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Taylorology Issue 86
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* T A Y L O R O L O G Y *
* A Continuing Exploration of the Life and Death of William Desmond Taylor *
* *
* Issue 86 -- February 2000 Editor: Bruce Long bruce@asu.edu *
* TAYLOROLOGY may be freely distributed *
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CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE:
Reporting the Taylor Murder: Days 11 and 12
Fan Magazines React to the Taylor Case
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What is TAYLOROLOGY?
TAYLOROLOGY is a newsletter focusing on the life and death of William Desmond
Taylor, a top Paramount film director in early Hollywood who was shot to
death on February 1, 1922. His unsolved murder was one of Hollywood's major
scandals. This newsletter will deal with: (a) The facts of Taylor's life;
(b) The facts and rumors of Taylor's murder; (c) The impact of the Taylor
murder on Hollywood and the nation; (d) Taylor's associates and the Hollywood
silent film industry in which Taylor worked. Primary emphasis will be given
toward reprinting, referencing and analyzing source material, and sifting it
for accuracy.
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Grapevine Video has recently released "The Biograph Series: Mack Sennett
Director, Vol. 1 and 2". Each of the two tapes contains short Biograph films
directed by Mack Sennett between 1911-1912 (before he founded Keystone), and
many of the shorts feature Mabel Normand. See http://www.grapevinevideo.com
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The class at Georgia Tech on multimedia "Advanced Design and Production,"
with the Fall 1999 semester class project on the Taylor case, has moved their
web site on the project to http://wdt.lcc.gatech.edu
The CD-ROM project, titled "Silent Screen: The Mysterious Death of William
Desmond Taylor" has been completed. A copy can be obtained free with a small
donation to cover production and mailing cost; contact information is at
http://wdt.lcc.gatech.edu (but the CD-ROM is initially only available in
Macintosh format). There are also a few T-shirts on the project available.
This was an educational project and therefore does not have the production
values of expensive commerical CD-ROMs. Although drawing heavily on material
found in TAYLOROLOGY, "Silent Screen" also includes some dramatized and
fictionalized elements, and the Taylor material has a few errors.
But overall the CD-ROM is a very nice project, and Taylor case fans will
enjoy hearing the "voices" of the participants in the case and "seeing" some
of the events transpire on their computers. And those who disagree with the
editorial conclusions reached by Bruce Long in past issues of TAYLOROLOGY,
may relish seeing him meet his appropriate fate. (Mother of Mercy, is this
the end of...??)
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Reporting the Taylor Murder: Days 11 and 12
Below are some highlights of the press reports published in the eleventh and
twelfth days after Taylor's body was discovered.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 13, 1922
LOS ANGELES EXAMINER
Coming fast on the latest new and important developments in the William
Desmond Taylor murder mystery during the day, District Attorney Thomas Lee
Woolwine late last night hurriedly left his office in his motor car and in
company with former Chief of Police Charles A. Jones and Ben Smith, court
reporter, started on a quest shrouded in mystery, which is regarded as likely
to have a vital bearing on the case.
The District Attorney's hurried trip apparently resulted from a
conference at his home in which a woman and two men figured.
A woman was seen to leave Woolwine's house after an extended visit while
the district attorney and Jones were there. She drove away alone but was
observed a short time later in her car with a male companion. They drove by
Woolwine's house and then disappeared.
But whatever transpired during the conference electrified the prosecutor
and his aides into instant action.
Woolwine and Jones hurried to the Hall of Records in a taxicab where
they picked up Smith, the court reporter.
Mabel Normand, noted film actress and close friend of the slain
director, was reported last night to be dangerously ill, even in more serious
condition than on Saturday night, as exclusively told in yesterday's
Examiner.
It was learned that she is being attended by a trained nurse and is
being watched over carefully by her physician.
Her condition was said to be so serious that all visitors would be
denied entrance to her home for at least ten days.
She suffered a severe nervous relapse some days ago. But yesterday it
was said that her illness had reached a serious stage as to be regarded as
dangerous.
One of the most startling bits of information turned over to the
investigators was the reported statement of Henry Peavey, Taylor's colored
servant, that he expected to see his employer killed. This statement was
made, it is said, the day following the robbery of Taylor's home by Sands.
Shortly after the last robbery of the slain director's home Peavey is
said to have told Harold Freeman, a milkman who delivered milk to the Taylor
home, that he expected to find Taylor dead on the morning after the robbery
was committed and would not be surprised if he himself were not later killed.
Of strange import was Peavey's description, according to Freeman, of how
he expected to find Taylor's dead body.
The description was said to correspond with the position in which Taylor
was found on the morning of February 1 [sic].
Whether this description was merely a strange mixture of superstition
and clairvoyance or the result of some information upon which the belief was
based is a matter upon which Peavey will be quizzed, according to the
officers.
Another development of importance concerned information about a woman
whom Edward F. Sands, former valet-secretary to Taylor, is alleged to have
visited frequently. This information was turned over to the authorities by
Freeman.
According to Freeman, Sands was in the habit of driving Taylor's car to
this woman's house at least once a day during the director's absence in
Europe. This address is in the hands of The Examiner but is being withheld
at the request of officers who are investigating the clue.
Freeman, who says he met Sands every morning for several months, also
declared that he saw the fugitive ex-servant shortly after Christmas in front
of a downtown theater. Freeman states that he and his wife were standing in
front of the showhouse early in the evening when Sands passed.
Freeman further declared, it is said, that Sands asserted that he had
"something on Taylor." On several occasions when Freeman remarked how well
Taylor treated his employee, Sands is said to have replied:
"Well, he has to treat me right, for I certainly have the goods on him."
Captain of Detectives David L. Adams, who has heretofore held that the
arrest of Sands was the one immediately vital objective toward which the
police should bend their efforts, yesterday admitted that officers were now
searching for a man whose name has not been mentioned in the case.
"I cannot make public what clues the detectives are following," said the
captain, "but I will say that if there is an arrest in the very near future
it will likely be of a person not previously mentioned in the baffling
mystery and who has not been questioned.
"If my men bring in some person who has been a total stranger to the
investigation I shall not be surprised. Although I do not look for an arrest
today, this is a case in which the unexpected may happen."
The importance the captain attaches to this latest clue may be judged
from the fact that he has assigned four of his ablest officers to find and
question the man referred to. Detective Sergeant Murphy and another
investigator were on an especially important angle, it was said...
