The Man Who Made the Movies

September 4, 2017
Journalist Krefft’s huge, dense, yet captivating biography highlights the early Hollywood mogul whose name long outlived his legend. Unlike Louis B. Mayer or Jack Warner, William Fox was effectively out of the movie business by the 1930s, leaving only his name on the company that would soon merge with Twentieth Century Pictures. While the story of his fall from grace is dramatic, his rise is just as fascinating. A Jewish immigrant from Hungary, he scrapped his way up in New York, eventually opening one of the first movie theaters in Brooklyn in 1904, when the new craze seemed likely to be a bursting bubble. Instead, Fox’s gamble paid off, and subsequent successes enabled him to found the Fox Film Corp. in 1915. Like many of his contemporaries, he built his empire on both production and distribution, and his attempt to take over the Loew’s theater chain led to an antitrust battle. Krefft seems to have uncovered nearly every fact or story about Fox extant. (Was it a sword swallower or a coin manipulator who attracted customers to Fox’s first theater? With no way to know, Krefft gives us both versions.) Whether Krefft is describing how Fox built his studio, ushered in the talkies, or weathered a litany of troubles—bankruptcy, jail time for trying to bribe a judge, and poor health—in his later years, her attention to detail makes for gripping storytelling.

September 15, 2017
A biography of the silent film-era producer and theater entrepreneur whose name lives on through the major studio he founded.In her ambitious first book, former magazine and newspaper journalist Krefft aims to resurrect the reputation of the pioneering though largely forgotten studio mogul William Fox (1879-1952), whose background story is similar to those of many of the founding fathers of film: tirelessly driven men whose families emigrated from Eastern Europe in the late 19th century. Their stories, including Fox's, were vividly recounted in Neil Gabler's An Empire of Their Own (1988). However, unlike many of his Hollywood contemporaries, Fox would maintain his residence in New York, and his contributions were encapsulated within the silent film era. Yet his achievements were significant. He built a multimillion-dollar empire of luxury movie theaters beginning with one small theater in Brooklyn. As a studio head, he had the vision to leverage several new revenue outlets, including the foreign market. He launched the careers of early stars such as Theda Bara and Tom Mix and was responsible for producing a number of highly regarded films, including F.W. Murnau's Sunrise (1927). In 1929, he suffered a series of disastrous events, beginning with a car accident that summer and the Wall Street crash, which derailed his attempt to merge Fox theaters with Loews releasing company. This would contribute to his losing control of the Fox Film Corporation, leading his career and personal fortune into a downward spiral. Krefft provides an in-depth overview of the early film industry and a lucid assessment of Fox's role in advancing the technology, art, and business of making films. Though her end goal is ultimately achieved, this hefty narrative is weighed down by excessive details surrounding her subject's financial dealings. Yet Fox the man remains somewhat elusive. The author's writing lacks the storytelling verve that a more seasoned film historian like David Thomson brings to his work. An insightful and solidly documented though often ponderous history of the early days of cinema--of primary interest to film scholars.

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October 15, 2017

Studio head William Fox (1879-1956) was a relatively benign ruler, although ruthless when he needed to be. Like other first-generation movie moguls, he began by buying small storefront theaters and ultimately expanded into producing films. By the mid-1910s, he had struck filmic gold with pioneering "vamp" star Theda Bara, male stars such as William Farnum and Tom Mix, and directors including John Ford. Most of the 1920s saw continuing success, but Fox had overextended himself financially. The 1929 stock-market crash hastened the end of his empire, and he was later imprisoned for several months. In her first book, journalist Krefft has done an exhaustive study of Fox (the notes alone run to 130 pages). Arranged chronologically, some of Fox's biography is rather hastily covered while whole chapters are devoted to a single film or player. Seemingly, every aspect of his personal and professional life has been included in this suitably engaging narrative. VERDICT It is no reflection on Krefft's accomplishment that this may be more than most casual readers need to know about the man whose name lives on in 20th Century Fox. For those desiring less in-depth coverage, Merrill T. McCord's recent William Fox and the Fox Film Corporation may be a suitable alternative.--Roy Liebman, formerly with California State Univ., Los Angeles

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2017
A man who grew up in appalling poverty, with minimal education, claws his way up the power ladder to become one of the giants of Hollywood; then he buys a large stake in a rival company using borrowed money, only to have the Great Depression tear his life and career into shreds. William Fox is the man, the founder-owner of Fox Film, the third-largest studio in the early days of Hollywood, and in 1929 he bought a substantial number of shares in the Loew's cinema chain, which also happened to own MGM, Hollywood's second-biggest studio. The son of an Hungarian immigrant, Fox was a bit of a dreamer, but he was determined to make a success of himself, parlaying an investment in a small movie theater in 1904 into ownership of a major studio. He also, by fighting an antitrust lawsuit, laid the groundwork for the studio system. That this inventive, indefatigable man ended his career in defeat is a real downer, but the book is not. It's a celebration of Fox's spirit, his determination, and his lasting impact on the motion-picture industry.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)