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1198 lines
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* T A Y L O R O L O G Y *
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* A Continuing Exploration of the Life and Death of William Desmond Taylor *
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* *
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* Issue 4 -- April 1993 Editor: Bruce Long bruce@asu.edu *
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* All reprinted material is in the public domain *
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*****************************************************************************
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What is TAYLOROLOGY?
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TAYLOROLOGY is a newsletter focusing on the life and death of William Desmond
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Taylor, a top film Paramount film director in early Hollywood who was shot to
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death on February 1, 1922. His unsolved murder was one of Hollywood's major
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scandals. This newsletter will deal with: (a) The facts of Taylor's life;
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(b) The facts and rumors of Taylor's murder; (c) The impact of the Taylor
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murder on Hollywood and the nation. Primary emphasis will be given toward
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reprinting, referencing and analyzing source material, and sifting it for
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accuracy.
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What were issues 1-3 of TAYLOROLOGY? They were printed issues several
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years ago. The first issue reprinted the complete transcript of the Coroner's
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Inquest; that transcript was subsequently reprinted again in A DEED OF DEATH
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by Robert Giroux. The second issue had a list of over 100 possible errors
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found in Sidney Kirkpatrick's A CAST OF KILLERS; that list was expanded in
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the book WILLIAM DESMOND TAYLOR: A DOSSIER (hereafter called WDT DOSSIER) by
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Bruce Long. The third issue was a large collection of press clippings
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pertaining to Taylor's life in hollywood; those clippings (and many more)
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were all reprinted in WDT DOSSIER. Because the essence of those first three
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issues can be found in hardcover, there are no present plans to reprint those
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issues here.
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Reader input is welcome, in the form of "Letters to the Editor," short
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articles, and contributed source material.
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*****************************************************************************
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CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE:
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A Few Murder Suspects
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Fragments from Taylor's Life
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Suggested Reading
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"The Humor of a Hollywood Murder":
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Foreword (by Kevin Brownlow), Introduction, Prelude, Bon Mots
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*****************************************************************************
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A Few Murder Suspects
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Within a few years of the murder, the press had printed a wide range of
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rumors and speculations about Taylor's death. The endnotes indicate sample
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references for each theory. It was suggested that Taylor was killed by:
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1. A jealous woman:
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a. Actress Mabel Normand [1]
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b. Screenwriter Julia Crawford Ivers [2]
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c. An unidentified woman (many variations)[3]
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2. A jealous man who was in love with one of Taylor's female friends:
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a. Producer Mack Sennett[4]
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b. Director Marshall Neilan [5]
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c. Pencil-fortune heir Tommy Dixon [6]
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d. Actor Rudolph Valentino [7]
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e. Albert Sans [8]
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d. An unidentified man (many variations) [9]
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3. Taylor's ex-servant, Edward F. Sands [10]
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4. A member of a mystic homosexual opium cult [11]
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5. An unidentified blackmailer [12]
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6. A Canadian soldier whom Taylor had court-martialed during
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World War I [13]
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7. Noted prohibition gangster "Dapper Don" Collins [14]
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8. Taylor's servant, Henry Peavey [15]
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9. A burglar [16]
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10. A drug peddler whose trade Taylor had interfered with
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a. Wong Lee [17]
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b. Tom Wah [18]
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c. Harry Lee [19]
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d. Jack Kramer [20]
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e. "Morphine Mose" [21]
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f. An unidentified drug peddler (many variations) [22]
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11. A gang of bootleggers whom Taylor had threatened for attempting to sell
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him inferior liquor [23]
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12. An old enemy from the Klondike Gold Rush [24]
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13. Rivals in a "film war" for control of the movie industry [25]
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14. A small child, accidentally [26]
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15. Taylor's brother, Denis Deane-Tanner [27]
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16. Someone who mistook Taylor for a notorious criminal [28]
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17. Charlotte Shelby, mother of Mary Miles Minter [29]
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18. Someone to whom Taylor had privately lent money (the killer was
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attempting to avoid repayment) [30]
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19. A disgruntled studio employee whom Taylor had fired [31]
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20. Irish nationalists [32]
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21. The brother of a girl who had committed suicide after Taylor had
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deserted her [33]
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22. A moral fanatic, attempting to take action against the "evil" film
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industry [34]
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23. A "society man" whose hatred Taylor had innocently incurred and who had
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already tried to kill Taylor once [35]
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24. Someone Taylor asked to kill him [36]
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25. An actor whom Taylor had rejected for a film role [37]
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26. Newspaperman Honore Connette [38]
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27. Actor Gareth Hughes [39]
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28. The Ku-Klux-Klan [40]
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29. A deranged drug addict [41]
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30. Aleister Crowley's Ordo-Templi-Orientis [42]
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31. Songwriter Harry Williams [43]
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32. Walter Kirby [44]
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33. Mr. Anderson [45]
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34. Taxi driver Daniel O'Shea [46]
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35. A lunatic movie fan [47]
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36. A friend of the person victimized by Peavey [48]
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37. A movie man verbally branded a "slacker" (for avoiding military service
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in World War I) by Taylor [49]
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38. Others unidentified [50]
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Fragments from Taylor's Life
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November 27, 1920
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Ray Davidson
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DRAMATIC MIRROR
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The growth and development of motion pictures have disclosed one
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outstanding fact--that the successful film director MUST know life. If
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dealing with one particular phase his knowledge of that angle should be
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perfect. And of course it stands to reason that the man of widest experience
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is best able to accurately reproduce the humanities of a story.
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How many times one hears, "I don't think the maker of that picture was
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ever inside of a mine" or "Certainly English society doesn't act like THAT!"
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and so on as various discrepancies are flashed on the screen.
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"To portray life--one must have lived it."
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Certainly this axiom proves especially true in the case of William D.
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Taylor, now a producer of special productions for Realart. Mr. Taylor has
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gained a very particular reputation for human photoplays, plays of real
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people acting in a real way under different circumstantces. He will be
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particularly remembered for HUCKLEBERRY FINN, TOM SAWYER, THE VARMINT, THE
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SOUL OF YOUTH, THE FURNACE and a score of other pictures, all of them
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remarkable for their reality.
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The reason is not far to seek. For certainly of all the present day
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producers Mr. Taylor stands foremost in the matter of life experiences.
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Successively Irish student, Kansas rancher, Klondike miner, construction
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engineer of large industrial projects, actor and director of film features,
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he has encompassed an unusual segment of human activity.
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Mr. Taylor was born on the country estate of his grandfather, near
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Mallows [sic] in County Cork, Ireland. His mother was an Irish gentlewoman,
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his father a Colonel of English troops. The elder wished his son to become
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an army officer and in preparation he was sent to Clifton College for
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preparatory work in engineering, then going to Germany and France for
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training in those countries.