Captain of Detectives David L. Adams yesterday scouted the theory that
the cap found Friday in the room of Walter Thiele, held on a charge of
suspicion of burglar, bore out any indication that it, in any way, figured in
the Taylor murder case.
This cap, brought to the district attorney's office shortly before
midnight Friday and shown in the presence of Mabel Normand, the film star,
was described by investigating authorities as bearing blood stains. These,
if present, are thought to be of minor significance and such as might come
from a cut finger and imprinted upon the visor.
"I have not seen the cap, but to the best of my knowledge it has no
blood stains whatever, Captain Adams said. "I have never intimated to anyone
that Thiele, in whose rooms it was found, had anything to do with the murder.
In fact, I have eliminated both him and his companion, John Dailey, from the
slightest suspicion."
Captain Adams did say, however, that a search has been instituted for
Dailey, but only for the purpose of charging him jointly with suspicion of
burglary in connection with the looting of an apartment house on West Fourth
Street at which Dailey had been employed up to February 9 as janitor...
A stirring defense was offered for Hollywood and all attackers of the
morals, habits or actions of the motion picture profession as a profession
were hotly scored last night at a meeting of the Screen Writers' Guild of the
Authors' League of America, an organization of well known writers for the
films.
The meeting was held at the club house, 6716 Sunset Boulevard, and was
attended by about 150 persons.
Frank E. Woods, president of the organization, suggested a resolution
offering $1000 for the capture of the slayer of William Desmond Taylor and
made the first contribution of $100. The requested sum was quickly pledged
and the motion passed. Those who subscribed $100 apiece besides Woods were:
Thompson Buchanan, Albert Shelby Le Vino, J. E. Nash, Frank Condon, Perley
Poore Sheehan, Walldemann Young, Wallace Clifton, Miss June Mathis and Walter
Woods.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 13, 1922
LOS ANGELES TIMES
..."This is one of the quietest days since the murder," said Capt. of
Detectives Adams. "It is still my opinion that Edward F. Sands is the man we
want and I would give anything to get my hands on him. So far as I know only
one of the detectives assigned to the case is working today and he is on a
line of investigation from which I expect no immediate results."...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 13, 1922
LOS ANGELES EXAMINER
NEW YORK AMERICAN
Neva Gerber, film actress, probably will be the next witness to face
District Attorney Thomas Lee Woolwine and be quizzed regarding her knowledge
of William Desmond Taylor, murdered film director.
Many questions will be asked her, as she sits before the men who are
delving into every possible angle of the dead man's life, in an effort to
bring his assassin to justice.
Miss Gerber's was the name written by Taylor on a check for $500, and
also written by her on the reverse side of the chick when it was cashed.
That was only three weeks before Taylor was killed.
Yesterday Miss Gerber spoke calmly of her relations with Taylor--of
their long friendship and engagement to marry, and of the breaking of the
engagement.
"Although our engagement was ended about two years ago," Miss Gerber
said, "Mr. Taylor and I remained the best of friends, and frequently saw each
other.
"His increasing moodiness and my mother's unwillingness that I should
marry a man so much older than I were contributing causes to the broken
betrothal, but I feel sure that he did really love me, and I was very fond of
him.
"The checks which Mr. Taylor gave me from time to time, can all be
easily explained. During our engagement Mr. Taylor gave me an automobile as
a Christmas present; that is, it was understood between Mr. Taylor and myself
as a holiday present. The machine was not all paid for at one time, and in
order to prevent gossips from misconstruing the spirit in which the gift was
made, Mr. Taylor simply made out checks to me so I could pay for the car in
my own name.
"Numerous other checks were for distributing charity to the poor. Many
a time Mr. Taylor would say:
"'Neva, I know a poor family in desperate need. There are hungry
children crying for bread and it makes me unhappy to think about them. You
go to see them and buy them what they need.'
"Always, of course, he would give me a check to cover the amount I had
expended in relieving the case. It was the bigness of his heart that made
him feel this way and those who knew him think nothing of his giving me money
like that.
"As to the last check, given me a short time before his death, that can
be accounted for very simply. Mr. Taylor was always looking after my career
and doing all he could to help me progress in the film world. He knew I was
in temporary financial straits at that time and voluntarily sent me the
$500."
Miss Gerber stated that Mr. Taylor had frequently mentioned his mother,
daughter and sister to her, but that she was under the impression that the
daughter was in London with his mother. She said:
"When Mr. Taylor returned from overseas, he was gloomier and more
despondent than ever. He told me that his sister's husband had been killed
in battle and that during a midnight attack on London by German airships
dropping deadly bombs, his mother and his little daughter had been killed.
Of course I thought this was enough to account for his sadness, but besides
his depression he also grew irritable, and it was the irritability that made
me feel it would be a mistake for us to be married."
"Isn't it a rather unconventional and unusual thing for a man to give
checks to a woman, even when they are engaged?" Miss Gerber was asked.
"Oh, no," she replied. "Not when he intended to marry me, as he did,
and felt like he wanted to be doing something for me all the time."
"But afterwards, when the engagement was ended, was it not extraordinary
that he should continue to shower such generous monetary gifts upon you?" the
question was presented.
"Not at all," Miss Gerber asserted with assurance. "He seemed to think
that it was up to him to look after my welfare and I think he would have
continued his generosity to me even if he had lived to a very old age."
Just what was the reason for the whimsical and unequal gifts showered by
William D. Taylor on various people, remains yet to be seen. To his invalid
sister-in-law, with two needy, helpless children in Monrovia; he sent the
comparatively small sum of fifty dollars a month.
A stiff formal little note accompanied each of these donations and at
Christmas time he sent an extra twenty-five dollars, which he said was to get
something for the little girls.
But to the pretty moving picture actress, during a period of several
years, there was scarcely a singly check for less than one hundred dollars
and sometimes there were several of these in the same month.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 13, 1922
SANTA ANA REGISTER
...Public officials in Los Angeles are hinting that powerful interests
in the movie world have ordered that mouths be closed lest the disclosures in
the investigation into the murder of William Desmond Taylor bring additional
discredit upon the movie industry. The order should be for a complete clean-
up, and until the heads of the industry set adrift all moral derelicts who
may be connected with the industry, the movie colonies can expect to be
looked upon with suspicion and without sympathy.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 13, 1922
Edward Doherty
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Los Angeles--...The police were given an astounding new theory as to the
murder today, a story of revenge that smoldered for fourteen years to burst
out in a sudden deadly blaze of hate--a tip that is hard to verify.
