The Man Who Made the Movies

by Vanda Krefft

  379 “Applause came fast”: “Newspaper Opinions on New Pictures,” MPN, Sept. 25, 1926, 2190.

  379 Four days later . . . “gripping their seats”: “What Price Glory Premiere,” MPN, Dec. 4, 1926, 2149.

  380 “masterpiece” . . . “shake the whole emotional structure”: Carl Sandburg review of What Price Glory, originally published Dec. 27, 1926, in the Chicago Daily News, reprinted in Bernstein, ed., The Movies Are, 328–30.

  380 “It’s war as real”: Carl Sandburg review of What Price Glory, originally published Dec. 27, 1926, in the Chicago Daily News, reprinted in Bernstein, ed., The Movies Are, 329.

  380 “savage simplicity”: William A. Johnston, “What Price Glory a Brilliant Triumph for Producer, Author, Cast and Director,” MPN, Nov. 27, 1926, 2016.

  380 “Fox’s greatest triumph”: Laurence Reid, review of What Price Glory, MPN, Dec. 4, 1926, 2160.

  380 “undeniably” the best movie: Lillian W. Brennan, “A Review of Reviews,” FD, Dec. 13, 1926, 1.

  380 took in $2 million: Lon Jones, “Which Cinema Films Have Earned the Most Money Since 1914?” The Argus (Melbourne, Australia), Mar. 4, 1944, 3.

  380 movie was mainly a comedy: “What Price Glory” review, NYT, X7.

  380 clock the movie for laughs: Kann, “Here and There,” FD, Dec. 3, 1926, 1.

  380 officially became head of production: “Winfield Sheehan, Empire Builder of the Screen,” New York Morning Telegraph, Jan. 2, 1927, 7.

  380 longest tenure: “Wurtzel’s 9 Yr. Record,” Variety, Sept. 8, 1926, 4.

  381 “poorly directed,” . . . “horse laugh”: The Road to Glory review, MPN, Feb. 20, 1926, 911.

  373 “pretty bad”: Joseph McBride, Hawks on Hawks (Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 1982), 26.

  381 “[F]or God’s sake”: Ibid.

  381 Technicolor fashion show: Fox Film ad, Fig Leaves, MPN, July 24, 1926.

  381 money back in one theater: Ibid.

  381 “fairly radiates sympathy”: George T. Pardy, review of Lazybones, MPN, Oct. 31, 1925, 2059.

  381 Janet Gaynor . . . $100 per week: Gaynor, “My Life—So Far,” as told to Dorothy Spensley, Photoplay, Jan. 1929, 94.

  381 “daringly spectacular flood scene”: The Johnstown Flood review, MPN, Mar, 13, 1926, 1211.

  382 “Your exhibitors are”: W. Stephen Bush, “Stories of the Builders,” MPW, Jan. 3, 1925, 19.

  382 quietly let the director go: “J. Gordon Edwards Leaving,” Weekly Variety, Apr. 2, 1924, 17.

  382 nearly $350,000: “J. G. Edwards Estate $137,104,” NYT, Apr. 18, 1929, 39.

  382 3,000 shares: Ibid., 39.

  382 another round of job hunting: Ruth Waterbury, “The Final Fade-outs,” Photoplay, Mar. 1926, 34.

  382 scheduled to check out: Ibid.

  382 fifty-eight-year-old: “Gordon Edwards Dead,” FD, Jan. 3, 1926, 1.

  382 his room at the Plaza: “Director of Fox Films Succumbs,” LAT, Jan. 1, 1926, 1.

  382 pneumonia: Ibid.

  382 “A broken heart”: Waterbury, “The Final Fade-outs,” 34.

  383 “A prince among men”: “Anxiety,” FD, Jan. 10, 1926, 3.

  383 “folly, reckless living”: Fox Film ad, The Dancers, MPN, Jan. 10, 1925.

  383 “rent man”: “Tom Mix Renews Contract With Fox Film Corporation,” MPW, Jan. 31, 1925, 491.

  383 more than 7,000 theaters: William A. Johnston, “An Editor in Hollywood,” MPN, Mar. 14, 1925, 1078.

  383 “Personally I wouldn’t give a dime”: “Fox—Heart Buster,” MPW, May 16, 1925, 306.

