Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood (62 page)

On the day Taylor’s body
: Roland Roloff [
sic
] to Will Hays, February 3, 1922, WHH.

“absolutely no plans”
:
Washington Times
, February 9, 1922.

“a production program that eclipses”
:
Variety
, February 3, 1922.

The national economy
: US Census, Historical Statistics of the United States, 1976.

company’s net income had plunged
: August 1922, WHH.

Mary stepped gingerly
: Higham transcript.

“as a mere child”
:
Los Angeles Examiner
, February 4, 1922.

That evening, unable to sleep
: Minter, statement to the district attorney.

In the shooting gallery
:
Los Angeles Examiner
, February 6, 1922.

“rather than continue”
:
Los Angeles Herald
, February 6, 1922.

“woman supplied the incentive”
:
Phoenix Gazette
, February 4, 1922.

Crowds had started
: The inquest was described in detail by the
Los Angeles Examiner
, February 5, 1922, and
Los Angeles Times
, February 5, 1922.

“Hey, mac!”
: Unsourced item, William Desmond Taylor file, NYPL.

“who adhered to the belief”
:
Los Angeles Herald
, February 6, 1922.

“If it would help”
: King, “I Know Who.” Although King wrote that Hoyt’s visit to Taylor was on the night before the murder, it’s possible he or Hoyt had their days mixed up. W. A. Robertson in his statement to police of February 9 said that Hoyt was present when Taylor told a similar story about Minter on Saturday, January 28, a night when Taylor was out with Hoyt and Robertson, first at the Los Angeles Athletic Club and then at the Annandale Country Club.
Los Angeles Times
, February 5, 1922.

the city’s first “speed cop”
:
Los Angeles Times
, March 12, 1924.

luxurious touring car
:
Los Angeles Times
, February 4, 1922;
Los Angeles Examiner
, February 4, 1922.

“may have had knowledge”
:
Los Angeles Herald
, February 6, 1922.

“I can’t see why”
:
New York Daily News
, February 6, 1922.

“short and heavyset”
:
Los Angeles Examiner
, February 4, 1922.

“piled high with papers”
:
Los Angeles Times
, February 6, 1922.

“letters and personal belongings”
: My account of King’s detective work comes from King, “I Know Who,” and e-mails with his family.

everyone knew that Eyton had them
: It was reported in
Variety
, February 10, 1922, that “a studio official” had taken Mabel’s letters.

Famous Players could not appear
: That police were threatening Eyton seems clear from many of the newspaper accounts.
Variety
reported it plainly on February 10, 1922, though the paper did not name Eyton: “Authorities made a direct threat and he then placed the letters in a shoe of Taylor’s.”

“Never before in the history”
: My description of Taylor’s funeral comes from the
Los Angeles Examiner
, February 8, 1922;
Los Angeles Times
, February 8, 1922; and other local coverage.

“correct any false impressions”
:
Exhibitors Trade Review
, February 18, 1922.

“the ‘hop’ feasts”
:
New York Daily News
, February 8, 1922.

“Get it straight, please”
:
Los Angeles Examiner
, February 6, 1922.

“compelled to handle”
:
Los Angeles Examiner
, February 8, 1922.

“the blackmailer of the century”
:
Philadelphia Inquirer
, February 5, 1922.

Mrs. Shelby had hired
:
Los Angeles Record
, February 8, 1922.

“If [Mary’s contract is] renewed”
:
Film Daily
, January 3, 1922.

“The studio was using the situation”
:
Oakland Tribune
, July 1, 1933. This was from a deposition made by Leslie Henry, a former employee of Charlotte Shelby. See Bruce Long, “Why Were Minter’s Love Letters Given to the Public?” on Taylorology.

“unknown in a man’s wardrobe”
:
Los Angeles Examiner
, February 6, 1922.

“long and grueling”
:
St. Louis Globe Democrat
, February 7, 1922.

“at the end of his rope”
:
Variety
, February 10, 1922.

“narrowly escaped trouble”
:
Variety
, February 10, 1922.

Cecil B. DeMille had scrapped
:
Los Angeles Times
, February 10, 1922.

Mrs. Evelyn F. Snow
:
Variety
, February 3, 1922.

“There’s no more immorality”
:
New Castle (PA) News
, February 7, 1922.

“We all deplore”
:
New Castle News
, February 14, 1922.

Not for several days
: “Adolph Zukor, president of Famous Players–Lasky Corporation, by whom Taylor was employed, arrived in Los Angeles yesterday afternoon. Zukor immediately went into seclusion and refused to be interviewed on any subject yesterday.”
Los Angeles Examiner
, February 13, 1922.

“all publicity records”
:
Variety
, October 6, 1922.

Ten thousand circulars
:
Los Angeles Express
, February 7, 1922.

that
was a storyline
: See Bruce Long, “Did Drug Gangsters Kill Taylor?” in
William Desmond Taylor: A Dossier
.

“Billy Taylor threatened”
:
New York Evening World
, February 14, 1922.

“one of the hardest fighters”
:
Moving Picture World
, March 4, 1922.

“a number of persons”
:
San Francisco Examiner
, February 9, 1922.

“took an absorbing interest”
:
Boston Globe
, April 21, 1918.

“Because of the Taylor murder”
:
Boston Globe
, February 14, 1922; see also
Variety
, February 17, 1922.

“vigilance committee”
:
New Castle (PA) News
, February 15, 1922.

After spending about a week
: Edwin Schallert’s column,
Los Angeles Times
, February 23, 1922.

“a wonder at concocting”
:
Denver Post
, March 3, 1922.

the former valet requested
:
Los Angeles Times
, February 6, 1922.