It goes back to the days when Taylor was William Cunningham Deane-Tanner
of New York, manager of an art story, a husband and a father, the reputed
scion of a historic English-Irish family.
This new theory comes from an anonymous source, but because it is
plausible, the police are making such investigation of it as they can.
Taylor met a beautiful young girl in New York some fifteen years ago,
according to this story, and fell in love with her. He followed her wherever
she went. He called her on the phone and spent hours talking to her.
He took her to luncheon and to dinner.
The girl was in love with him, too; wanted to become his wife. Taylor
never had revealed the fact that he already was married; that he had a
daughter.
She was the sort of girl Taylor knew who would not allow him to get a
divorce. She was clean and pure. No scandal must touch her. Taylor could
not live without her and he could not marry her.
He disappeared without a word to anyone. It was to him the easiest way
for the girl, the hardest for himself. He gave up all he had that he might
not harm the woman he loved. He was afraid of himself.
The girl wondered and waited and mourned. She did not know what had
happened.
One night she had been in his arms and they had been talking about their
future, the home they were to occupy, the joy that was to walk with them
through life, the wonder of their love.
And the next night silence, no answer to frantic telephone calls, no
messages, no clues. It was as if she had but dreamed a lover and woke to
garish reality.
Suddenly the girl got up and started to run away. Her mother hastily
threw the book to the bench and ran after her daughter. Out of the book
slipped a picture.
The girl of the story picked up the photograph and looked at it. It was
the picture of Tanner.
She learned in a little while all there was to know about Tanner. This
was his wife. This was his daughter. He had deserted them a year ago--
simply dropped out of sight. Not a word had been heard from him.
The girl went home stunned, mortally wounded. She told the story to her
brother and then went out to Coney Island. And when the bright morning came
men searching the beach came across her body, floating on the waves.
The dead girl's brother confided to his friend, a man who had loved her
as much as Tanner had. He had been Tanner's rival. He had tried desperately
to win her, after Tanner had taken himself away. He had even tried to find
Tanner for her, when she convinced him that life without the man was a
mockery.
This man, the theory has it, is the man who on the night of Wednesday,
February 1, shot Taylor, who was Tanner, and stretched him dead on the floor.
This man, according to the story, had tried for fourteen years to find
the man who had broken the heart of the girl and killed her.
He devoted his life to the pursuit. He came on old tracks in Colorado,
in Alaska, in Flanders, in France, and finally he picked up the trail.
There were no names mentioned in this story, but the man who gave it to
the police says he is the brother of the girl who died for love of Tanner,
and the police remember that Taylor once said: "I was in love once, but the
woman died."
Perhaps the story is true, they say. Perhaps the New York police can
help...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 13, 1922
LOS ANGELES RECORD
...Woolwine spent the night with Charles Jones, former police chief,
running down leads that cropped up in the investigation. When the district
attorney arrived at his office at noon, he gave out a statement to the effect
that the quest in the night had proved fruitless.
Jones, he said, was in the case to help him on certain angles of the
investigation.
A rigid investigation of Taylor's loans was urged Monday upon local
authorities by legal representatives of persons prominently identified with
the film colony.
According to Public Administrator Frank Bryson, stubs of Taylor's check
books show many loans. Some of these were said to be large and others small.
"Find out to whom these loans were made," an attorney said, "and the
probability is light will be thrown on the murder."
The theory of Taylor's friends is that the loans were made simply out of
his generosity but others believe he was being persistently mulcted by
blackmailers.
"It is known," said one of the men urging the loan investigation, "that
Taylor's bank account was not large, this in spite of the fact that his
salary was in excess of $50,000 a year.
"Suppose Taylor got tired of scattering his earnings among these
bloodsuckers and refused to 'come through'--wouldn't that be a good
background for a murder?"
A clue, described as one of the most promising yet uncovered in the
Taylor murder, today was expected to lead to an arrest soon.
The new clue is connected with the past life of Taylor, who was known in
New York as William Dean Tanner, and the man sought for arrest has not
previously been mentioned in the case, according to Detective Captain Adams.
The new tip was given by a woman whose name is being withheld...
Police were given a mysterious tip that about the time Taylor was
murdered on the night of February 1, Sands visited a sweetheart in Los
Angeles. A close watch on the residence of the girl was established
immediately and all her movements were traced.
It was reported she was about to leave the city...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 13, 1922
William M. Creakbaum
LOS ANGELES RECORD
Meet Henry Peavey
"I refuse to talk. If you all wants to talk to me, call the wagon!"
Such was the opening statement of Henry Peavey, negro valet of William
D. Taylor, slain film director, when pressed for a direct interview Monday.
Peavey, who has suddenly become the neighborhood hero on East Third
Street since the murder of his master, has persistently refused to talk to
newspapermen.
Today a reporter, armed with an impressive press badge, sought the
elusive Henry in his own haunts. Peavey maintains headquarters in a Jap
[sic] rooming house, referred to in that part of the city as a hotel.
He also frequents a poolroom a few doors east.
Today he was to be found a neither place. The newspaperman, sauntering
down the street, sighted Henry perched on a neighboring window ledge
surrounded by a group of interested East Third-Streeters.
Clad in a greenish brown suit with a pinch-back coat from under which
gleamed a spotless white V-necked sweater, Henry basked in the sun and in the
consciousness that he was the best-dressed negro in that part of the city.
The reporter approached him.
"Henry, I'd like to talk to you," he said.
"Ah ain't talkin' to no one," Henry announced. "If you all wants to
talk to me--"
The newspaperman drew back his coat until a press badge was visible.
Mr. Peavey's eyes widened.
"If you all's from headquatahs, jes call the wagon. Mr. Woolwine, he
told me not to talk to nobody."
"I'm not going to call the wagon. It would create a scene here on the
street."
"Ah don't care," insisted Peavey. "They's been too much in the papers."
"What have they been saying now?" asked the newspaperman, innocently.
"Ah don't know," Henry said. "I ain't had the papers read to me this
morning. You see, I cain't read or write."
The reporter drew a back of cigarettes and offered one to the negro. He
smiled and shook his head. His big brown eyes gleamed from under the visor
of his tweed cap.
"Ah never smokes," he said, "an' Ah never drinks. That's why Mr. Taylor
and me got along so fine together. He never drank very much. He had a
bottle of champagne on ice at New Years, an' he says to me, he says, 'Henry,
open that bottle, an' we'll split it between us.'