  383 “Why play so-called high class”: “Fox—Oh You Tony,” MPW, June 6, 1925, 638.

  383 three-and-a-half-year: “Tom Mix Renews Contract with Fox Film Corporation,” 491.

  383 $2 million contract with Mix: “Mix’s $2,000,000 Fox Job,” Variety, Jan. 21, 1925, 1.

  383 highest-salaried actor . . . profit percentage: Ibid.

  383 “one of the finest men” . . . “grateful”: “Tom Mix’s Own Story,” Photoplay, Apr. 1925, 107.

  384 sold his Frankel Brothers . . . to R.H. Macy: “Joseph Frankel, 57, Manufacturer, Dies,” NYT, Aug. 15, 1936, 15.

  384 Spanish-style $15 million Biltmore Shores: “Biltmore Shores to Start at $15,000,000,” New York World, May 2, 1926, 2RE.

  384 557 acres at Massapequa . . . Great South Bay: “Biltmore Shores Will Open May 9,” New York American, May 2, 1926, 6RE.

  384 large lagoon . . . yet to be started: “Biltmore Shores to Start at $15,000,000,” 2RE.

  384 chartered a special train: Biltmore Shores ad, New York American, May 2, 1926, 2RE.

  384 first section of 1,300 lots: “560 Lots on Market,” NYT, May 30, 1926, RE26.

  384 “your own ideal home”: Biltmore Shores ad, New York American, 2RE.

  384 “You are as free”: Ibid.

  384 May 30, 1926 . . . 560 lots: “560 Lots on Market,” NYT, RE26.

  384 428 acres in Merrick, New York: “Long Island Tract Sold to J. Frankel,” NYT, Mar. 21, 1926, E16.

  CHAPTER 28: TALKING PICTURES

  385 “The thing that attracted me”: Transcript, 63.

  385 lagged only on rainy nights: Ibid., 163.

  385 “The eyes had seen so much”: Ibid.

  385 easier for the average person: Ibid.

  385 “find our theaters empty”: Ibid., 164.

  385 Thomas Edison thought . . . 1887: Edward W. Kellogg, “History of Sound Motion Pictures, First Installment,” JSMPTE, June 1955, 291.

  386 Chronophone: “Moving Pictures That Talk,” MPN, June 1, 1912, 21.

  386 Cameraphone: Cameraphone ad, Variety, Dec. 12, 1908, 64; “‘Talking Pictures’ in New York,” Variety, Nov. 28, 1908, 10.

  386 Fotophone: “The Singing and Talking Picture, What Is Its Future?” MPW, May 7, 1910, 727.

  386 Synchroscope: “New ‘Talking’ Pictures,” Variety, June 13, 1908, 11.

  386 colored lights . . . revolving dials: “Latest Developments in Talking Pictures,” MPW, June 4, 1910, 945.

  386 “unquestionably very strong” . . . “the time is ripe”: “Vocalized Moving Pictures,” MPW, Oct. 16, 1909, 520.

  386 in February 1913, when Edison: “Talking Pictures Start Well But Leave Little Confidence,” Variety, Feb. 21, 1913, 7.

  386 “a couple of dogs barking”: Ibid.

  386 Edison Minstrels . . . stopped moving: Ibid.

  386 destroyed nearly three-quarters: “Mrs. Edison Saved Husband’s Records,” NYT, Dec. 11, 1914, 9.

  386 manufacturing and experimentation facilities: “Edison Sees His Vast Plant Burn,” NYT, Dec. 10, 1914, 1.

  386 “voices seemed hardly necessary”: Edward W. Kellogg, “History of Sound Motion Pictures, Second Installment,” JSMPTE, July 1955, 356.

  379 seemed to solve . . . problems: L. T. Goldsmith and G. R. Groves, “History of Sound Recording in Motion Pictures,” June 19, 1946, 6. File 635, Warner Bros. History Box, WBA.

  387 Hilles, a sales promotion manager: “Sues Promoter for $350,000,” Daily Argus (Mount Vernon, NY), Mar. 17, 1931, 1.

  387 tried to recruit . . . all refused: “Widow Asks Share,” NYT.