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Always, however, he had been fond of the play and cherished ambitions to
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tread in the footsteps of Sir Henry Irving and others. His father frowned
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severely upon anything connected with the stage and discouraged these
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ambitions.
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Shortly after his eighteenth birthday the Young Taylor was in
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Manchester, England, when the famous Charles Hawtry was appearing in THE
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PRIVATE SECRETARY. The present film producer applied to Hawtrey, told him he
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had "lots of experience"--and was given a small part.
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Friends of the family saw him on the stage in London and called his
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father post-haste. The result was that the boy was banished to a farm at
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Harper, Kansas!
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This did not cure him, however, for after a year and a half farming he
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signed to play with Fanny Davenport, taking for three seasons the juveniles
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in such well-known old plays as LA TOSCA, GISMONDA, FEDORA, CLEOPATRA and
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JOAN OF ARC.
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Miss Davenport's death and the Klondike rush came simultaneously.
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Remembering he was a licensed engineer he went north, made and lost a fortune-
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-and then returned to play with Sol Smith Russell, Castle Square (Boston)
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stock and in the leading roles of such famous old productions as MEN AND
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WOMEN, BUTTERFLIES, THE GIRL WITH THE GREEN EYES, SOWING THE WIND and MADAME
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SANS GENE. After this came another trip to the Klondike, a barnstorming
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engagement to the Orient with Harry Corson Clarke and on return he built a
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big paper mill at Swanson Bay, B.C.
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Shortly after this he entered motion pictures with the old Kay Bee,
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doing THE ICONOCLAST. Then came engagements with Ince and Vicagraph. Balboa
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gave him his first chance to direct. He made five pictures with them, then
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going to American for production of the famous old sixty-reel serial DIAMOND
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FROM THE SKY. By this time he had become a seasoned director, signing with
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the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation with whom he remained until his
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affiliation with Realart.
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Among the pictures he did for Famous were DAVY CROCKETT and PARSON OF
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PANAMINT, Dustin Farnum; PASQUALE, George Beban; REDEEMING LOVE, OUT OF THE
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WRECK, Kathlyn Williams; THE WORLD APART, Wallace Reid; JACK AND JILL; THE
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VARMINT, MILE A MINUTE KENDALL, Jack Pickford and Louise Huff; UP THE ROAD
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WITH SALLIE, Constance Talmadge; HOU COULD YOU JEAN?, JOHANNA ENLISTS, Mary
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Pickford. For Realart he has done ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, JUDY OF ROGUE'S
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HARBOR, NURSE MARJORIE and JENNY BE GOOD with Mary Miles Minter and in his
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own right, THE SOUL OF YOUTH, THE FURNACE and THE WITCHING HOUR.
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Mr. Taylor is very grateful that he has had a life of such unusual
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variety.
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"I find use every day for some phase of it," he tells his friends. "It
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is an invaluable possession to a man called upon to reproduce real life. A
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story can't be presented on the screen in a human, gripping manner unless the
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director has been actually in contact with the situations depicted. A
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director of limited human experience must sooner or later 'come a cropper'.
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It is a profession which demands the knowing of something about a great many
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people and things.
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"For instance--I never thought at the time that being marooned all one
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winter in the backwoods of Alaska would be one of the most valuable things
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that could have happened to me. It was a terrible period. I had only a
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train of sledge dogs for company. But it was being with these dogs so
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constantly that gave me a love for animals, an ability to handle them. It
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has been said that I have been exceptionally successful in the use of 'animal
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stuff' in pictures. If this is so--it is entirely do to the six months alone
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with the dogs.
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"Army life? My father was a military man and I served in the British
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army. Mining, fishing, hunting, construction of industrial projects? When
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such problems come up there is always a niche somewhere in my memory which
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has stored up the information wanted.
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"How would a man act if he were about to be killed by a crazy man--or in
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danger of death from any source? I can assuredly answer the first part of
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that question--and tell my players should such a situation arise in the
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stories I do. For while in the Klondike one time my cabin was entered by a
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man who calmly announced that he was going to kill me, quoting certain
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passages from the Bible as authority. I took down a Bible--showed him where
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his quotation was wrong--and he forgot all about the killing!
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"But that's only by way of illustration. Life isn't made up of such
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melodramatic incidents. Mostly it flows along smoothly with certain
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characteristics in youth, maturity and middle age. There are some features
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in life that are the same anywhere--others are different according to
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locality. I found a month's hunting and fishing trip along the Mississippi
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River invaluable in working out the character of 'Huckleberry Finn'--assuring
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its accuracy. For certainly the boy of the Big River has different pleasures
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than the boy of Massachusetts, say.
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"In the same manner the memory of fashionable London in my father's time
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helped immeasurably in making correct the English society scenes of THE
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FURNACE.
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"A man must know these things himself to get them right. All the
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technical directors in the world won't help if the man who is making the
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picture doesn't know LIFE as it really is."
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Again comes the original statement, "To portray life--one must have
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lived it." Certainly this has proven true of William D. Taylor, student,
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engineer, miner, farmer, actor and director of feature productions.
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Such variety in life is bound to be reflected in Mr. Taylor's
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productions. They will teem with real life and real people because he has
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lived life among real people. He has been through the tempestuous school of
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experience the slogan of which is "the survival of the fittest." Naturally
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he brings the fruit of his knowledge to his directorial tasks. And that is
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why one is very apt to see the absorbing, the natural, the life-like
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pervading his photoplays.
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Take THE FURNACE which is being shown in New York. It is a story
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purporting to show the trials and tribulations of people who enter the state
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of matrimony, some to be burnt beyond recognition, others to be purified by
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the scorching fire of successful adjustment to new and strange conditions.
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Mr. Taylor sought to get away from the conventional. He wanted to do a big
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theme in a big way. And he succeeded, because he was true to his purpose.
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He was conscientious to a fault in bringing out domestic detail, in fitting
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the action to the titles.
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And it has been this way with Mr. Taylor throughout his motion picture
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career. And his picturesque life has lent color to his productions that they
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would not otherwise have had. No details of life on the farm or in the mine,
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in college, on the stage are lacking in truthfulness in the films that he
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directs. He sees to that. The result is a picture in which the human
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quality is uppermost. And when photoplays reflect this human quality they
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are art. Trust William D. Taylor! He is a sincere and intelligent director.
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He believes in motion pictures. And motion pictures will be the greater
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because of him.
