicate collapsed: Ibid., 19–20.

  605 He contacted Harley Clarke: Ibid., 20.

  606 pay him a $500,000 commission: Ibid., 21.

  606 Blumenthal recruited Albert M. Greenfield: Ibid., 22.

  606 to try to persuade Fox: Robert T. McCracken statement, Trial transcript Sept. 16, 1932, 4. 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.

  606 didn’t know the identity: Albert M. Greenfield testimony, Trial transcript, Sept. 16, 1932, 217, 219. 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.

  606 met with Blumenthal almost daily: Ibid., 215.

  606 “every once in a while”: Ibid.

  606 “that Fox had a sentimental”: Ibid.

  606 “a clear vision”: Transcript, 23.

  606 “there is a Supreme God”: Ibid.

  607 three hours of arguments: “Fox Receiver Waits Vote of Stockholders,” New York American, Feb. 14, 1930.

  607 disintegration . . . and complete destruction: Fox Film Corporation to the Stockholders, Feb. 18, 1930, 11, 14, US-MSS.

  608 “malicious falsehoods” . . . “in the effort to destroy”: William Fox to the Stockholders, Feb. 20, 1930, 15, US-MSS.

  608 “abetting and encouraging”: Ibid., 18.

  608 “the temerity”: Ibid., 16.

  608 “swoop down upon us”: Ibid., 18.

  608 “Could anything be more insincere?”: Ibid.

  608 “I am unwilling to desert”: Ibid., 19.

  608 “Above all things, do not let”: Ibid., 20.

  608 ERPI equipment . . . infringing: FCC-ERPI, Part II, 490–91.

  608 more than 80 percent: Ibid., 160.

  609 If he cross-licenses . . . deliver the Fox companies’ voting shares: Ibid., 493.

  609 expressly excluded a cross license: Ibid.

  609 most recent price . . . $25 million: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, Aug. 16, 1932, US-MSS.

  609 “rejected by us”:
FCC-ERPI, Part II, 493.

  609 accusing Fox of being wholly responsible: “Halsey, Stuart Lay Bad Faith to Fox,” NYT, Mar. 2, 1930, 27.

  609 “Do not be frightened”: Ibid.

  609 “Mr. Fox’s own selfish desires”: Ibid.

  609 “the many William Foxes”: David A. Brown to William Fox, Feb. 24, 1930, 1, DABP.

  609 “Please Will, don’t throw”: Ibid.

  610 interview to the New York Morning World: David A. Brown to William Fox, Feb. 26, 1930, 1, DABP.

  610 “affirmatively and humanly”: Ibid., 2.

  610 audience of three to five million: Ibid.

  CHAPTER 43: “WE WANT YOU, MR. FOX”

  611 “most people want you, Mr. Fox”: Unidentified stockholder statement, SMM, 58.

  611 courteous affairs . . . “a very fine meeting”: Transcript, 499–502.

  611 four hundred to five hundred: “Fox Claims Film War Victory!” New York American, Mar. 6, 1930, 5; “Fox is Refused an Injunction,” New York Sun, Mar. 5, 1930, 2.

  611 forty-six lawyers . . . “a pile of briefs”: “Sidelights on Big ‘Show’ Staged by Fox Stockholders,” MPN, Mar. 8, 1930, 33.

  611 Throughout the building, twenty police officers: “Fox Movie Battle A Draw On First Day,” NYT, Mar. 6, 1930, 25.

  611 former silent movie studio: “Fox Film Groups in Battle Today in Movie Setting,” New York American, Mar. 5, 1930, 1.

  612 removing props and old equipment: Ibid.

  612 large red No Smoking signs: C. C. Nicolet, “Fox Fighting Alone, Holds Control of Business with Over 600,000 Votes,” New York Telegram, Mar. 5, 1930, 24.

  612 Wearing a wrinkled: “Sidelights on Big ‘Show’ Staged by Fox Stockholders,” 33.

  612 gray, three-piece suit with a white wool sweater: Nicolet, “Fox Fighting Alone, Holds Control of Business with Over 600,000 Votes,” 24; “Study of Film Magnate,” New York Evening Journal, Mar. 6, 1930.

  612 looked pale and worn out: Allan Reagan, “Fox Wins, 4 to 1, Voting Indicates,” New York World, Mar. 6, 1930.

  612 “lowly proxy holders”: “Sidelights on Big ‘Show’ Staged by Fox Stockholders,” 33.

  612 press conference and handed out copies: “Halsey, Stuart Give Their Plan to Refinance Fox,” New York Telegram, Mar. 4, 1930.