  387 “We didn’t take it as seriously”: Oral History interview with Adolph Zukor (1958), 34, CCOHA.

  388 Charles S. Post, got nowhere: FCC-ERPI, Part II, 161.

  388 replaced in May 1925 by promoter Walter J. Rich: Ibid.

  388 through a stockbroker friend of the Warner brothers: “Sues Promoter for $350,000,” 2.

  388 Sam Warner had heard about: “History of Warner Bros., Confidential, Warner Bros. Legal Department,” 13. File 15494B, WBA.

  388 had totaled $1.1 million: Ibid., 8.

  388 less than $250,000 for 1924: Ibid., 7.

  388 In March 1925 the Warners had restructured . . . assets of the Vitagraph: Ibid., 9.

  388 a place at the top: Maurice Kann, “The Infant Approaches Manhood,” FD, May 24, 1928, 37.

  388 “perfect-running organization
”: “Greatest Season in Company’s History Expected by Warner Brothers,” MPN, May 15, 1926, 2353.

  388 June 1925 the Warners and Rich agreed: “History of Warner Bros., Confidential, Warner Bros. Legal Department,” 15, WBA.

  388 exclusive license to produce . . . sublicense: Ibid., 16.

  388 split the sublicense profits equally: Ibid.

  388 Western Electric proposed the name Vitaphone: Ibid.

  389 industry’s most successful year . . . $750 million: John C. Eisele, “Eisele Predicts Expansion in 1927,” MPN, Jan. 7, 1927, 41.

  389 $700 million in 1925: “Universal to Own 1,000 Film Theatres,” NYT, Nov. 30, 1925, 33.

  389 “The thing that attracted me . . . How could I leave”: Transcript, 63.

  389 brilliant and prolific inventor: When he died at age eighty-seven in 1961, de Forest had amassed more than three hundred U.S. and foreign patents (“Lee de Forest, 87, Radio Pioneer, Dies,” NYT, July 2, 1961, 1 + 32.).

  389 in 1908: De Forest patented an earlier, noncommercially viable version of the Audion in 1907.

  389 three-element tube: Joel Swensen, “The Entrepreneur’s Role in Introducing the Sound Motion Picture,” Political Science Quarterly, 63, no. 3 (Sept. 1948): 408.

  389 long-distance telephony . . . radio: A. D. McFadyen, “Lee de Forest,” Journal of the Patent Office Society, June 1937, 419. LOC, Lee de Forest Papers, Box 2.

  389 express trains . . . artificial fever: Ibid.

  390 de Forest had tried unsuccessfully to arrange a meeting: Transcript, 171.

  390 “repeated thievery”: Lee de Forest, “To American Invntors at International Patent Exposition Assembled,” Sept. 8, 1931, unpublished. LOC, Lee de Forest Papers, Box 1, Folder 1931.

  390 $50,000 to AT&T . . .$90,000 to RCA: Lee de Forest to Philip Nowlan, July 8, 1927. LOC, Lee de Forest Papers, Box 1, Folder 1927.

  390 quickly made millions: Ibid.

  390 “Anti-Add” device: “The de Forest Anti-Add,” unpublished. LOC, Lee de Forest Papers, Containter 1, “ca. 1925–1926” folder.

  390 thirty-seven-year-old: Born Dec. 12, 1888.

  390 Case . . . left Phonofilm in late 1925: E. I. Sponable, “Historical Development of Sound Films,” JSMPE, 48, no. 4 (Apr. 1947): 294.

  390 reproducing counterpart, the Thalofide cell: J. Douglas Gomery, “The Coming of Sound to the American Cinema: A History of the Transformation of an Industry” (PhD diss., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1975), 45.

  390 backward or forward: Sponable, “Historical Development of Sound Films” (Aor. 1947): 286.

  390 Jack Leo commissioned Case: Transcript, 168.

  390 first day back: Ibid.

  390 “It sang beautifully . . . a marvel”: Ibid.

  391 senior executives . . . risky: “Answer of William Fox to ‘Open Letter’ of Halsey, Stuart & Co. of March 24, 1930 and to Statement and Affidavit of Winfield R. Sheehan,” 16. HTC.