"An' Ah did, an' that was my first drink in two years."
Henry was talking loquaciously now.
"Mr. Taylor never drank 'less it was for sociability," he explained.
"They say that he an' Miss Normand was drinkin' gin and orange juice the
night he was shot. Ah don't know, cause Ah left befo' she did. Anyhow, I
nevah knowed much about his private affairs, cause Ah didn't live there. Ah
spose if Ah'd slept there, Ah'd known mo' 'em."
"Have you found a new job yet, Henry?"
"Yassah!" with a pleased smile. "Say Ah has! Ah'm going to work for
Mrs. Christy Cabanne next week, or jes soon as these police and paper men get
done axing me questions.
"You see, Ah used to work for her befo' Ah went to work for Mr. Taylor,
jes six months ago. Mrs. Cabanne's mother, she made the fust pair pants this
chile ever wore."
His big smile beamed again as he recalled the days under his former
mistress--the wife of a motion picture producer--and thought of the days to
come.
"Ah'll be glad when Ah cooks mah own meals again. Ah eats in these heah
restaurants, then Ah goes down the street spittin' to get the bad taste out
of mah mouth the whole day long.
"They's nothin' like yo' own cooking."
At the mention of eating, Henry abruptly terminated the interview.
He waved an easy goodbye to the reporter, and sauntered down the street, to
disappear in the restaurant which he had just branded as the horror of his
epicurean existence.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 14, 1922
Edward Doherty
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Los Angeles--Four "mystery" witnesses, two women and two men, were led
to the district attorney's office today, and the foul pot of scandal that
began to boil with the murder of William Desmond Taylor, film director,
started to bubble up and spill over.
These four people, it is said, told District Attorney Woolwine a story
that involves a man high in Hollywood and a woman--one of the women whose
names have been most prominently mentioned in the case. The motive, it is
declared, was jealousy.
It was learned late tonight that one of the women is "Lady Jane" Lewis,
modiste to the beauties of pagan Hollywood. The other is said to be Miss S.
O. Lewis. The men were Detectives Aldworth and Harry Kearin of the Hollywood
police station.
Reputations that have been built up over a stretch of years and by the
expenditure of much money will wither in a night when the story grows public,
say those who know.
The man in the case has not been linked with the murder until this
afternoon.
Woolwine would not discuss what they had to say. Most of the afternoon
was taken up with them...
Before the witness came to his office, Woolwine had been going over the
letters written to Taylor by Mabel Normand and others, letters that seemed to
show a connection between the dead man and the rings of bootleggers and
narcotic smugglers, letters that seemed to indicate Taylor had supplied
whisky and drugs for several frail white lilies of the screen...
"What they should do," an attorney said, "is to clean house. When a
barrel of fruit contains rottenness you don't correct by propaganda. Throw
out the rotten fruit. Let Hollywood get rid of its degenerates, its drug
addicts, its moral lepers, and then let the screen writers write."
Miss Minter gave out a statement today attacking those who would
besmirch the memory of her best friend, the man accused of deserting at least
one wife and one child, of falsifying his army record, of being a member of a
bestial cult, of supplying booze and cocaine to those who would purchase
them...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 14, 1922
LOS ANGELES TIMES
...While Mr. Woolwine was talking to the visitors to his office,
Detectives Cato and Cahill were following up clues uncovered several days ago
and leading to the theory that a well-known drug peddler may have been the
slayer of the noted film director...
Several different theories of the crime were developed during the day,
many supposed clues were run down, and many "tips" were received. But as for
actual progress in the baffling case, no official connected with the inquiry
admitted making any.
Mary Miles Minter, youthful actress who has been questioned as part of
the investigation, issued the following statement, authorized by her
attorneys:
"There is no person or financial sacrifice that I would not gladly make
to bring the slayer of William Desmond Taylor to justice.
"Mr. Taylor was one of my best friends. His death was a great shock to
me. I met Mr. Taylor first in 1919, when he became my director. I was then
17 years of age, and his inspiration, his unfailing courtesy and
consideration not only to me but to all with whom he came in contact
immediately won my highest admiration.
"From 1919 until the day of his death Mr. Taylor was to me the symbol of
honor and manliness, an inspiration, friend, guide and counselor--the symbol
of all a girl admires in a man.
"His friendship was uplifting and his advice and aid were invaluable.
"It would be nothing less than veritable ingratitude if I did not, now
that he is dead, raise my voice to proclaim what he was and to repudiate
those who would besmirch his character.
"I have told the authorities all that I know of both his life here and
in the East. That, I fear, has been of little aid to them.
"I cannot conceive the character of a person who would voluntarily wrong
Mr. Taylor or cause his death."...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 14, 1922
Florence Lawrence
LOS ANGELES EXAMINER
Mabel Normand says she has the much discussed letters written by her to
the late William D. Taylor. They were returned to her yesterday by the
District Attorney's office and are, as she says, of such childish, innocent
tone that any value they might have either as a sensational feature in the
development of this case or as indications of any high emotional nature is
absolutely nil.
Miss Normand talked at length last night when she heard that a rumor was
afloat to the effect that these letters were to be released for publication.
"For myself," and the star spoke dramatically, "I had no one who could
possibly have been interested enough in me to do such a thing. I had no
jealous lovers. My acquaintance among the men and women of Los Angeles was
large, but I had never encouraged any one to believe that he was first in my
heart and I had only good friends, but no one who could possibly construe my
great and beautiful friendship for Mr. Taylor as anything but a most
beneficial interest in my life."
"I have all the letters in my possession," she said, "and I am sure that
they have not been copied or tampered with. They are all of such a
nonsensical nature that they have absolutely no value except as they exhibit
and indicate the good fellowship which existed between Mr. Taylor and myself.
"Why, I wouldn't have dreamed of writing anything to him except of a
light-hearted nature. Our whole friendship was founded on that line. He was
a wonderful man, and a generous man, and many of my notes to him were
requests for small contributions for my pet charities. I always gave small
checks to the Little Sisters of the Poor, and I frequently asked him to make
similar donations.
"He used to urge me to be less extravagant and I wanted to jolly him
about his wisdom and at the same time make my own purpose clear to him.
I could never refuse any one in distress. I loved to help those about me who
were in hard luck, and one of the greatest pleasures that my success in
pictures has brought me was that it enabled me to give freely to those who
needed money. The only value I could see in a large salary was to be able to
help those less fortunate than I.