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*****************************************************************************
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Suggested Reading
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For those interested in additional information about Taylor,
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particularly the famous murder which ended his life, the following sources
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may prove useful. Most published recaps of the murder are filled with errors
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and all information must be carefully sifted for accuracy. In addition to the
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sources listed below, many books have chapters on the Taylor murder
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(including HOLLYWOOD HEARTBREAK, TALES FROM THE HOLLYWOOD RAJ, ACTS OF
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MURDER, WHODUNIT?--HOLLYWOOD STYLE, HOLLYWOOD R.I.P., KILLERS UNKNOWN, TEN
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REAL MURDER MYSTERIES, CELEBRITY MURDERS, UNSOLVED MYSTERIES, etc.), but they
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are not listed below because they add nothing to the established literature,
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and are filled with the usual errors--the same can be said of the many
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discussions of the case in "crime encyclopedias." Of course the original news
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papers of the time are also very useful; in addition to the five Los Angeles
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papers of 1922 (TIMES, EXAMINER, RECORD, HERALD, EXPRESS) the CHICAGO
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AMERICAN must be seen for its ultra-sensational coverage.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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Most Valuable Sources:
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Robert Giroux, A DEED OF DEATH (Knopf, 1990). Well-written recap of the case,
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superb photo selection. Includes the complete transcript of the coroner's
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inquest, and an index. This book advocates the theory that Taylor was killed
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by drug gangsters; the only major fault in the book is that the Shelby-as-
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killer theory is too quickly brushed aside.
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Sidney Kirkpatrick, A CAST OF KILLERS (Dutton, 1986). Contains some material
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from the police file, and many rumors attempting to prove that Charlotte
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Shelby killed Taylor. This book was a best-seller and was followed by
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paperback editions containing minor revisions.
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Bruce Long, WILLIAM DESMOND TAYLOR: A DOSSIER (Scarecrow, 1991). Includes
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recaps of the case written by two detectives involved in the investigation,
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and extensive annotated criticism of the Kirkpatrick and Giroux books.
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Mack Sennett and Cameron Shipp, KING OF COMEDY (Doubleday, 1954). This book
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has three chapters on the murder, including some transcripts from the
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District Attorney's file which have not been published elsewhere.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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General Recaps of the Taylor Murder (Often Error-Filled):
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Kenneth Anger, HOLLYWOOD BABYLON (Straight Arrow, 1975), pp. 32- 41.
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Harry Carr, "Who Killed William Desmond Taylor?" SCREEN SECRETS (April 1929)
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pp. 24ff.
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William H. A. Carr, HOLLYWOOD TRAGEDY (Fawcett Crest, 1976), pp. 49-72.
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Betty Harper Fussell, MABEL (Ticknor & Fields, 1982). Better than most
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others.
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Erle Stanley Gardner, "William Desmond Taylor," THE LOS ANGELES MURDERS, ed.
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by Craig Rice (Duell, Sloan & Pearce, 1947), pp. 85-119.
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Alan Hynd, "Murder in Hollywood," AMERICAN MERCURY (November 1949), pp. 594-
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601.
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Morris Markey, "Who Killed William Desmond Taylor?" ESQUIRE (November 1950),
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pp. 65ff.
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Colleen Moore, SILENT STAR (Doubleday, 1968), pp. 78-89.
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Ellery Queen, "The Taylor Case: The Murder Hollywood Can't Forget," AMERICAN
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WEEKLY (October 26, 1952).
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Capt. J. A. Winn, "Who Killed William Desmond Taylor?" FRONT PAGE DETECTIVE
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(June 1937) pp. 56ff.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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Special Material Pertaining to the Murder:
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Frank Bartholomew, BART: MEMOIRS OF FRANK H. BARTHOLOMEW (Vine Press, 1983),
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pp. 26-27. A reporter's memoirs.
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Kevin Brownlow, HOLLYWOOD: THE PIONEERS (Knopf, 1979), p. 112. Brief
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statement by Mary Miles Minter.
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Edward Doherty, GALL AND HONEY (Sheed & Ward, 1941), pp. 196-202. A
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reporter's memoirs.
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Charles Higham, CELEBRITY CIRCUS (Delacorte, 1979), pp. 109-117. Rare
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interview with Mary Miles Minter.
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Edward Knoblock, ROUND THE ROOM (Chapman and Hall, 1939), pp. 306-308. He
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lived in Taylor's house at the time of Sands' theft.
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Bruce Long, "The William Desmond Taylor Murder Case," CLASSIC FILM COLLECTOR
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(Winter 1977) pp.24-32. Reprints statements made by many Hollywood
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celebrities after the murder.
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Florabel Muir, HEADLINE HAPPY (Holt, 1950), pp. 100-102. A reporter's
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memoirs.
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Adela Rogers St. Johns, THE HONEYCOMB (Doubleday, 1969), pp. 106-110. A
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reporter's memoirs.
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Sidney Sutherland, "Mabel Normand--Comedienne and Madcap," LIBERTY (Sept. 27
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and Oct. 4, 1930). Mabel Normand's most detailed statement of her activities
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on the day Taylor died.
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Walter Wagner, YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1975), pp. 81-83.
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Statement by Claire Windsor.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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Taylor's Film Career and History:
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Truman B. Handy, "The Colorful and Romantic Story of William D. Taylor's
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Remarkable Life," MOVIE WEEKLY (March 18, 25, April 1, 8, 15, 1922). Highly
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fanciful version of Taylor's life story.
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Richard Koszarski, "The William Desmond Taylor Mystery," GriffiTHIANA (October
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1990), pp. 253-256. Critical examination of Taylor's extant films.
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Bruce Long, "Julia Crawford Ivers, circa: The Taylor Murder," CLASSIC IMAGES
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(December 1985). Reprints items pertaining to Taylor's main screenwriter, and
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her thoughts about Taylor.
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Douglas J. Whitton, "The Career of William Desmond Taylor," CLASSIC IMAGES
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(February, March, April 1983).
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Richard Willis, "William D. Taylor," MOVIE PICTORIAL (June 6, 1914).
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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Fictionalizations of the Murder (entertainment value only):
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Dewitt Bodeen, 13 CASTLE WALK (Pyramid, 1975).
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G.M. Bumpus, THE MAN WHO KILLED: THE SOLUTION OF HOLLYWOOD'S GREATEST MURDER
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MYSTERY (Logan Dillon, 1945).
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J.E. Chrisman, "The Taylor Murder Case as a Fiction Thriller," MOTION PICTURE
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(Aug. 1931) pp. 32ff. Mystery writer S. S. Van Dine (author of the "Philo
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Vance" series) speculates about dramatizing the case.
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Kim Deitch, "The Mysterious Death of William Desmond Taylor," SLEAZY SCANDALS
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OF THE SILVER SCREEN (Cartoonists Co-Op Press, 1974).
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H. L. Gates, "Has Mabel Normand Solved the Taylor Murder?" ILLUSTRATED
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DETECTIVE MAGAZINE (Nov. 1931- Jan. 1932).
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Franklin Hall, BEN TURPIN, PRIVATE EYE (Aran, 1985).
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Gavin Lambert, RUNNING TIME (MacMillan, 1983).
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Samuel A. Peeples, THE MAN WHO DIED TWICE (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1976).
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Gore Vidal, HOLLYWOOD (Random House, 1990).