  391 didn’t want talking pictures . . . “restful quiet”: “Americans Don’t Want Talking Movies; Prefer Silent Film Shows, Says Edison,” NYT, May 21, 1926, 12.

  391 July 23, 1926 . . . Fox-Case Corporation: A. G. Davis to Owen D. Young, Aug. 27, 1926, 1, ODY.

  391 Case turning over all his sound patents: Gomery, “The Coming of Sound” (diss.), 178.

  391 receiving in exchange . . . research lab: A. G. Davis to Owen D. Young, Aug. 27, 1926, 1–2, ODY.

  391 substantial block of . . . stock: Transcript, 169, 171.

  391 two completely soundproof stages: E. I. Sponable, “Historical Development of Sound Films,” JSMPE 48, no. 5 (May 1947): 407–8.

  391 $1 million . . . outdoor sound filming: Transcript, 170.

  391 crucial for sound . . . outdoors: Ibid., 169.

  391 “One was a rooster crowing . . . ‘Now you have it’”: Ibid., 170.

  391 Less than two weeks . . . patent infringement: “Lee de Forest Sues Company Officials,” NYT, Aug. 5, 1926, 18; “De Forest Charges Fox With Infringement,” Variety, Aug. 4, 1926, 4.

  391 “the Greatest of All Screen Achievements”: Don Juan ad, FD, June 9, 1926, 6–7.

  391 opening-night tickets priced at ten dollars: Vitaphone ad, FD, July 30, 1926, 3.

  392 “remarkable synchronization”: New York Graphic, quoted in “Vitaphone Praised,” FD, Aug. 9, 1926, 3.

  392 “wonders of the world”: New York Sun, quoted in Ibid.

  392 sold out every performance: “History of Warner Bros., Confidential, Warner Bros. Legal Department,” 19, File 15494B, WBA.

  392 denied de Forest’s claims: “Injunction Sought,” FD, Aug. 5, 1926, 15.

  392 self-sufficient sound system: Transcript, 231.

  392 AT&T and General Electric claimed to own: Ibid.

  392 “I was amazed”: Ibid.

  392 couldn’t match . . . Vitaphone or even of a good radio: Alfred M. Goldsmith to General James G. Harbord, Aug. 26, 1926, 2, ODY.

  392 Low and high . . . “sparkle”: Ibid., 4–5.

  392 In 1920 and 1921: ERPI Answer, William Fox Isis et al. vs. AT&T et al., 4–5. NARA NYC. The agreements were amended on July 1, 1926.

  392 to share reciprocally: Stanley Company vs. AT&T, et al., Complaint, 2. WBA.

  392 Westinghouse had joined with General Electric on talking pictures: Robert Gitt, A Century of Sound The Beginning: 1876–1932, DVD. Los Angeles: Regents of the University of California and the Rick Chace Foundation, 2007.

  393 “far-reaching significance”: Reproduction of Don Juan program, Aug. 6, 1926, in “The 50th Anniversary of Vitaphone.” PAM 565, MHL.

  393 co-authored the Dawes Plan: “Owen D. Young, 87, Industrialist, Dies,” NYT, July 12, 1962, 1 + 25. In 1929, Young would create the Young Plan to rehabilitate the German economy, leading Time Magazine to name him “Man of the Year.”

  393 tall, quiet: “Owen D. Young, 87, Industrialist, Dies,” 1 + 25.

  393 in his early fifties: Born on Oct. 27, 1874.

  393 “as you would to a demigod”: Transcript, 233.

  393 “He is the type of man”: Ibid.

  393 offering access . . . all departments: Alfred N. Goldsmith to General James G. Harbord, Aug. 26, 1926, ODY.

  393 “extremely liberal”: Albert G. Davis to David Sarnoff, Sept. 11, 1926, ODY.

  393 On September 23, 1926: “Suit for $2,770,000 Brought By De Forest,” NYT, Nov. 8, 1930, 28.

  393 $1,000 two-week option: “Fox Sues De Forest To Recover $100,000,” NYT, May 21, 1927, 22.

  393 $2.52 million . . . $50,000 annually: “Suit for $2,770,000 Brought By De Forest,” 28; “Fox Sues De Forest To Recover $100,000,” 22.

  394 might have signed: Transcript, 116.

  394 tickets for the Dempsey-Tunney fight: Ibid.