"My letters were all so childish and so simple that they could have
meant nothing but perhaps a moment's cheer to so wonderful a man as was Mr.
Taylor. He was a fine, clean, wholesome man, and he spurred my ambition and
made me study. He wasn't like younger men who always wanted me to put on
evening clothes and go out somewhere to dance and dine. He liked to sit at
home and talk about books. He helped me so much with my reading and study
and encouraged me to think that some time I might accomplish something along
that line."
Miss Normand recited from memory several of her letters to Mr. Taylor,
which all bore out her statements in regard to the merry exchange of badinage
between them.
One letter referred to a little lark in which they had indulged one
evening when they went to see a motion picture. She had dismissed her
chauffeur and decided to go to another theater where a star whom she admired,
Richard Barthelmess, was to be seen.
"I thought it would be fun to ride in a Ford," said the beautiful young
actress, "so I asked a car passing if they would drive us to the next theater
and Mr. Taylor and I rode and paid fifty cents for the trip. We thought it a
lot of fun.
"Later we walked back to the first theater to see the beginning of the
film, and on the way down the street talked about the art of the cinema, and
the play itself.
"The next day I had a long letter of advice from Mr. Taylor, which was
really a burlesque. He chided me for the reckless expenditure of the fifty
cents, joking of course, and laughed at my enjoyment of this harmless little
escapade. All our letters were exchanged in just that tone.
"You know," added Miss Normand, "film people work hard. They have to
work at night and sometimes for days at a time have little leisure away from
the set. Such frivolous notes as those Mr. Taylor and I exchanged were
merely a brief recreation for both of us. They never had serious portent,
and were always as light-hearted and merry as we could make them. Many of
our hours were passed in the most serious kind of labor."
Miss Normand is visibly unnerved by the long strain of questioning to
which she has been subjected. She feels more than anything else, however, a
fierce sense of injustice to the dead.
"How can people say such terrible things about him?" she asked. "How
can those very folk with whom he was associated, the men and women he helped
either with movies or friendliness think for a moment that any of those
unkind things be true? It is impossible for me to consider it and I think
instead of passing resolutions his friends, every one of them, should form a
huge fund and offer a tremendous reward for the capture of the man who killed
him.
"Every one who could should contribute even if it is only five dollars
or one dollar, and many of his associates should easily give a thousand
dollars and would, I believe, be glad to do so to have this terrible mystery
explained. I am sure Mr. Taylor had no enemies of whom he was aware. He was
a man of such open habits, such a sincere and honest man, that he could never
have wrought an injustice that could animate such a terrible, vindictive act.
"The murderer must be found and punished, and I should be very glad to
head a list of subscribers to such a fund if others in the industry believe
that it is the right thing to do.
"It's easy enough to say, 'Oh, what a fine man he was--such a loss to
the profession,' but that doesn't count in the punishment of the man who did
this terrible deed. I believe that his associates will be ready in a moment
to start such a fund and to make the solution of this crime a quick and sure
matter.
"I have been put to terrific agony by this whole terrible event, but I
make nothing of my own suffering as compared with the unclean things which
have been said about the motion picture industry. The shock to me when I
learned of the death of my good friend was almost unendurable, but before I
could rally from that I was questioned and almost stunned by the knowledge of
the horrible suspicions which this crime has wakened about the entire colony
of picture folk.
"Such allegations are absolutely unfair. It is, of course, the fault of
circumstances that I was the last person known to have seen Mr. Taylor, and I
give thanks every day that on that particular evening I had driven to his
house in my big car with my chauffeur in attendance. Sometimes I did get
into my little Stutz and we went to drive together, and it is the greatest
comfort to me how in this hour of distress that I had gone with attendants on
that night."
Here Miss Normand broke down completely and her slight frame, emaciated
and worn from the stress of the past two weeks, shook with an attack of
terrific coughing.
"Oh, they are talking about sending me away for the winter," she moaned.
"This cough is so threatening, and the doctors are afraid my lungs my suffer
unless I get to a drier climate."
Miss Normand was asked concerning the wife and daughter of Mr. Taylor.
"Why, what reason do they give for not coming out here at such a time?"
she exclaimed. "If I had been that daughter with such a wonderful father
nothing could have prevented my coming here at once. A father like that
should make any girl proud and eager to do all in her power to solve this
terrible mystery. I can't understand how she could have been indifferent to
such a man."
Miss Normand did not know that Mr. Taylor had a daughter until the
developments following his death, but said that long ago she had heard it
mentioned that he had once been married.
The star's rooms are filled with flowers and notes and telegrams of love
and affection are constantly reaching her from all parts of the world.
The strange fate which included her so closely in the final movements of
Mr. Taylor's life has necessarily brought upon her a double burden. She is
almost prostrated with grief, and has also the necessity of trying in every
way she can to throw some light upon the animating cause which could have
brought about so frightful a crime. She has strained every nerve in her
endeavor to assist the progress of justice, and the result is almost more
than her fragile physique can withstand. But her loyalty to her friend is
leading her to put forth every effort, and in her desire to help unveil the
identity of the mysterious slayer she is now almost at the point of total
collapse.
She was feeling much stronger last night, however, and with another day
of rest her physicians believe she will be on the high road to the recovery
of that buoyant health and spirit which is so notable a quality both in her
social and professional life.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 14, 1922
LOS ANGELES EXAMINER
A powerful ring of narcotic peddlers alleged to have been operating in
Los Angeles and Hollywood and directed and led by a beautiful woman was the
center of investigation last night by officers conducing search for the
slayer of William Desmond Taylor, film director.
The nefarious activities of the members of this band who have drawn the
suspicions of the investigators were uncovered yesterday by Undersheriff
Eugene Biscailuz and Deputy Sheriff Frank Dewar, working under the direction
of Sheriff William I. Traeger.
After carrying out a thorough search for the members of the ring the
officers announced that they had suddenly and mysteriously disappeared from
their usual haunts about the city.
Police have traced the movements of this beautiful woman for the past
few months and have found, they say, that although she moved frequently, her
home was never located far from the house occupied by Taylor.
The fact that none of the peddlers could be found yesterday is looked
upon by the officers as a strong link in the chain which they are trying to
forge about the band.
Another important development yesterday was the added declaration of
George F. Arto, a machinist, living on Bixel Street, that he saw a third man
in front of the court, on Alvarado Street, where Taylor lived, on the night
of the murder--a man other than Henry Peavey, the film director's valet, and
William Davis, Mabel Normand's chauffeur.
