The Man Who Made the Movies

by Vanda Krefft

  663 they sold out: Transcript, 573.

  663 bought less than $2 million: “Details of Fox Financing Given,” WSJ, Nov. 28, 1933, 9.

  664 on sale on April 23, 1930: “General Theatres Offers Debentures,” NYT, Apr. 23, 1930, 39.

  664 failed to buy much of the May 1930 offering of 433,000 new shares: “Exchange Suspends Pynchon & Company,” NYT, Apr. 25, 1931, 1.

  664 one of the nation’s largest financial houses: Ibid.

  664 financial instability arising mainly from its GTE and Fox Film: Ibid.

  664 firm head George Pynchon . . . “left in the world”: USPWF, 311.

  664 Four days later, West & Co. . . . bankruptcy: “Bankruptcy Petition Filed by West & Co.,” NYT, Apr. 29, 1931, 37.

  664 $5 million in debt: “West & Co. Suspend; Stocks Rally Later,” NYT, Apr. 28, 1931, 1.

  664 never be repaid the $6 million: Murray W. Dodge testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3799.

  664 Clarke’s office on April 8, 1930: Ferdinand Pecora statement, SEPH Part 8, at 3647.

  664 “on the end of a springboard”: Committee Exhibit No. 158, SEPH, Part 7, at 3582.

  664 “on a rampage to discover”: Transcript, 585.

  665 would not renew the $55 million: Ibid.

  665 prove he was legally obligated: FCC-ERPI, Part II, 497.

  665 demanded “proper collateral”: Ibid., 496.

  665 November 14, 1930, he grudgingly signed: Ibid., 496.

  665 competing directly with ERPI: Ibid.

  665 net profits had been $13.97 million: Halsey, Stuart & Co. ad, MPN, May 3, 1930.

  665 lowered the figure to $10.74 million: Fox Film Corporation Annual Report, 1929. Columbia University, Thomas J. Watson Library of Business and Economics.

  666 on August 26, 1930 . . . balance sheet: Transcript, 679.

  666 $7.175 million, compared to $7.054 million: “Clarke Says Fox Net Will Top ’29 Rate,” Variety, Sept. 24, 1930, 11.

  666 from $23.4 million to $30.4 million: “Fox Current Assets Grow 30 Per Cent In First Half Year,” EH-W, Aug. 30, 1930, 20.

  666 from $2.5 million to nearly $7.0 million: Ibid.

  666 dividends might increase from $4 to $5: Al Greason, “Advance Halts at Old Highs,” Variety, Sept. 10, 1930, 11.

  666 John W. Pope . . . to more than $4 million: “John W. Pope Dead; Youthful Financier,” NYT, Nov. 22, 1931, 31.

  666 classified them as extraordinary expenses: William A. Gray statement, SEPH, Part 3, at 993.

  666 in cents, not dollars: Ibid.

  666 charges before the New York Stock Exchange: “Broker Called By Exchange Re Fox,” Variety, Nov. 26, 1930, 5; “John W. Pope Dead; Youthful Financier,” 31.

  666 completely exonerated: “John W. Pope Dead; Youthful Financier,” 31.

  666 $10.25 million for 1930 . . . $9.47 million: Fox Film Corporation Annual Report, 1930, 1. Columbia University, Thomas J. Watson Library of Business and Economics.

  666 $4.7 million . . . 1930’s first quarter: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, June 13, 1932, 1, US-MSS.

  666 allocated only $248,254 . . . $1.266 million: Fox Film Corporation Annual Report, 1930, 1.

  666 deduct large legal and financing expenses: Ibid.

  666 historical chart . . . began in 1914: Ibid., 2.

  666 “with the hearty cooperation” . . . $3 million: Ibid., 4.

  667 increased by 27.7 percent: Ibid., 1.

  667 too recent to show yet: Ibid., 4.

  667 crossing out . . . loss of $3.25 million: “Revised Fox Theaters [sic] Statement Shows $3,250,589 Loss for 1929,” FD, July 3, 1931, 2.