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*****************************************************************************
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"The Humor of a Hollywood Murder"
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by Bruce Long
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(This was originally intended to be a book published in hardcopy form, but
|
|
efforts to find a publisher were unsuccessful. So it will be serialized
|
|
within this newsletter.)
|
|
|
|
Foreword
|
|
by Kevin Brownlow
|
|
|
|
No amount of money would have induced me to write an introduction to a
|
|
book about the "humour" of the Taylor case. But Bruce Long tempted me with
|
|
copies of exceptionally rare 1913 issues of Photoplay, and as the saying went
|
|
in Hollywood in those days, the only way to cope with temptation is to give
|
|
in to it.
|
|
Few of Taylor's films survive, but I was very impressed with his 1920
|
|
production of "Soul of Youth," about juvenile delinquency, made with an
|
|
almost Dikensian feel for the squalor and brutality of reform schools.
|
|
But my interest in Taylor lies beyond his work. My friend Liam O'Leary
|
|
once took a picture of the house in Cappoquin, Co Waterford where Taylor grew
|
|
up. I showed it to my wife, Virginia, and she had to sit down. It was the
|
|
same house in which she had grown up. His family, the Deane-Tanners, were
|
|
Anglo-Irish landowners; it is perfectly accurate to call him "British" but it
|
|
would be closer to the truth to call him Anglo-Irish. They were a special
|
|
breed, dying out now, but worthy of a few volumes of their own. (My wife's
|
|
brother, Molly Keane, has done sterling work in this regard, but she recalls
|
|
the Deane-Tanners only vaguely from her youth, and feels there are dark deeds
|
|
associated with them.)
|
|
The Irish are the most humorous people imaginable, and had Taylor
|
|
survived the shooting, he might have cracked some jokes about it. Somehow,
|
|
the idea of the press finding humour in the event causes one less amusement
|
|
than indignation. America's yellow press, particularly the tabloids owned by
|
|
Hearst, were far worse than anything represented by Hollywood. How they got
|
|
away with their repellent stories, gory photographs and sanctimonious
|
|
hypocrisy, while women's clubs got steamed up about the charming love-making
|
|
of silent films, is beyond me.
|
|
On the other hand, this is the press of The Front Page era; you can
|
|
imagine the tough reporters, their hats tilted back on their head, swigging
|
|
their prohibition gin from hip flasks, their prose flushing as purple as
|
|
their noses. This book is a fascinating comment on American society.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Introduction
|
|
by Bruce Long
|
|
|
|
On the surface there was nothing whatsoever amusing about the unsolved
|
|
cold-blooded murder of top Hollywood film director William Desmond Taylor on
|
|
February 1, 1922. The single gunshot which punctured his left lung not only
|
|
ended Taylor's life but also helped ruin the careers of two top female stars
|
|
and fueled unprecedented public outcry against Hollywood. Most of the nation
|
|
was not amused; Hollywood certainly was not. But as days passed and the many
|
|
bizarre threads of the case came to light, more and more humorous commentary
|
|
began to appear in the press.
|
|
The Taylor case has been written about many times and has inspired three
|
|
full-length books, but authors have generally ignored the humor inspired by
|
|
the case. This series is a collection of that original humorous press
|
|
material.
|
|
The Hollywood film industry has come under verbal public attack at
|
|
various times throughout its existence, but those attacks were never greater
|
|
than in the month following Taylor's murder. The revelations accompanying the
|
|
Taylor case prompted the disclosure of other sensational allegations against
|
|
Hollywood, and national anti-Hollywood sentiment peaked at this time.
|
|
Subsequently, Will Hays assumed control of the movie industry and was able to
|
|
placate much of the anti-Hollywood sentiment. With the passage of time,
|
|
public morality changed and people were no longer so outraged by the
|
|
activities of the film colony. The humorous aspects of that anti-Hollywood
|
|
sentiment falls within the scope of this series.
|
|
A substantial part of this series contains "unintentional humor" which
|
|
was intended to be taken very seriously, but which nevertheless may seem to
|
|
be amusing from our current perspective.
|
|
Some of the material has been edited, and some material has been
|
|
arbitrarily assigned to one chapter instead of another because there is some
|
|
overlapping of subject matter.
|
|
A few stereotyped comments which are offensive today but were relatively
|
|
commonplace in 1922 have been included for historical purposes.
|
|
It should be kept in mind that the material presented in this series has
|
|
been selected for humor, not for veracity. Incidents and characterizations
|
|
should not be blindly accepted as fact. This volume contains very little
|
|
factual information about the Taylor case, but a great deal of information
|
|
about the social and cultural attitudes of the press, the public and
|
|
Hollywood in the aftermath of Taylor's murder. It is hoped that this series,
|
|
while presenting a substantial collection of source material useful to
|
|
scholars, will also be entertaining and humorous by today's standards.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Prologue
|
|
February 15, 1922
|
|
Alvaro Shoemaker
|
|
SEATTLE UNION-RECORD
|
|
We ought to be glad this thing happened down in Los Angeles--that is,
|
|
glad that it happened in Los Angeles instead of Seattle. It was a "big"
|
|
murder, as the news boys put it, and--like all big things--we need the
|
|
distance to give us a proper perspective.
|
|
We were just about to despair of the movies giving us any thrills other
|
|
than those in the films themselves.
|
|
Fatty Arbuckle gave us a good show--while it lasted. [51] But he has gone
|
|
through his second trial, and it drew so poorly that District Attorney Brady
|
|
threatens positively to withdraw it after one more performance.
|
|
Things were slowing up badly. California was having a rotten winter.
|
|
Tourists were leaving.
|
|
And then--
|
|
Action! Action!
|
|
William Desmond Taylor, world's greatest movie director, British army
|
|
captain, art connoisseur, traveler, dilettante, divorcee, bon vivant,
|
|
occultist, et cetera, et cetera, as well as sole proprietor of the finest,
|
|
best appointed, most frequently visited and most generously occupied love
|
|
nest in the city of Los Angeles--William Desmond Taylor, Love Avalanche of
|
|
Alvarado, [52] is found dead!
|
|
Once again Los Angeles triumphed over her ancient, jealous sister. San
|
|
Francisco could claim the Arbuckle affair. It was small, sordid; did not
|
|
offer the element of mystery; just a plain drunk, with a killing for a
|
|
chaser. Bah!
|
|
In Los Angeles a real he-man bit the dust--a sure-enough lady killer,
|
|
with more handkerchiefs, gloves, powder puffs and pale-and-thin lingerie in
|
|
his trophy list than an Arbuckle could ever hope to bag with all the seeming
|
|
advantage of superior booze and top weight.
|
|
And compare the women in the case. Fatty's list of "those present" might
|
|
be the register of the Home for Dessicated, Debilitated and Flatfooted
|
|
Hashers. Who remembers them? Fatty had to bait with booze for his moths in
|
|
order to get them to circulate around the formless, only partly combustible
|
|
hunk of tallow that was Arbuckle, in the hope that one at least might get
|
|
drunk enough to fall in.