  394 Young suggested . . . the following morning: Ibid.

  394 “deal was changed”: Ibid.

  394 reduce Fox Film’s role: Ibid.

  394 hopeful enough not to deny: “Device ‘Films’ Voice for Talking Movies,” NYT, Oct. 27, 1926, 19.

  394 paying $100,000 for an extra four weeks: Lee de Forest diaries, Vols. 16–23. LOC, Microfilm, Box 4, Reel 2, Image 557.

  394 again to November 24: “De Forest Sued by Fox for $100,000 on Alleged Option,” MPW, May 28, 1927, 249.

  394 up to 35 percent: Transcript, 116.

  394 One morning: Ibid.

  394 RCA recalled its engineers: Ibid.

  394 collect all its equipment: Ibid., 233.

  394 the deal was dead: “Fox Deal for Talking Film Device Dropped,” FD, Nov. 16, 1926, 1.

  394 “boasted of the fact”: Transcript, 234.

  395 “There is no doubt”: Ibid., 233.

  395 had no written agreement: Ibid.

  395 violation of honor stunned Fox: Ibid., 233–34.

  395 believe that de Forest had sold . . . AT&T: “Fox Sues De Forest To Recover $100,000,” 22.

  395 pertained only to radio: Ibid.

  395 causing de Forest to reactivate: “DeForest Suit Against Fox on
Sound Patents Up this Month,” EH-MPW, Nov. 17, 1928, 39.

  395 $2 million demand: Donald Crafton, The Talkies: American Cinema’s Transition to Sound, 1926–1931 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1997), 91.

  395 “hell-hound” who “kyke-like”: Lee de Forest diaries, Vols. 16–23. LOC, Microfilm, Box 4, Reel 2, Image 558.

  395 selling the company to the General Talking Pictures: “Company Acquires De Forest Phonofilm,” EH-MPW, Oct. 13, 1928, 31.

  395 owned by a South African theater chain: Gomery, “The Coming of Sound” (diss.), 48.

  395 June 1937, when a federal judge dismissed: “Dismisses De Forest Suit,” MPD, June 30, 1937, 10.

  395 optioned in October 1926: FCC-ERPI, Part II, 472.

  395 two large textile manufacturers and a bank: “The Why of the Tri-Ergon Patents,” MPH, Nov. 10, 1934, 12.

  395 In 1925 they’d licensed . . . with the Matches: Ibid.

  395 flopped so badly . . . canceled its contracts: Ibid.

  396 filed by the three German inventors on March 20, 1922: “Defendants’ Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law,” 2, Cases 971 and 971, U.S. District Court, Philadelphia, PA. NARA-PHL.

  396 fifteen-year Navy veteran: “Paramount Board Elects Otterson,” NYT, June 5, 1935, 29.

  396 former president of the Winchester rifle company: “John E. Otterson, Shipbuilder, Dies,” NYT, Aug. 11, 1964, 33.

  396 $1.6 billion in total assets—or . . . $2.9 billion: “Ten Companies Reach the Billion Mark,” NYT, Mar. 27, 1927, XX1.

  396 Warner Bros. ranked seventh: Gomery, “The Coming of Sound” (diss.), 78.

  396 assets of only $5 million: Danny [Joe Dannenberg], “Profits,” FD, Jan. 15, 1926, 1.

  396 uninterested in acquiring social graces: Gabler, An Empire of Their Own, 125.

  396 “a blunt, often tactless, vulgarian”: Philip K. Scheuer, “Jack L. Warner: Last of Moguls Tells His Story,” LAT, June 13, 1965, N1.

  396 “too burdensome”: FCC-ERPI, Part II, 168.

  396 Otterson’s superiors overruled him: “History of Warner Bros., Confidential, Warner Bros. Legal Department,” 16, WBA.

  396 deficit of nearly $1.3 million: Warner Bros. Financial Statement, Aug. 28, 1926, WBA.

  396 December 17, 1926 . . . “incompetent” and lacking: FCC-ERPI, Part II, 169.

  397 “a most embarrassing dilemma”: Ibid.

  397 anticipated record revenues of $25 million for 1926: “Fox Film Corp.,” FD, Sept. 27, 1926, 4.