  612 Bancamerica-Blair’s $59.15 million: SMM, 102.

  612 immediate savings . . . $11.05 million: Ibid.

  612 hundreds of other underwriters: Ibid., 138.

  612 more than $74 million: This would be the cost to the public, including brokers’ expenses (Peter Vischer, “Opposing Investors of Fox Seem Agreed to Avert Receivership,” EH-W, Mar. 8, 1930, 19).

  613 ad was scheduled to run: Transcript, 321.

  613 five Fox senior executives: “Financial Notice,” NYT, Mar. 5, 1930, 38.

  613 The other signers of the ad . . . Zanft: Pierre de Rohan, “Fox Wins First Proxy Skirmish,” New York Morning Telegraph, Mar. 6, 1930, 1.

  613 “You didn’t sign”: Transcript, 321.

  613 Yes, he had . . . to explain: Ibid.

  613 “I told him I wanted”: Ibid.

  613 never saw Zanft again: Ibid.

  613 At 10:58 a.m., he rapped the gavel twice: “Fox Modifies Refinance Plan to Meet Attack,” CDT, Mar. 6, 1930, 28.

  613 Poker faced . . . spoke briefly with Untermyer: Nicolet, “Fox Fighting Alone, Holds Control of Business with Over 600,000 Votes,” 24.

  613 before the chatter in the room: “Fox Modifies Refinance Plan to Meet Attack,” 28.

  613 a half-hour adjournment: Nicolet, “Fox Fighting Alone, Holds Control of Business with Over 600,000 Votes,” 24.

  614 920,660 voting and nonvoting shares: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, June 1, 1932, 2, US-MSS.

  614 total 1,683,000 shares: Pierre de Rohan, “Fox Wins Vote by Twenty to One,” New York Morning Telegraph, Mar. 7, 1930, 1.

  614 voting shares controlled appointments to the boards: “Stockholders Stand by Wm. Fox in Refinancing Plan,” FD, Mar. 6, 1930, 1, 7.

  614 restraining Otterson and Stuart from voting: “Fox Wins Tilt in Battle for Film Control,” New York American, Mar. 2, 1930, 8.

  614 “slug Fox for $10 million”: “Court to Decide Fox Case To-Day,” New York World, Mar. 4, 1930.

  614 “sordid beyond words”: Ibid.

  614 “I’ve seen all the idealism”: Ibid.

  615 plea for a permanent injunction: “Declares Fox Sure to Win,” NEN, Mar. 5, 1930.

  615 “flagrant and unwarranted”: “Victory for Fox Claimed While Vote Is Counted,” New York Herald-Tribune, Mar. 6, 1930.

  615 “Suffice it to state that the court”: de Rohan, “Fox Wins First Proxy Skirmish,” 12.

  615 “of little acorns”: “An Open Letter by Halsey, Stuart & Co., Inc., and Statement and Affidavit of Winfield R. Sheehan,” Mar. 24, 1930, 16, HTC.

  615 he had represented . . . getaway car driver: “Shapiro Names All But One of the Crew of Death Auto,” New York American, July 20, 1912, 3; “Gunmen Elated, but Stories Fall,” NYTR, Nov. 17, 1912, 6.

  615 following year, with Tammany’s backing: “Party and City Business,” NYTR, Nov. 8, 1913, 6.

  615 evidence indicated ballot box tampering: “Koenig Sees Reward for Republicans in Fusion,” NYTR, Nov. 21, 1913, 6.

  615 twelve election inspectors were subsequently indicted: “12 Vote Inspectors Indicted for Fraud,” NYT, Mar. 15, 1924, 15.

  615 dismiss parole violation charges . . . accepting Madden’s unsubstantiated word: Samuel Untermyer, “Why Justice Aaron J. Levy Should Be Defeated for Re-Election to the Supreme Court,” Speech at Hunts Point Palace, Bronx, NY, Oct. 20, 1937, 6–8. AMG.

  615 Madden’s own amazement . . . “would make a useful member”: Ibid., 8–9.

  616 “The sine qua non”: Norman Thomas and Paul Blanshard, What’s the Matter with New York: A National Problem (New York: Macmillan, 1932), 93–94.

  616 partner in a dressmaking business: Transcript, 512.

  616 lowered the price accordingly: Ibid.

  616 despite a law prohibiting judges: Untermyer, “Why Justice Aaron J. Levy Should Be Defeated for Re-Election to the Supreme Court,” 18.

  616 wanted the original deal: Transcript, 320.

  616 vowed to get revenge: Ibid.

  616 find the Milgram brother . . . brother refused: Ibid., 512.