|
|
Now look--if your eyes be not too dazzled--look, look at the lambent
|
|
flame of Desmond Taylor. Mark that classy galaxy that moves in queenly strides
|
|
around the central orb. Think you they are drawn and held by sordid things?
|
|
Not so. S'love, s'love!
|
|
The Arbuckle setting was one of corks, empties, cigarette butts and
|
|
katzenjammers. [53]
|
|
Taylor died surrounded by incense, code love notes, monogramed hankies
|
|
and pink teddy-bears. [54]
|
|
The sauce piquante of the Taylor affair would be a fetching dressing to
|
|
pour over even the classiest of chicken served up on the silver screen.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bon Mots
|
|
|
|
February 4, 1922
|
|
DES MOINES REGISTER
|
|
The recent movie tragedy was too realistic for the director's health.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 4, 1922
|
|
PITTSBURGH SUN
|
|
It is absolutely useless for anyone to try to compete with the movie
|
|
folks for front page scandal position.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 4, 1922
|
|
KANSAS CITY STAR
|
|
The late Mr. Taylor, movie director, was known among his friends as
|
|
being "very reserved." So, apparently, is his murderer.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 4, 1922
|
|
OMAHA BEE
|
|
Nothing shown on the screen has so far exceeded in weirdness the things
|
|
actually done by the movie players.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 6, 1922
|
|
RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH
|
|
The question now is, who saw Director Taylor last. Until recently, the
|
|
burning issue among the movie queens was, who saw him first.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 6, 1922
|
|
MEMPHIS NEWS SCIMITAR
|
|
The latest angle to the movie murder in Los Angeles is that the victim
|
|
led a double life. Those double lives have an unhappy way of leading to a
|
|
single grave.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 6, 1922
|
|
PITTSBURGH SUN
|
|
Strange that the movie stars should be resenting all this fine
|
|
advertising the Taylor case offers them.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 6, 1922
|
|
NASHVILLE TENNESSEAN
|
|
The shooting of a movie director has caused considerable disturbance in
|
|
Los Angeles. Must have shot the wrong one.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 7, 1922
|
|
NASHVILLE BANNER
|
|
Every cloud has a silver lining. For instance, the publicity department
|
|
of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce takes a rest every time there is a
|
|
Hollywood mystery murder.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 7, 1922
|
|
DES MOINES TRIBUNE
|
|
Surely one of those wonderful movie detectives ought to be able to solve
|
|
the movie murder mystery.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 7, 1922
|
|
BALTIMORE EVENING SUN
|
|
And if the authorities are not careful, the Associated Drug Peddlers of
|
|
Hollywood will become offended and leave.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 7, 1922
|
|
SAVANNAH NEWS
|
|
It is suggested that in the movie business Will Hays may have more
|
|
trouble handling the females than he had in moving the mails. [55]
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 7, 1922
|
|
PITTSBURGH SUN
|
|
Nowadays a great many screen luminaries are being tried and found
|
|
wanton. [56]
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 8, 1922
|
|
TOPEKA CAPITAL
|
|
Adolph Zukor says that the Hollywood movie colony is no worse, morally,
|
|
than the stock exchange colony on Wall Street. We have always suspected as
|
|
much.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 8, 1922
|
|
BOSTON HERALD
|
|
A "gruelling" examination, as the police employ the term, is one
|
|
expected to put its recipient in the soup.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 8, 1922
|
|
PITTSBURGH POST
|
|
Only by the exercise of supreme self-restraint has Congress refrained so
|
|
far from appointing a commission to go on a California excursion to
|
|
investigate picture studio shenanigan.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 9, 1922
|
|
INDIANAPOLIS STAR
|
|
A movie funeral seems to be one thing that will get the Los Angeles
|
|
people out to church.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 9, 1922
|
|
KANSAS CITY STAR
|
|
The roisterers who lived in the Roman empire days weren't pikers at
|
|
heart. They did the best they could, but were handicapped by the fact that
|
|
chemistry and drugs had not been perfected up to the Hollywood stage.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 9, 1922
|
|
DALLAS TIMES-HERALD
|
|
One man suggests that Motion Picture Director Taylor was killed by some
|
|
actor to whom he refused to give a job. Once in a while the public feel that
|
|
way about an actor who has been given a job.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 9, 1922
|
|
INDIANAPOLIS NEWS
|
|
The persistent claim of Los Angeles that it is different from the rest
|
|
of the world is now conceded.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 10, 1922
|
|
PASADENA STAR-NEWS
|
|
The person who is liable to be murdered mysteriously in Los Angeles
|
|
should take good care to bury his or her family skeleton too deep for
|
|
resurrection.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 10, 1922
|
|
COLUMBIA STATE
|
|
In the modern murder case it is not only cherchez la femme, but cherchez
|
|
la lingerie.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 10, 1922
|
|
DETROIT FREE PRESS
|
|
Those opium parties which are said to have been given in the movie
|
|
centers of California must have one advantage over the ordinary kind in that
|
|
no guests can be accused of impoliteness if he goes to sleep.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 10, 1922
|
|
KANSAS CITY STAR
|
|
Los Angeles means "The City of the Angels." Fallen angels, huh?
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 10, 1922
|
|
PASADENA STAR-NEWS
|
|
The person who is fortunate enough to escape being killed in traffic in
|
|
Los Angeles, may become the victim of a mysterious murder.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 10, 1922
|
|
COLUMBIA STATE
|
|
"Taylor's Slayer 'Unknown Person' Verdict Declares." Apparently that
|
|
lets out everybody connected with the film industry.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 11, 1922
|
|
WICHITA EAGLE
|
|
The father of Mary Miles Minter, who is a newspaper proof-reader, says
|
|
it's all a mistake about Mary. Thinks it a typographical error, doubtless.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 11, 1922
|
|
DALLAS NEWS
|
|
Life insurance agents should find Hollywood a receptive field now.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 11, 1922
|
|
SEATTLE UNION-RECORD
|
|
Cheer up, you old birds. Look at the kick murdered Film Director Taylor
|
|
was getting out of life at the age of 50.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 11, 1922
|
|
DES MOINES TRIBUNE
|
|
Incidentally, the Hollywood tragedy has brought home to some women the
|
|
advisability of omitting initials from nighties.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
FEBRUARY 11, 1922
|
|
Helena Independent
|
|
The serial "Gumming up the Cops" seems to be in full rehearsal at
|
|
Hollywood.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 11, 1922
|
|
PHILADELPHIA RECORD
|
|
"May Never Solve Taylor Mystery," says the headline. No, but we're
|
|
learning a lot about Mr. Taylor and his friends.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 11, 1922
|
|
INDIANAPOLIS STAR
|
|
In their efforts to dissect the Taylor case the authorities are finding
|
|
too many knots in Hollywood.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 11, 1922
|
|
OAKLAND TRIBUNE
|
|
As for the movies, they would better take Hays while there are stars to
|
|
shine. [57]
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 11, 1922
|
|
SEATTLE UNION-RECORD
|
|
Editor contemplates abandoning his Back to Nature Society and starting a
|
|
Hollywood Movie Colony. Thinks he'll get more of a kick out of it--more
|
|
nature.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 12, 1922
|
|
DES MOINES REGISTER
|
|
Houseman Peavey appears to be the innocent Negro in the Hollywood pile.