  667 $2.66 million for 1929: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, June 13, 1932, 2, US-MSS.

  667 a loss for Fox Theatres of $2.48 million: “Revised Fox Theaters Statement.”

  667 net worth of $63.65 million: Transcript, 682.

  667 declined to $51.378 million: Ibid.

  667 operating deficit . . . $2 million: Ibid.

  667 “It perhaps can be located”: Ibid.

  667 falling to $1.1 billion from 1929’s all-time high of $1.3 billion: Harley L. Clarke testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3819.

  667 By February 1931 . . . several other Chase executives: “Will Subpoena Fox Records,” 9.

  667 “evidently bent on getting control”: Committee Exhibit No. 165, SEPH, Part 7, at 3618–19.

  668 $120,152, compared to nearly $6.8 million: “$120,152 Fox Net for First Six Months,” MPH, Oct. 10, 1931, 37.

  668 pay off the note obligations: Transcript, 586.

  668 Now solely responsible: Ibid., 587.

  668 Chase officials forced Clarke . . . St. Louis: Harley L. Clarke testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3835.

  668 second-quarter dividend of 62.5 cents: “Fox Film Control Goes to New Board,” WP, June 11, 1931, 11.

  668 highly irregular . . . massive current debt: Senator Couzens comment, SEPH, Part 8, at 3813.

  668 nearly $2.2 million in Fox Film dividends: “$120,152 Fox Net for First Six Months,” 37.

  668 lost more than $1.3 million: Ibid.

  668 “Penny wise and pound foolish”: “Fox Warns Against ‘Economy Gloom’,” FD, July 1, 1931, 1.

  669 “No More Politics!” . . . “malicious” rumors: “Financing Plans Will Not Alter Clarke’s Status as Head of Fox,” MPH, May 23, 1931, 9, 20.

  669 “Let’s hope that action isn’t necessary”: Ibid., 20.

  669 “personal contact” . . . twenty people: “Personal Contact Campaign Launched by Fox W. C. Houses,” FD, Aug. 7, 1931, 1, 6.

  669 “wholly inexperienced, incompetent”: Transcript, 637.

  669 “I decided to go beyond him”: Ibid., 548.

  669 He wrote to both: Ibid.

  669 “Of no avail”: Ibid.

  669 stockholders meeting on June 10, 1931: “Fox Off Film Board As Wiggin Is Named,” NYT, June 11, 1931, 43.

  669 fired Fox from the board: “Wm. Fox Dropped from Directorate,” NEN, June 11, 1931; “Fox Off Film Board As Wiggin Is Named,” 43.

  669 wasn’t doing any work and wasn’t fulfilling: “William Fox and His Relatives May Be Dropped Off Fox Film’s Payroll; $605,000 Yearly Salaries—No Work,” Variety, June 16, 1931, 7.

  669 “whisper-like” . . . “very good optic”: “William Fox Doesn’t ‘Present’ Any Longer,” MPD, July 9, 1931, 1.

  670 dropping the line of text entirely: Ibid.

  670 eliminate Fox’s name: Allvine, The Greatest Fox of Them All, 137.

  670 Aldrich decided that GTE was a lost cause: Harley Clarke testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3833–34.

  670 third-quarter dividend . . . there wasn’t: “Organize to Guard Loan of $30,000,000,” NYT, Jan. 26, 1932, 33.

  670 could not meet its interest obligations: Herman G. Place testimony, SEPH, 8, at 3840.

  670 fired Harley Clarke as president: “E. R. Tinker Succeeding Clarke,” FD, Nov. 17, 1931, 1.

  670 Clarke . . . chairman of the board: Herman G. Place testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3816.

  670 “I left them the goose”: Transcript, 576.

  670 another . . . know-nothing: Ibid., 634.

  670 fifty-three-year-old: Terry Ramsaye, “Tinker of Fox and Who and Why,” MPH, Dec. 19, 1931,11.

  670 Interstate Equities, an investment trust: Ibid., 12.

  670 participated in the Fox companies’ refinancing: “Tinker Heads Fox; Clarke Chairman,” MPH, Nov. 21, 1931, 14.