“I am not doing”
:
Los Angeles Times
, February 22, 1922.

a fireplug of a man
: Details on Carson come from Florabel Muir,
Headline Happy
(New York: Henry Holt, 1950);
New York Times
, March 20, 1941;
Time
, March 31, 1941. Although Muir gave the impression that she went along on the jaunt to the cemetery, contemporary reports and Peavey’s statements do not give any evidence of a woman being present outside the
Examiner
office.

Under further questioning
:
San Francisco Examiner
, February 21, 1922.

the NAACP filed
:
Chicago Defender
, March 11, 1922.

“satisfactory progress”
: Dr. Mark O. Davis to Will Hays, March 9, 1922, WHH.

“an extremely early”
:
Boston Globe
, April 9, 1922.

“I am reminded”
: Will H. Hays to Frank Munsey, January 21, 1922, WHH.

“To attain and maintain”
: Will Hays to W. V. Robb, January 24, 1922, WHH.

“clean-up campaign”
:
Madison (WI) State Journal
, March 4, 1922.

“developing economies”
:
Madison State Journal
, March 4, 1922.

“sanity and conservatism”
:
New York Times
, July 23, 1922.

“If the public does indeed”
:
New York Times
, July 23, 1922.

“never have to turn red”
:
New York Times
, March 17, 1922.

A friend at the New York
: James G. Blaine to Will Hays, January 17, 1922, WHH.

“The motion picture industry”
:
New York Times
, March 17, 1922.

“a cozy little place”
:
Hartford (CT) Times
, March 13, 1922. See
Los Angeles Times
, March 9, 1922, for Patterson’s death.

“She giggled all afternoon”
:
Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang
, June 1922.

In Lynn, Massachusetts
:
Boston Globe
, February 14, 1922; see also
Variety
, February 17, 1922.

“Mabel knows enough”
:
New York Globe
, February 13, 1922.

“to talk above”
:
Los Angeles Examiner
, February 15, 1922.

“I talked with Mabel”
:
Boston Advertiser
, February 20, 1922.

“a typically Mabel Normand”
:
Chicago American
, February 11, 1922.

“Following this theory”
:
Chicago American
, February 11, 1922.

“a large roll of bills”
:
Los Angeles Record
, February 17, 1922.

in a sudden burst of determination
:
Film Daily
, March 29, 1922.

Boasting connections
: A thorough digital search of the
Los Angeles Times
,
New York Times
,
Film Daily
,
Exhibitors Trade Review
, and
Exhibitors Herald
revealed no “Independent Producers Distributing Syndicate,” which was the way the company was referenced in newspaper notices of Gibby’s new production concern. But a new “Independent Producers Syndicate,” formed by James Calnay, was mentioned in
Film Daily
, June 19, 1922, at the same time Gibby’s notices were appearing in newspapers. At the time, Calnay was gathering many investors for various start-up companies, as subsequent court fights would detail. Gibby’s distributor was not the longer-established Independent Producers and Distributors Association, which was a trade organization, not a distributing company.

“a series of six five-reel”
:
Variety
, May 24, 1922;
Oakland Tribune
, June 18, 1922.

she was planning to roust Don Osborn
: I am speculating about this, given Gibby’s statement to the FBI: “When I was to produce my own pictures, I offered him a job.” November 1, 1923.

Charlotte Shelby had known
: Exactly when detectives first tried to interview Shelby is unclear, but Jesse Winn said that it was “immediately after the discovery of Taylor’s body”;
Los Angeles Daily News
, September 9, 1937. Although it doesn’t appear to have been “immediately,” the attempted interview probably occurred within the first few weeks of the investigation.

“for the purpose”
: King, “I Know Who.”

“whoever killed Taylor”
: Interview with Nicole Westwood, granddaughter of Thomas Woolwine.

She was heading back
: Mrs. Miles’s trip and her disposal of the gun were revealed in her granddaughter Margaret’s testimony. See, for example, the
Los Angeles News
, September 13, 1938.

“Every inch of his huge frame”
:
Washington Herald
, April 13, 1922.

“Acquittal is not enough”
:
New York Times
, April 13, 1922.

“very pleased”
:
Los Angeles Times
, April 13, 1922.

“for the purpose of gauging”
: Associated Press, as in the
Ogden (UT) Standard-Examiner
, April 13, 1922.

On the announcement
:
Variety
, April 21, 1922.

“If [audiences] flock”
:
Alton (IL) Evening Telegraph
, April 14, 1922.

“the fans who have waited”
:
Los Angeles Times
, April 17, 1922.

“without any reference”
:
Film Daily
, April 18, 1922.

Liberty Theatre polled
:
Film Daily
, April 21, 1922.

“the privilege to be the first”
:
Helena (MT) Daily Independent
, April 18, 1922.

“The public knows full”
:
Kokomo (IN) Tribune
, April 13, 1922.

“to intervene and prevent”
:
San Antonio Express
, April 16, 1922.

In Hartford, Connecticut
:
Hartford Courant
, April 16, 1922.

reformers made sure
: These two examples were reported in
Film Daily
, April 22, 1922.

Hays was summoned
: Although some news reports implied the meeting took place at Hays’s office, it seems more likely, given the Famous Players memo that the agreement was written upon, that the principals all gathered in Zukor’s office.

“well-nigh bankrupt”
:
Memoirs of Will H. Hays
.

Hays who had “prevailed upon”
:
Variety
, April 21, 1922.

“After consultation at length”
: The draft and the typed release are both in Hays’s files, WHH.

“hat and coat in hand”
:
New York Times
, April 19, 1922.

“I thought I was well-started”
:
New York Times
, April 20, 1922.

“very homesick for you all”
: Will Hays to Mrs. S. D. Puett, April 18, 1922, WHH.