|
|
[58]
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 12, 1922
|
|
NEW ORLEANS STATES
|
|
It seems that California would be perfectly happy if she could find a way
|
|
to get rid of the Hollywood colony of movie stars without losing, at the same
|
|
time, the money they spend.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 12, 1922
|
|
ST. LOUIS STAR
|
|
After all the bizarre stuff that is being written about the Taylor
|
|
murder we wouldn't be surprised to find out that he isn't dead.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 12, 1922
|
|
WICHITA EAGLE
|
|
With the whole biographical dictionary to choose from, the great movie
|
|
director chose for himself the name of Bill Taylor. Democratic soul!
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 12, 1922
|
|
DALLAS NEWS
|
|
We wish Hollywouldn't.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 13, 1922
|
|
KANSAS CITY STAR
|
|
The movie folks imagine that they have been picked upon to carry the
|
|
blame for all modern humanity's depravity, but they are mistaken. They are
|
|
expected to bear the blame for only half of it. The jazz producers will carry
|
|
the other half.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 13, 1922
|
|
PASADENA STAR-NEWS
|
|
The William D. Taylor murder mystery is becoming a graveyard of
|
|
reputations.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 13, 1922
|
|
BOSTON HERALD
|
|
And fast earning the name of Follywood.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 13, 1922
|
|
KANSAS CITY STAR
|
|
The suggestion to burn Hollywood up--or down--would be well enough, were
|
|
it not for the suspicion gained from current dispatches that Hollywood is too
|
|
"wet" to burn. [59]
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 14, 1922
|
|
BOSTON TRANSCRIPT
|
|
If Hollywood wants a new name, what about Whollybad?
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 14, 1922
|
|
DES MOINES TRIBUNE
|
|
There is this to be said about the Hollywood affair from the newspaper
|
|
folks' standpoint. It was not a difficult matter to get hold of pictures of
|
|
the various persons involved.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 14, 1922
|
|
SEATTLE STAR
|
|
Every time there is a shooting scrape in the movie colony some screen
|
|
star finds out where the rest of her clothes are.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 14, 1922
|
|
NEW YORK TELEGRAPH
|
|
If it were as easy to catch murderers as it is to discover claimants for
|
|
estates of murdered men, detectives would find their occupations gone.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 14, 1922
|
|
NASHVILLE BANNER
|
|
To paraphrase an old saying: "See Hollywood and die." [60]
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 14, 1922
|
|
HOUSTON POST
|
|
Carl Laemmle says only a few of the film stars are bad. The worst of it
|
|
is, some good stars are bad and some bad stars are good.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 14, 1922
|
|
LOUISVILLE TIMES
|
|
If William Desmond Taylor had married all the women to whom he is
|
|
reported to have been engaged, he would not have been murdered. He would have
|
|
been safe in the penitentiary.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 14, 1922
|
|
SAN FRANCISCO BULLETIN
|
|
"Do you know who killed Taylor?" Jack Dempsey was asked.
|
|
"Sure. Everyone knows that Volstead killed Old Taylor," he answered. [61]
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 15, 1922
|
|
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
|
|
If Hollywood wants to keep strictly up to date, it ought to devise a
|
|
theory that will make the sun spots responsible.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 15, 1922
|
|
SYRACUSE POST-STANDARD
|
|
We ought to have a pretty clean sort of a country after the police get
|
|
through scouring, sweeping and combing it for the slayer of a movie director.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 15, 1922
|
|
Tom Cannon
|
|
GARY POST-TRIBUNE
|
|
Probably the best thing about Hollywood is the first car out of town.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 15, 1922
|
|
NEW YORK MAIL
|
|
The girl who's born to blush unseen will never be a movie queen.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 16, 1922
|
|
PORTLAND JOURNAL
|
|
To someone somewhere the Taylor murder mystery is not a mystery.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 16, 1922
|
|
DES MOINES TRIBUNE
|
|
The detectives who are at work on the Taylor case evidently couldn't
|
|
solve a mystery in a 300 page novel.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 16, 1922
|
|
Joe Webb
|
|
AUSTIN AMERICAN
|
|
If Mabel Normand's press agent got a bonus for each time her picture
|
|
appeared in a paper, he probably made several fortunes last week.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 16, 1922
|
|
BOSTON ADVERTISER
|
|
Police in Hollywood have not thought of questioning the movie bathing
|
|
girls. Experience proves they conceal little.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 16, 1922
|
|
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
|
|
A few more "close-ups" of Hollywood and there will be a demand to close
|
|
up Hollywood.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 17, 1922
|
|
DES MOINES REGISTER
|
|
"Well, anyhow," commented the barber shop philosopher, "Mary Miles
|
|
Minter, Mabel Normand and a few other movie stars are not hand-me-downs. They
|
|
are Taylor maids."
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 17, 1922
|
|
MIAMI HERALD
|
|
The movies are often called an infant industry, but they seem to have
|
|
gotten well past the milk stage, judging from the reports from Hollywood.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 17, 1922
|
|
ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS
|
|
Movie men's utterances make one feel that some excellent bishops have
|
|
been lost in very mediocre screen directors.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 18, 1922
|
|
MIAMI HERALD
|
|
From the lack of progress in the investigation of the Taylor murder we
|
|
are beginning to wonder why they call it a "motion" picture tragedy.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 18, 1922
|
|
DES MOINES REGISTER
|
|
If the late Director Taylor were to return and read all the stuff
|
|
passing as his life history, he would probably fail to recognize himself.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 18, 1922
|
|
ARKANSAS GAZETTE
|
|
Los Angeles dispatch says Mabel Normand's chauffeur was "placed on the
|
|
grill." Why not on the radiator?
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 18, 1922
|
|
TAMPA TRIBUNE
|
|
None of the stars whose names have been connected with the Taylor
|
|
mystery has complained as yet about somebody else having been given a more
|
|
prominent part.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 19, 1922
|
|
KANSAS CITY STAR
|
|
You may have your prejudices against the Hollywood school of acting, but
|
|
you must admit that a lot of actors are coming out of there very definitely
|
|
finished.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 19, 1922
|
|
NASHVILLE BANNER
|
|
A paragrapher declares that if all the pink pyjamas in Hollywood were
|
|
placed end to end they would reach from Sodom to Gomorrah. More than that,
|
|
even from Dan to Beersheba, from Cape Cod to Kalamazoo, or, as a certain
|
|
enthusiastic politician once expressed distance, "from hell to breakfast."
