***************************************************************************** * 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 * ***************************************************************************** CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE: Reporting the Taylor Murder: Days 11 and 12 Fan Magazines React to the Taylor Case ***************************************************************************** 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. ***************************************************************************** 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 ***************************************************************************** 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...??) ***************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************** 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... ***************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************** 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. ***************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************** 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) *****************************************************************************