  670 about thirty-five corporations: Ramsaye, “Tinker of Fox and Who and Why,” 12.

  670 hadn’t wanted the job: Transcript, 634.

  670 only one acceptable to all parties: Ibid.

  670 reputation for precision: Ramsaye, “Tinker of Fox and Who and Why,” 11.

  670 seemed “very friendly”: Transcript, 634.

  670 as an outside consultant: Ibid., 635.

  670 $25 million . . . “nothing”: Ibid.

  671 “I frankly told Tinker”: Ibid., 674.

  671 He ought not . . . “gang of raiders”: Ibid.
, 636.

  671 “I would like to do this job”: Ibid.

  671 industries such as railroads and banks: “Tinker Tells Studio Plans,” LAT, Feb. 17, 1932, A1.

  671 new business manager: “Johnson Plans Suit on Fox Job Contract,” NYT, Dec. 23, 1931, 29.

  671 Donald E. McIntyre: Allvine, The Greatest Fox of Them All, 92.

  671 former Insull engineer: Florabel Muir, “Add Tragedies of Wall Street: Winnie Sheehan,” News, Jan. 11, 1932 (New York Sun morgue, NYPL).

  671 seven high-level employment contracts: “Fox Adjusts Contracts,” WSJ, Feb. 16, 1932, 9.

  671 contracts of Winnie Sheehan and Sol Wurtzel: “Tinker Tells Studio Plans,” A1.

  671 down to $4,500 a week: “Sheehan Rumors on Coast Now Touch on 2nd Salary Cut and Dick Rowland,” Variety, Dec. 22, 1931, 7.

  671 highest-paid executive: Ibid.

  671 recently hired Fox Film vice president: “Rowland Leaves Paramount For Vice-Presidency at Fox,” FD, Aug. 10, 1931, 1.

  671 less than half of Sheehan’s: “Sheehan Rumors on Coast Now Touch on 2nd Salary Cut and Dick Rowland,” 7.

  671 “rest” somewhere in the Pasadena area: Ibid.

  671 hotel in San Francisco: “Fox Films [sic] Studio Head Furloughed,” LAT, Jan. 12, 1932, A1.

  671 except for a bad cold: “Sheehan Rumors on Coast Now Touch on 2nd Salary Cut and Dick Rowland,” 7.

  671 return to work in early January 1932: Ibid.

  671 three months’ leave at half pay: “Sheehan, Ill, Gets 3 Months’ Leave,” NYT, Jan. 12, 1932, 29.

  671 “Sheehan sits punchdrunk”: Muir, “Add Tragedies of Wall Street: Winnie Sheehan.”

  672 Sol Wurtzel . . . stripped of almost all: “Sheehan Rumors on Coast Now Touch on 2nd Salary Cut and Dick Rowland,” 7.

  672 bought out . . . his contract for $175,000: Transcript, 427.

  672 Tinker appointed Al Rockett . . . associate producer: “Rockett Heads Fox Studios,” LAT, Jan. 19, 1932, A6.

  672 Three interlocking groups: “Sheehan Last Word On Fox Prod.,” Variety, July 5, 1932, 5.

  672 “management board”: “Kent Has Not Talked With Tinker; Fox Chief Returns From Studios,” MPH, Feb. 27, 1932, 14.

  672 “A board of directors cannot”: Mollie Merrick, “Hollywood in Person,” LAT, Feb. 18, 1932, A9.

  672 February 29, 1932, General Theatres Equipment . . . receivership: Harley Clarke testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3833.

  672 $22.3 million in notes coming due on March 15: “G.T.E. Receiver Named; Company To Reorganize,” FD, Mar. 1, 1932, 6.

  672 $22.3 million . . . April 1 interest payment: “Fox Holding Unit Put In Receivership,” NYT, Mar. 1, 1932, 31.

  672 only $2,574 in cash: Ibid.

  672 $900 million from $1.1 billion in 1930: Harley L. Clarke testimony, SEPH, Part 8, at 3819.