  616 “I was in a daze”: Ibid., 502.

  617 “There were some nice ladies”: Ibid., 504.

  617 “ruffians and gangsters”: Ibid., 502.

  617 five other entrances: Ibid., 506.

  617 his table was positioned . . . their associates: Ibid., 503.

  617 signals to the crowd: Ibid.

  617 unsure if he had enough energy: Ibid., 508.

  617 Fox looked confident: de Rohan, “Fox Wins First Proxy Skirmish,” 1.

  617 “smiling and calm”: “Stockholders Stand by Wm. Fox in Refinancing Plan,” 7.

  617 “I would like to have you”: William Fox statement, SMM, 47–48.

  617 “packed to suffocation”: Transcript, 505.

  617 “Cheers, hisses, handclapping”: “Fox Claims Film War Victory!” New York American, Mar. 6, 1930.

  617 Fox and Untermyer pounded on the table: Ibid.

  617 Arthur Berenson: “Fox’s Holdings Sought by Banks to end threatened Finance Stalemate,” MPN, Mar. 8, 1930, 11. Exhibitors Herald-World identified Berenson as Lawrence rather than Arthur (Vischer, “Opposing Investors of Fox Seem Agreed to Avert Receivership,” 20).

  617 “elaborate courtesy”: Reagan, “Fox Wins, 4 to 1, Voting Indicates.”

  617 “Ladies and gentlemen”: William Fox statement, SMM, 61–62.

  617 “jeers, cheers and catcalls” . . . ten minutes: “Fox Claims Film War Victory!”

  617 standing on chairs and tables: Reagan, “Fox Wins, 4 to 1, Voting Indicates.”

  617 “absolutely destructive”: Arthur Berenson statement, SMM, 81.

  618 bitterly attacked Fox�
��s leadership: “Fox Claims Film War Victory!”

  618 only hope of salvation . . . “No! No!” . . . “Sit down!”: SMM, 81.

  618 recognized the next speaker: Ibid., 83.

  618 “All they need for”: “Sidelights on Big ‘Show’ Staged by Fox Stockholders,” 33.

  618 around 3:00 p.m . . . their opponents: Ibid., 32.

  618 to buy Halsey, Stuart’s entire issue: “Declares Fox Sure to Win.”

  618 cheering section was louder: Vischer, “Opposing Investors of Fox Seem Agreed to Avert Receivership,” 20.

  618 “most people want you”: Unidentified stockholder statement, SMM, 58.

  619 proxies for 330,000 Fox Film shares: SMM, 131–132.

  619 “Everything that I had” . . . “turned black”: Transcript, 519.

  619 “this vendetta” . . . “over the falls”: Emory R. Buckner statement, SMM, 128.

  619 Buckner pivoted: Ibid.,129.

  619 “first, last” . . . for that plan: Ibid., 132.

  619 proxies for another 300,000: “Directors Back Fox’s Plan,” Evening Journal, Mar. 5, 1930.

  619 So did Otterson and Stuart . . . inspectors ruled: SMM, 172.

  619 564,577 had voted in favor: Exhibit “Q,” Bill of Complaint, Mar. 11, 1930, 80–81, William Fox v. H. L. Stuart, John E. Otterson, et al., in Equity 52-170, 1930. United States District Court, Southern District of New York. NARA-NYC.

  619 So had 93,745 out of 94,805: SMM, 171–72.

  620 All his troubles had ended: Transcript, 521.

  620 Surely all the stockholders . . . $65 million: Ibid., 522.

  620 “not by words but by actions”: William Fox statement, SMM, 181.

  620 “I cannot promise you”: Ibid., 183.

  CHAPTER 44: DEFEAT

  621 “Well, the old warhorse did it”: Pierre de Rohan, “Fox Wins Vote by Twenty to One,” New York Morning Telegraph, Mar. 7, 1930, 1.

  621 “A new world . . . last long”: Transcript, 523.

  621 didn’t have $6 million: William Fox testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3748.

  621 only forty-five days: Ibid.

  621 March 1 to April 15, 1930: “Fox Film Corporation and Fox Theatres Corporation, An Open Letter by Halsey, Stuart & Co. and Statement and Affidavit of Winfield R. Sheehan,” Mar. 24, 1930, 19, HTC.

  621 6 percent interest . . . 10 percent . . . 87 percent: William Fox testimony, SEPH, at 3748.

  621 each subsequent forty-five-day: Ibid., 3749.

  621 all $20 million . . . also a $40 million: “An Open Letter by Halsey, Stuart & Co. and Statement and Affidavit of Winfield R. Sheehan,” 19.