This third man, he asserts, was talking with Peavey. Davis was sitting
in the car at the time. Arto, called to the District Attorney's office last
Friday, related the alleged occurrence, but was not certain that he made this
observation on the night of the murder.
Yesterday, by exchanging notes with the friend and others, he
established the fact that his visit was made on the night of February 1.
Davis, upon being shown Arto's statement, reiterated that with the
exception of Peavey there was no one present the night of February 1 while he
waited for Miss Normand to come from the director's house. Peavey made the
same statement.
Following an hour's investigation yesterday afternoon between Charles A.
Jones, a special investigator of the case, and other officials eight persons
were taken to the District Attorney's office. Five of them were witnesses.
Although the subject of the conference was not divulged it helped clear
away many baseless rumors which have hindered progress.
It is expected that today Detective Sergeant J. E. Winn will be assigned
to the personal staff of the District Attorney to handle the murder case in
the place of Detective Sergeant Eddie King, who is ill.
Rumors that two new women witnesses were called to the District
Attorney's office yesterday were denied by detectives.
Dr. Dudley Fulton, Miss Mabel Normand's physician, yesterday issued
orders that no one, not even her most intimate friends, should see the film
star...
Announcement by the district attorney's office that a number of letters
had been found in the dead man's effects from women who had not been
mentioned in the case caused something of a stir until an examination showed
that they threw no light on the mystery.
The identity of the mystery witness examined late Sunday night by the
district attorney and Special Investigator Charles A. Jones was not revealed
yesterday. It was announced, however, that no material fact had been adduced
in the lengthy statement, which was taken down in shorthand by court Reporter
Ben Smith...
That a rigid investigation of all business papers found in Taylor's
effects will be made at once was the statement from the District Attorney's
office and public administrator's office yesterday.
Frank Bryson, the administrator, wants to secure the last possible
detail on the slain man's affairs so that the daughter and whoever, if
anyone, else enters into the estate shall have a full accounting.
Already there have been discovered many check stubs showing that Taylor
paid out, in the aggregate, a large sum of money which, so far as may be
judged, is due the estate. While it does not appear to be legally
collectible, neither notes nor other security having been given, the
presumption is that many of the checks to various individuals stood for money
loaned.
Thus far there has not been found a single entry in the unfortunate
man's check stubs or elsewhere which points the way to the perpetrator of the
crime.
It is believed by some of the authorities that, to learn the names of
all the borrowers of the director's generously disbursed funds might bring a
solution to the mystery. This is on the theory that he may have loaned a
large amount to some person who preferred to wipe out the debt in blood
rather than money.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 14, 1922
LOS ANGELES EXAMINER
Declaring that the widely exploited scandals charged to the motion
picture industry in Los Angeles are brought about by a few, and not the
majority, as a result of which Hollywood has been reflected all over the
country as a den of iniquity, a sink of vice, and pest hole of drug addicts
and various other euphonious and striking titles, editors of local
newspapers, leaders in the motion picture industry and members of the Screen
Writers Guild met yesterday at the Chamber of Commerce to discuss plans to
fight such publicity in every way possible...
During the conference a frank and full discussion of the press in its
relation to the motion picture industry was participated in by Joseph W.
Schenck, Jesse L. Lasky, Frank Woods and others representing the Producers
and Screen Writers' Guild, as well as G. G. young of The Examiner, Harry
Chandler, president and general manager of a morning paper [The Times];
Edward A. Dickson, editor of The Express; Edwin R. Collins, managing editor
of The Herald, and Burton Kulsley, editor of the Record...
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Fan Magazines React to the Taylor Case
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
May 1922
Harry Carr
MOTION PICTURE CLASSIC
In the wake of every disaster come the jackals and hyenas, sniffing at
the corpse. The mystery of the murder of William Desmond Taylor, the
director, is no exception.
As is always the case in every big news sensation, irresponsible news
writers, for their own profit, have flown to the wires and flooded them with
wild yarns about Hollywood that were libelous, cruel, malicious, ignorant and
yellow to the point of putridity.
A great deal of the rotten junk sent to the newspapers about the
Hollywood film colony must be laid for fortuitous circumstance. It so
happened that Los Angeles was flooded with newspaper writers sent from
Chicago and other Eastern cities to report the Obenchain murder trial. The
case had been postponed and the writers were hanging around Los Angeles
waiting for entertainment. Having no knowledge of the film colony or of
motion picture people, but with an avid thirst for a good story, they kept
the wires hot with strange, wild and fantastic dreams about nude swimming
parties, etc. The famous El Paso faker who used to fill the newspapers with
pipe dreams must be hanging his head in shame; he is in the piker class. Los
Angeles newspapers, as well as the Chamber of Commerce and city council and
other commercial organizations, have hotly defended the movie colony. At the
same time, a great deal of harm has been done.
Two girls especially have suffered bitterly--Mabel Normand and Mary
Miles Minter. By the strange police doctrine that every letter found in the
house of a murdered man belongs to the public to be pawed over, both these
girls have been subjected to mortification and shame which will probably have
a lasting effect.
Mary Miles Minter got a particularly tough deal. At an age when most
girls are thinking of nothing but ice cream sodas and have no
responsibilities except to keep their noses powdered, Mary has to walk in a
pitiless scrutiny that is the lot of heroes and kings. Like many another
young girl, she wrote breathlessly indiscreet letters to a man old enough to
be her father. There seems to be nothing particularly sinful in her writing,
"I love you; I love you: I love you," to Taylor. Yet these letters have been
printed with a vileness of insinuation and innuendo that must have been a
heart-breaking experience for a young girl--or an old girl either. The
entire motion picture industry has without doubt suffered severely, though
unjustly, by reason of the Taylor case.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
April 1922
James Quirk
PHOTOPLAY
What's It All About?
The governor of a great state is sued for seduction by his stenographer
--a leading banker is accused by his wife of illicit love affairs--a well-
known minister with a family is arrested for white slavery--an eminent lawyer
is mutilated by a husband for home-breaking.
But does the world conclude that governors, or bankers, or ministers, or
lawyers--as a class--are therefore rotten, that the whole profession is given
to those practices of which one of its members has been accused or found
guilty?
No! The thinking world is too just--too sane.
And yet, because two prominent figures in motion pictures have recently
been the center of scandal, the entire profession has been put under a cloud.
The reason for this inquiry is manifold:
To begin with, Hollywood is the most talked-of city in America; it is a
small community populated by famous people who exist in the white glare of a
merciless spotlight. They have as much privacy in their work or lives as a
Broadway traffic policeman.