  672 whole industry was stupefied: “The Fox Debacle,” HR, Oct. 17, 1931, 168.

  672 studio had lost $4.3 million: Fox Film Corporation Annual Report, 1931, 8. Columbia University, Thomas J. Watson Library of Business and Economics; “$4,263,557 Fox Loss in 1931; Cut in Capitalization Proposed,” FD, Apr. 1, 1932, 1.

  672 alleged $10.25 million . . . in 1930: “$4,263,557 Fox Loss in 1931; Cut in Capitalization Proposed,” 1.

  672 revised to show a $5.56 million loss: “Refund to Fox Film President Told in Query,” WP, Nov. 28, 1933, 3.

  672 fallen by $3.8 million: “$4,263,557 Fox Loss in 1931; Cut in Capitalization Proposed,” 1.

  672 $9.61 million . . . to only $1.95 million: Ibid.

  673 let Fox Theatres go into receivership: Transcript, 653.

  673 “It gives you the chills”: Ibid., 654–55.

  673 loss of $1.9 million . . . profit of $975,000: “Fox 13 Weeks’ Loss Set as $1,922,627.78,” New York Post, May 31, 1932.

  673 “I don’t understand it”: Transcript, 204.

  673 “If the Chase Bank had gone to a wrecking company”: Ibid., 638.

  CHAPTER 48: UPTON SINCLAIR PRESENTS WILLIAM FOX

  674 “All is lost save memory”: F. Scott Fitzgerald, “My Lost City,” in The Crack-Up (New York: New Directions, 1945), 33.

  674 worked on his investments: “Try to Sort Out Fox Transactions,” New York Sun, July 21, 1936.

  674 “When you see him playing golf”: “Fox of Fox,” Fortune, Apr. 1931, 90.

  674 One Sunday afternoon: David A. Brown to the Justice of the District Court of the United States, Philadelphia, PA, Apr. 9, 1941, 9, DABP.

  674 January 1931: Transcript, 617.

  674 meeting of about one hundred people: Ibid.

  674 soup kitchen was about to close: Ibid.

  674 first to speak up: Ibid., 618.

  674 a check the next morning for $25,000: Ibid.

  674 six hundred people for the next ten weeks: Ibid.

  674 pledged another $3,000 . . . the following March: “$25,000 Fox Gift Aids Unemployed,” Woodmere-Hewlett Herald, Jan. 29, 1931, 1.

  674 “one of the most storming events”: Ibid.

  674 large custom-made organ: “Huge Organ, Gift of Foxes, Feature of Temple Israel,” Woodmere-Hewlett Herald, Feb. 12, 1931, 1.

  674 Boy Scouts fund-raising: “Scouts of Branch Join in $100,000 Drive,” Woodmere-Hewlett Herald, June 11, 1931, 1.

  675 “I have had two years”: Transcript, 154.

  675 “[W]hat is the thing”: Ibid.

  675 Eva suggested he write: Ibid., 57

  675 “a very likeable man”: Salka Viertel, The Kindness of Strangers (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969), 137.

  675 long time close friend of . . . Untermyer: Oral History interview with Upton Sinclair (1962), 33, CCOHA.

  675 Contacted first . . . Fox’s secretary: USPWF, xi.

  675 extended stay at Cottage Hospital’s: “William Fox Silent on Plans for Future,” LAT, Mar. 9, 1932, A2.

  675 clients such as Mae West: “Mae, Don’t Ruin Them Coives!” LAT, Sept. 26, 1933, 10.

  675 limousine delivered Fox . . . Reass: USPWF, xi.

  675 working on a novel . . . set it aside: Oral History interview with Upton Sinclair, 213, CCOHA; Upton Sinclair, The Autobiography of Upton Sinclair (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1962), 260.

  675 Fox had offered $25,000: Oral History interview with Upton Sinclair, 213, CCOHA.

  675 Two months earlier . . . avoid returning to Russia: Marie Seton, Sergei M. Eisenstein: A Biography (New York: Grove Press, 1960), 230–31.

  675 tug-of-war over the rights: Ibid., 231–33.