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 19, 1922
|
|
Otis Lorton
|
|
TULSA WORLD
|
|
Mr. Sands, late of Los Angeles, is just about the most retiring, modest
|
|
and unobtrusive butler we ever heard of.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 20, 1922
|
|
LOUISVILLE TIMES
|
|
Residents of Hollywood, Illinois, want to change the name of their town.
|
|
Of course, they would never listen to such suggestions as Taylorsville,
|
|
Normandy or Mintersburg.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 20, 1922
|
|
BOSTON ADVERTISER
|
|
Every once in awhile we hear of a new slang expression. "Do tell," is
|
|
now the favorite in Hollywood.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 20, 1922
|
|
KANSAS CITY STAR
|
|
In the past, when a person or an institution passes from our view, we
|
|
have been in the habit of saying "so-and-so has gone to join the dodo."
|
|
Hereafter, we shall say it has gone to join Arbuckle, Minter, Normand & Co.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 21, 1922
|
|
SEATTLE UNION-RECORD
|
|
Looks like some Hollywood headliners will soon be breadliners.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 21, 1922
|
|
MIAMI HERALD
|
|
Great progress has been made in solving the Hollywood murder case. The
|
|
detectives have about decided that Taylor was killed.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 22, 1922
|
|
PITTSBURGH DISPATCH
|
|
If the murderer of Taylor doesn't come in soon, the Los Angeles
|
|
detectives will be threatened with old-fashioned nervous prostration.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 22, 1922
|
|
Phil Armstrong
|
|
FLORIDA TIMES-UNION
|
|
Let some evangelist knock "l" out of Hollywood and make it Holywood--
|
|
that ought to help some.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 22, 1922
|
|
KANSAS CITY TIMES
|
|
Miss Lillian Gish, addressing a church audience in New York Sunday night
|
|
said she had heard of "bad people" in the movies, "but," she added, "I have
|
|
never met any of them." Which speaks volumes for Miss Gish's chaperon,
|
|
whoever she happens to be.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 23, 1922
|
|
PITTSBURGH SUN
|
|
Count that day lost whose low descending sun finds no new Taylor clue
|
|
played out and done.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 23, 1922
|
|
WHITTIER NEWS
|
|
Movie hint: A shooting star falls.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 23, 1922
|
|
Tom Sims
|
|
HELENA INDEPENDENT
|
|
"It would take 10 years to move Hollywood," protests one. Yes, yes, they
|
|
must get their clothes from their neighbors' houses.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 23, 1922
|
|
NEW YORK MAIL
|
|
If they don't look out somebody will tell the truth about that motion
|
|
picture murder.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 24, 1922
|
|
INDIANAPOLIS NEWS
|
|
It's a dull town that does not come forward with at least one suspect in
|
|
the Taylor murder mystery.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 24, 1922
|
|
MEMPHIS NEWS SCIMITAR
|
|
Another day gone by and the Japs haven't attacked California. But maybe
|
|
they're afraid of those bad movie folks.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 25, 1922
|
|
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
|
|
Hollywood will go a long way toward helping itself if it takes the
|
|
bungle out of bungalow.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 25, 1922
|
|
PHILADELPHIA RECORD
|
|
Mabel Normand is reported to be ill as a result of the Taylor case.
|
|
Well, all the rest of us are rather sick of it, too.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 25, 1922
|
|
PITTSBURGH POST
|
|
In addition to a suggestion that it might be called Alcohollywood,
|
|
Chinese opium circles may know it as Hoppywood.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 25, 1922
|
|
CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER
|
|
The Taylor case is getting closer and closer to a solution, the same as
|
|
the sun is getting closer and closer to the star Alpha in the constellation
|
|
Hercules.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 26, 1922
|
|
BALTIMORE SUN
|
|
Scandal may cure country girls of the movie fever, but think of the
|
|
bucolic swains who will long to become directors.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 27, 1922
|
|
KANSAS CITY STAR
|
|
Society note: Goshwatta Strutt of Hollywood, Cal., will arrive in Kansas
|
|
City tomorrow morning. It is not known as yet what hotel he will be requested
|
|
to leave tomorrow night.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 27, 1922
|
|
BOSTON GLOBE
|
|
Every time the detectives tell us that they are regarding the Hollywood
|
|
murder mystery from a new angle, they remind us that they are going around in
|
|
circles.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 27, 1922
|
|
BALTIMORE SUN
|
|
Whatever the motive that inspired the killing of Taylor, it wasn't that
|
|
of boosting the picture business.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 28, 1922
|
|
NEW YORK TELEGRAPH
|
|
Somebody seems to be pulling the first syllable of his name over the eyes
|
|
of Attorney Woolwine, of Los Angeles.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 28, 1922
|
|
Houston Chronicle
|
|
O. O. MCINTYRE
|
|
The Hollywood affair brings to me one glint of the silver lining,
|
|
however. I rejoice that I never became a movie fan. At my age I have lost too
|
|
many illusions already.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 28, 1922
|
|
Joe Webb
|
|
AUSTIN AMERICAN
|
|
We don't know whether or not it was a dopehead who killed Director
|
|
Taylor, but we'd be willing to bet that dopeheads have been writing some of
|
|
the bunk that has been published concerning the case.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 28, 1922
|
|
COLUMBIA STATE
|
|
The police are still after Taylor's valet. It seems that the police
|
|
theory is that not even a film magnate is a hero to his valet.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
February 28, 1922
|
|
LOUISVILLE TIMES
|
|
The California orange crop is said to have suffered seriously from the
|
|
recent cold spell. Also, in passing, it might be said that the Hollywood
|
|
"peach" crop hasn't prospered lately.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
March 1, 1922
|
|
COLUMBIA STATE
|
|
"Mabel Normand almost well again." Another return to Normandcy. [62]
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
March 2, 1922
|
|
LANSING CAPITAL NEWS
|
|
A sea serpent of great length is said to have been sighted off Long
|
|
Beach, California. Probably the man who saw it was just returning from one of
|
|
those Hollywood parties.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
March 2, 1922
|
|
LIFE
|
|
The moving picture colony in California seems determined to turn itself
|
|
sinside out.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
March 3, 1922
|
|
NEW YORK TRIBUNE
|
|
Until they began to arrest people for the murder of Taylor we had no
|
|
real conception of the vast size of Los Angeles' population.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
March 5, 1922
|
|
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL
|
|
What really ails the movie stars is that someone dammed the flattery
|
|
flood.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
March 5, 1922
|
|
FLORIDA TIMES-UNION
|
|
Los Angeles detectives now are said to be looking for "toe holds" in the
|
|
movie murder mystery. What they seem to need is head holds.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
March 6, 1922
|
|
Joe Webb
|
|
AUSTIN AMERICAN
|
|
It is against the law in Los Angeles for members of the police force to
|
|
appear in motion pictures. Los Angeles evidently doesn't want her cops
|
|
corrupted.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
March 7, 1922
|
|
DETROIT FREE PRESS
|
|
Hollywood is much like other varieties. It can be handled much more
|
|
easily after it is dried.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
March 9, 1922
|
|
SAVANNAH NEWS
|
|
If the Los Angeles police lock up everybody that has been suggested as
|
|
possibly guilty of the Taylor murder they'll have to have two or three new
|
|
jails.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
March 9, 1922
|
|
DES MOINES TRIBUNE
|
|
The new "bomb-shell" in the Taylor case Saturday was probably another
|
|
"stink bomb."