Moreover, the men and women who work in pictures are the most popular
and intimately familiar figures in the nation's life.
Also, the dishonest, scavenger press, seeing temporary profit in
sensational smut, proceeds to butcher the motion pictures to make a
journalistic holiday. Motion-picture scandals are exaggerated and dwelt
upon, given exorbitant space, and played up with pictures and banner heads.
Then again, certain despicable seekers for cheap and lurid publicity, in
the motion-picture ranks, rush into print with their ideas, tales,
suppositions and opinions.
Furthermore, the public, too, is in large part to blame. It is human
nature to create an idol and then to tear it down. From time immemorial
idols were made to be raised and shattered.
And so, as a result, a great industry is irreparably injured; the
reputations of thousands of decent men and women are sullied; an entire
community is dragged into the mire!
It is a colossal and unforgivable injustice! I have personally visited
Hollywood many times. I am thoroughly familiar with the motion-picture
industry. I know as many of its people as anyone in the country. And this I
can truthfully say:
Never have I seen the immoral conditions to which the newspapers refer.
And while there are members of the motion-picture profession who are addicted
to vicious practices, the men and women--as a whole--are as decent and self-
respecting as the men and women of any other profession.
PHOTOPLAY is not posing as a defender of the motion pictures. It holds
no brief to the purity of Hollywood. It prefers, in fact, to refrain from
all discussion on the subject. But it can not sit by silently and behold
both public and press besmirch with lies the entire rank and file of a great
industry. This is why PHOTOPLAY has refused the recent frantic demands from
newspapers for photographs of eminent actors and actresses, knowing the use
to which they would be put.
Vice is to be found everywhere--in every profession and in every city in
the world. The motion-picture profession is neither better nor worse than
any other.
PHOTOPLAY asks nothing for motion pictures but justice--that simple,
fine justice which the American public knows so well how to exercise.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
April 1922
James Quirk
PHOTOPLAY
Moral House-Cleaning in Hollywood:
An Open Letter to Mr. Will Hays
Dear Mr. Hays:
You have just accepted a position which makes you the representative
head of the motion picture art and industry. You are the ideal man to occupy
that position. Your traits of character and your proven ability, sanity,
directness and fearlessness qualify you for this great responsibility.
I am taking the liberty of writing you a letter; and the things I am
going to say to you are the outgrowth of a six years undivided association
with the motion-picture industry--its leaders, its directors, and its stars.
You are confronted by the biggest job in America. You hold in your
hands, as a sculptor holds a piece of clay, an industry which wields perhaps
a more direct and personal influence upon the public than any other in the
United States.
It has become a necessity in the lives of many millions, and because of
its vastness and influence, is almost a public utility.
You have it in your power to do a greater and finer service for this
country than any other man today. You are, indeed, not merely face to face
with a gigantic task--you have a sacred duty to perform as well.
In motion pictures, as in all great industries, there are undesirables--
selfish vicious persons who work injury to everyone with whom they are
associated.
There is the unscrupulous producer who, for a temporary profit, makes
his appeal to the baser instincts in human nature.
There is the actor and the actress who live loose, immoral lives, and
who thrive on scandal and lurid notoriety.
And there is the exhibitor who attempts to capitalize this scandal and
to benefit by this notoriety. (In Los Angeles, while the press was at the
height of a recent orgy of sensationalism, a local theater threw across its
entrance a large canvas banner bearing the words: "I love you; I love you; I
love you!" quoting a note which Mary Miles Minter wrote to Taylor, the
murdered director.)
There are the self-appointed guardians of public morals, who forget the
spirit of our form of government and in their frenzy of egomania, busy
themselves in bringing about censorship, or exercise it in such an autocratic
manner that compared to them, the kaiser was a benign and humble ruler.
Whenever a crime or a scandal connected with motion pictures has come to
light, there have been those in various branches of the business who have at
once rushed in and sought, through one means or another, to profit by it at
the expense of the industry's reputation, scattering lies and accusations and
innuendoes broadcast.
These are the facts. What, then, can be done?
Viewing the situation broadly, I believe that what motion pictures need
at the present time, more than anything else, is a moral house-cleaning.
They need it for their own good, as well as the public's. And you are the
one man who can bring this about. It is you alone who can rehabilitate the
good name of a great industry which has been dragged through the mire.
First of all, you should call on producers to discharge all persons
whose private lives and habits make them a menace to the industry. This is
vital. When the Stillman scandal broke, the National City Bank dropped
Stillman. Surely the picture industry can do as much for its own good name.
Furthermore, you should eliminate all those persons who are eager to
take advantage of the sensational publicity offered by any motion-picture
scandal which gets into the papers.
Moreover, in every motion-picture contract there should be a clause
similar to the one in the new Goldwyn contracts, providing for the immediate
discharge of any actor whose private life reflects discredit on the company.
Your problem is to restrain not only the exhibitor, but the producer and
the actor as well.
It is a general moral house-cleaning that is needed.
Then there is another point. One of the cardinal reasons why scandals
like the Arbuckle and Taylor cases are possible, is that the motion-picture
business has built up great public characters, thus making them easy targets
for sensational journalism.
This method of production has been wrong; for the publicity, advertising
and expenditure should be spent on the pictures and not on the stars.
And here again you can help by focusing interest and attention on the
art of motion pictures and not merely upon personalities.
Indeed, the time will probably come when personalities will be almost
entirely obliterated, although you can never succeed in overshadowing the
individual ability of the really great actress and actor.
There is no need to go into the causes for the unfortunate condition of
affairs which at present exists in the motion-picture industry. No one is
directly to blame, for the industry and its problems are new, and certain
recent results could not be foreseen and met. Both cause and effect are
without precedent.
Perhaps everyone has been a little to blame--the producer, who sat
apathetically by and did nothing; the actor and actress, who were suddenly
loaded with riches, and sought to enjoy them without counting the cost; the
exhibitor, who gave no thought except to the box office; the newspapers, who
played up the scandals for personal aggrandizement; the public, which was
willing, even eager, to believe whatever it heard or read.
But whatever the causes, the facts exist; and it is these which you,
Mr. Hays, must face--and face fearlessly. The time has come to act, and I
believe that you are capable of organizing the many factors of influence in
America--producers, actors, directors, exhibitors, press and public--to join
hands and work with you for a new ideal in motion pictures.