  676 “Upton will write”: Oral History interview with Upton Sinclair , 213, CCOHA.

  676 spanned about six weeks: Upton Sinclair to William Fox, May 3, 1944. US-MSS.

  676 Three times a week: Oral History interview with Upton Sinclair, 213, CCOHA.

  676 light-blue or brown . . . trousers: USPWF, 1.

  676 limousine from Santa Barbara: “William Fox and Zukor,” Variety, May 10, 1932, 5.

  676 around 10:00 a.m. . . . four hours: USPWF, xi.

  676 in Sinclair’s study: Ibid., 1.

  676 walnut rocking chair . . . ten feet away: Ibid.

  676 “a funny little old gentleman”: Oral History interview with Upton Sinclair, 212, CCOHA.

  676 “just like an errand boy”: Ibid., 213.

  676 had to hire two stenographers: Ibid.

  676 rearrange the furniture . . . clenched his hands: USPWF, 7.

  676 voice trembled: Ibid., 8.

  676 “tired and stricken man”: Ibid.

  676 “spider’s web”: Transcript, 495.

  676 brainwashing the American public: Ibid., 468; William Fox to Upton Sinclair, June 13, 1932, 1–2, US-MSS.

  676 manufacture educational movies . . . “be taught to salute”: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, June 13, 1932, 1, US-MSS.

  677 “I have no way of knowing”: Transcript, 568.

  677 “I do not know”: Ibid.

  677 “I don’t know”: Ibid.

  677 “shyster lawye
rs”: Ibid., 450.

  677 “part and party” . . . Paramount to regain: Ibid., 622–23.

  677 “These stockholders knew”: Ibid., 590.

  677 a “pig” and “a sow”: Ibid., 387.

  677 “this great Chief Justice”: Ibid., 582–83.

  677 “I was not quarreling”: Ibid., 589.

  678 “a person could be so stupid”: William Fox testimony, SEPH, at 3711.

  678 “I don’t deserve any sympathy”: Transcript, 179.

  678 almost wished he had died: Ibid., 180.

  678 “would have received message after message”: Ibid.

  679 “was the creator of all things”: Ibid., 673.

  679 “had fought for it”: Ibid.

  679 “really believes he was”: Ibid.

  679 would be torture: Ibid., 675.

  679 “the children of my brain”: Ibid., 497.

  679 “no sum of money”: Ibid.

  679 He hadn’t expected . . . carry on: Ibid., 498.

  679 “The doorway was about”: Ibid., 554.

  679 “There must be something more”: Ibid., 473.

  680 Once he broke down: USPWF, 8.

  680 began sobbing . . . “had to walk up and down”: Ibid.

  680 “Here’s how I feel”: Transcript, 675.

  680 train back to Fox Hall: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, May 25, 1932, US-MSS.

  680 “the thirty days I spent with you”: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, July 13, 1932, 18, US-MSS.

  680 examining stock market practices: “Wall Street Inquiry By Senate Monday; Whitney Summoned,” NYT, Apr. 9, 1932, 1.

  680 “the most amusing and laughable”: Transcript, 615.

  680 let Sinclair offer him as a witness: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, July 13, 1932, 17, US-MSS.

  681 gangsters . . . bootleggers: Ibid., 18.

  681 crooked politicians: “Judge Gets 6 Years for Liquor Bribes,” NYT, May 3, 1927, 2.

  681 reputation for “bullyragging”: Oral History interview with Ferdinand Pecora (1962), 662. CCOHA.

  681 “delighted,” he told Gray: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, July 13, 1932, 19, US-MSS.

  681 “heaps and heaps of questions”: Ibid., 20.

  681 checking into the Mayflower Hotel: “Fox May Miss Quiz On Stock By Senate,” WP, June 20, 1932, 2.

  681 about 3:00 a.m.: William Fox to Upton Sinclair, July 13, 1932, 22, US-MSS.

  681 didn’t leave for five days: “William Fox Quits Capital Despite Senate’s Subpena [sic],” WP, June 21, 1932, 1.