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
March 9, 1922
|
|
DETROIT FREE PRESS
|
|
The public is beginning to suspect that a star of the first magnitude is
|
|
one who loves the director.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
March 13, 1922
|
|
Joe Webb
|
|
AUSTIN AMERICAN
|
|
A movie fan writes in to tell us that some of the movie stars may not be
|
|
as bad as we think they are. He's probably right, too. Darned if we see how
|
|
they could possibly be as bad as we think they are.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
March 13, 1922
|
|
DES MOINES TRIBUNE
|
|
The charge that movie actors are drug fiends may explain some of the
|
|
awful acting we have been compelled to witness.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
March 16, 1922
|
|
DETROIT FREE PRESS
|
|
At the movies: "I always though her such a sweet girl, but I can see now
|
|
she looks kinda depraved."
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
March 18, 1922
|
|
ARKANSAS GAZETTE
|
|
One detective says that Taylor was not killed by a woman; another says
|
|
he was not killed by a man. If these two sleuths can get together, they might
|
|
produce convincing evidence against the big ape that plays in the animal
|
|
comedies.
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
(continued next issue)
|
|
*****************************************************************************
|
|
NEXT ISSUE:
|
|
The Connette Episode
|
|
Deposition by Leslie Henry
|
|
"The Humor of a Hollywood Murder":
|
|
Wild Hollywood Parties--Fact or Fiction?, William Desmond Taylor
|
|
*****************************************************************************
|
|
NOTES:
|
|
|
|
[1] See CHICAGO AMERICAN (February 21, 1922).
|
|
[2] See BALTIMORE AMERICAN (February 7, 1922).
|
|
[3] See LOS ANGELES RECORD (March 27, 1926).
|
|
[4] See CHICAGO AMERICAN (February 10, 1922).
|
|
[5] See LOS ANGELES RECORD (February 8, 1922).
|
|
[6] See NEW YORK JOURNAL (February 6, 1922).
|
|
[7] See VARIETY (February 17, 1922).
|
|
[8] See LOS ANGELES TIMES (July 27, 1923).
|
|
[9] See CHICAGO HERALD-EXAMINER (February 6, 1922).
|
|
[10] See DENVER POST (March 3, 1922).
|
|
[11] See LOS ANGELES RECORD (February 17, 1922).
|
|
[12] See CHICAGO AMERICAN (February 14, 1922).
|
|
[13] See SAN FRANCISCO CALL-POST (February 28, 1922).
|
|
[14] See PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER (February 5, 1922).
|
|
[15] See SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (October 16, 1925).
|
|
[16] See LOS ANGELES RECORD (March 27, 1926).
|
|
[17] See NEW YORK NEWS (February 25, 1922).
|
|
[18] See SANTA ANA REGISTER (February 28, 1922).
|
|
[19] See LOS ANGELES EXAMINER (March 4, 1922).
|
|
[20] See LOS ANGELES EXPRESS (December 20, 1922).
|
|
[21] See NEW YORK NEWS (February 22, 1922).
|
|
[22] See LOS ANGELES EXAMINER (February 27, 1922).
|
|
[23] See LOS ANGELES TIMES (March 3, 1922).
|
|
[24] See LOS ANGELES EXAMINER (February 8, 1922).
|
|
[25] See NEW YORK JOURNAL (February 9, 1922).
|
|
[26] See OAKLAND TRIBUNE (February 15, 1922).
|
|
[27] See DENVER POST (February 10, 1922).
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[28] See LOS ANGELES EXAMINER (February 5, 1922).
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[29] See LOS ANGELES RECORD (October 4, 1922).
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[30] See LOS ANGELES EXAMINER (February 14, 1922)
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[31] See CHICAGO AMERICAN (February 28, 1922).
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[32] See CHICAGO HERALD-EXAMINER (February 15, 1922).
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[33] See SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (February 13, 1922).
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[34] See SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (February 9, 1922).
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[35] See LOS ANGELES RECORD (February 21, 1922).
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[36] See SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (March 10, 1922).
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[37] See DALLAS TIMES-HERALD (February 9, 1922).
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[38] See HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN (April 28, 1922).
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[39] See HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN (April 25, 1922).
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[40] See MOVIE WEEKLY (March 24, 1923).
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[41] See SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (February 9, 1922).
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[42] See DETROIT TIMES (February 10, 1922).
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[43] See LOS ANGELES RECORD (February 13, 1922).
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[44] See LOS ANGELES EXAMINER (March 19, 1922).
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[45] See CHICAGO AMERICAN (February 22, 1922).
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[46] See BOSTON ADVERTISER (February 19, 1922).
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[47] See SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER (February 8, 1922).
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[48] See SAN FRANCISCO CALL-POST (March 3, 1922).
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[49] See LOS ANGELES EXAMINER (February 16, 1922).
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[50] See LOS ANGELES EXAMINER (March 9, 1922).
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[51] Comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle was accused of causing the death of
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Virginia Rappe resulting from a party in San Francisco. Juries in the
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first two trials were unable to reach a verdict; in the third trial he
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was acquitted. For details see Andy Edmonds, FRAME UP! (Morrow, 1991)
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and David Yallop, THE DAY THE LAUGHTER STOPPED (St. Martin's, 1976).
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[52] Taylor lived on Alvarado Street.
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[53] "katzenjammer"-- hangover.
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[54] "teddy-bears"-- one-piece female undergarment.
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[55] Will Hays, soon to become head of the movie industry, was the U.S.
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Postmaster-General.
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[56] Parody of: "tried and found wanting."
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[57] Parody of: "make hay while the sun shines."
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[58] Parody of racist stereotype: "n____ in the woodpile."
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[59] "wet"-- containing plentiful alcohol.
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[60] "See Paris and live!" was a travel slogan.
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[61] The Volstead Act enacted prohibition which outlawed the sale of alcohol,
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including Old Taylor brand whiskey.
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[62] Parody of: "return to normalcy" (Harding's campaign slogan).
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*****************************************************************************
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