PHOTOPLAY, for its part, will refuse to print any personality story
about any motion-picture star, who is notoriously immoral, or whose actions
are such as to reflect unfavorably on the industry.
It is a Herculean task you have undertaken.
You are going to find in the motion-picture industry the same trouble
that has always existed--selfishness and cut-throat methods. Side by side
with men of the highest of principles, you are going to find men who are the
scum of the earth.
But you will succeed. Neither you, nor anyone else will be able to make
the motion-picture business perfect, any more than the railroad business, the
steel business, the banking business, or the government is perfect.
After all, just as sorrow and hardship build up character, so out of
these tribulations will come a stronger and better business.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
March 4, 1922
MOVIE WEEKLY
Movie Weekly's Stand on the Taylor Case
The tragic death of William D. Taylor, well-known Paramount director, a
cultured, studious, and evidently quiet-living man, has shocked the motion
picture colony and the general public.
The attitude of the picture folks is that of deep sorrow for the loss of
one they esteemed. There is a bitter seriousness in the protest of the
producing executives against the sweeping condemnation that is expressed via
the newspapers. Jesse L. Lasky, Vice-President of Famous Players-Lasky;
Samuel Goldwyn, President of the Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, and others,
have banded together to get to the bottom of Taylor's death. No expense will
be spared to prosecute the guilty one. No expense will be spared to right
the entire picture colony--which, unfortunately, has been branded by this
second disaster within so short a span of time--in the eyes of the public.
MOVIE WEEKLY takes the stand of non-partisanship. Motion pictures and
everyone in them are our friends. The public is our friend.
The public surely wants to know about Mr. Taylor and what is going on
out West. These reportorial details can be read in the papers from day to
day.
It therefore ill behooves a weekly magazine to poach on newspaper
ground. What MOVIE WEEKLY is going to do is to publish the life story of
William D. Taylor. [This was reprinted in TAYLOROLOGY 23.]
We have authorized a well-known writer to gather this material for us
and within the course of a few issues it will be run in from three to four
installments.
MOVIE WEEKLY will not cast opprobrium on the motion picture players, or
upon the picture colony. If there is to be anything said, let it come from
the authorities. We are, therefore, expecting soon such a series from people
well-known in the industry. This will give you the real truth of Hollywood
by those who know and are fearless enough to say what they know.
Out in Los Angeles, the TIMES, a local paper, rises to say: "Among the
film people one can see delightful, romantic, wholesome domesticity on the
one hand, or an amazing effrontery in free love on the other. There was one
little lady at a hotel whose ideas were distinctly interesting. A frightful
crash was heard at midnight and it appeared an irate husband has forcibly
removed another man from her room via the window route."
Everyone admits that there is this cancerous eaten side of the film
colony. But why rail at it? Wipe it out. That's what is going to be done
at Hollywood. The Taylor tragedy, following in the footsteps of the Arbuckle
case, has aroused the ire of every home-loving Hollywoodite
that suffers in
the sin shadow cast by such cases.
The whole trouble seems to be that the public has been fed up with the
eulogistic stories about the stars, and judging from the sundry letters that
come into this office, many fans actually believe them to be "little tin
gods." They aren't. But, on the other hand, they aren't a black and
thoroughly demoralized set.
At this writing, the Taylor mystery is unsolved. Much speculation is
heard on all sides. We refuse to indulge in this pastime. William D.
Taylor's life has been one of adventure and romance, and it will all be told
in a vivid and dramatic style in his story as we will publish it in MOVIE
WEEKLY.
We ask our readers not to turn radically against Hollywood and the
motion picture people there. Keep your head during this crisis and don't say
anything against any man or woman that will shame you when the Taylor mystery
is finally solved.
We reiterate. Our stand in this case is that of a non-partisan. What
is yours? Write and tell us. We are interested.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
May 1922
Agnes Smith
PICTURE PLAY
Some Results of the Late Upheaval
The murder of William Desmond Taylor stirred Hollywood more than the
public realizes. Mr. Taylor was a popular and respected man, and until he
was shot down in his apartment he had not figured in the colony gossip. And
then the deluge of unfavorable publicity descended upon Hollywood and the
film world in general. It was unfortunate that the names of Mabel Normand
and Mary Miles Minter were brought into the case. When Joseph Elwell was
killed in New York, the names of any women who happened to know him, and whom
the police, at first, might have thought to be concerned, were not made
public.
But the killing of Taylor seemed to furnish a good excuse for crying
out, "Another movie scandal!" despite the fact that those who knew him at the
studio declared that he was a decent, quiet, and cultured gentleman. Every
amateur and professional reformer in the world seems bent on cleaning up the
morals of the movie folk; as for the movie folk, they are determined to stand
together and defend themselves against malicious and uncalled for attacks on
their private lives.
The Screen Writers Guild was one of the first organizations to see the
need of a better understanding with the public. Many of its members are men
of international reputation who happen to be living in Hollywood. They feel
that the public doesn't know the true situation and that the respectable
persons who earn their living in the movies are being classed with the
undesirables. Of course, there are undesirables. The movie people realize
this better than the reformers and the producers are taking drastic steps to
keep them out of the studios. A year will see some big changes in the
studios, brought about by the companies themselves.
Shortly after the Taylor murder the Screen Writers Guild held a meeting,
and the organization pledged itself to answer all unfair and unwarranted
attacks on motion pictures. It also pledged itself to see that all excuses
for these attacks should be done away with. The silly gossip parties of
Hollywood must go, and the writers have promised to work with the Women's
Clubs and the civic authorities in Los Angeles to put a stop to the wholesale
slanders that are circulated about the movies. Some of those who were
present at the meeting were: Frank Woods, Jeanie Macpherson, June Mathis,
Elinor Glyn, Eve Unsell, Julien Josephson, Thompson Buchanan, Louis Sherwain,
Alan Dwan, Lois Zellner, Rob Wagner, Albert Shelby le Vino, Beulah Marie Dix,
Francis Harmer, and Helen Christine Bennett.
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Back issues of Taylorology are available on the Web at any of the following:
http://www.angelfire.com/az/Taylorology/
http://www.etext.org/Zines/ASCII/Taylorology/
http://www.silent-movies.com/Taylorology/
Full text searches of back issues can be done at http://www.etext.org/Zines/
or at http://www.silent-movies.com/search.html. For more information about
Taylor, see
WILLIAM DESMOND TAYLOR: A DOSSIER (Scarecrow Press, 1991)
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