A Cast of Killers (33 page)

The most important body of research materials at this author’s disposal was the King Vidor papers, graciously made available through the auspices of Suzanne Vidor, Mr. Vidor’s daughter by his first marriage, and David Adams, Mr. Vidor’s grandson and the executor of his estate. They made this material available without restriction, and it was only through their generosity, encouragement, trust, and insight that this book was possible.

Mr. Vidor’s Taylor papers, principally found in the locked strongbox described in the introduction, provided the blueprint from which all further research was conducted. Approximately sixty percent of those papers consist of incomplete manuscripts that Mr. Vidor wrote for eventual incorporation into a book or screenplay, loose-leaf pages upon which Mr. Vidor jotted his own thoughts and the thoughts of those he interviewed, and index cards on which Mr. Vidor and his secretary listed all the important clues under the headings Who, When, What, Where, and Why. The remaining material consisted of transcripts of actual police and court documents, business correspondence relating to Mr. Vidor’s inquiries to both active and retired officers of the L.A.P.D. and others he interviewed and worked with, and, finally, William Desmond Taylor’s diary and an assortment of his letters, notes, and photographs that Mr. Vidor either purchased or collected between 1966 and 1968.

Mr. Vidor’s incomplete manuscripts—l,500 various pages bearing such titles as “Death of a Director,” “A Bag of Peanuts,” and “The Making of a Murder”—were principally written in the form of scenes that Mr. Vidor planned to use in a dramatic rendition of the Taylor story. With the help of Mary Anita Loos and Charles Higham, authors Mr. Vidor leaned heavily upon while writing them, I was able to gain the best overall view of the conclusions Mr. Vidor reached, his emotional responses to various aspects of the story, and, most significant, firsthand documentation in Mr. Vidor’s own words of his motivations and personal connection to the story. Important incidents, phrases, and pieces of dialogue, as well as the epigram at the front of this book, were drawn directly from this source.

In several instances, research which Vidor and his associates consulted or collected contradicted published accounts which chronicle the same events. Where Vidor was clearly in error, I have endeavored to provide the reader with the most up-to-date and reliable information. It should be noted, however, that this book seeks to follow Vidor’s investigation of the crime, not to argue or present all the known evidence in the murder case or to compare published press accounts of the events Vidor investigated. As I have noted throughout the book, newspaper and magazine articles chronicling the case vary widely. It was commonplace for studio publicists to plant misinformation. For the most up-to-date information on the murder case and the published reports on the early years of the Taylor murder investigation, readers are urged to consult the research of Bruce Long, who has for many years collected information on the life of William Desmond Taylor and the principal players in the murder investigation. Much of this material is now available on Long’s “Taylorology” website.

The most notable instance of a press report contradicting Vidor’s own account of events concerns he and Colleen Moore’s whereabouts on the night of the murder. A Los Angeles
Express
story, published on February 6, 1922, brought to my attention by Bruce Long, suggests that it was Florence Vidor and not Colleen Moore who was marooned with King Vidor in the snow on the night Taylor was murdered. I have chosen to use Vidor’s version of the event. Not only did Colleen Moore verify Vidor’s account, but she had a photograph of the two of them waist-deep in snow.

Mr. Vidor’s original notes, transcripts of interviews, index cards, and appointment calendar were used to establish the exact sequence of events that have been portrayed, and much of the substance of each chapter. These documents, consisting of over 650 pages, ranged from mere fragments of conversations Mr. Vidor jotted down on loose pages of his notebook or on the backs of envelopes, to concise, typed transcripts or summaries of interviews. Instrumental to my interpretation of these documents was the advice and help of Dick Marchman, Mr. Vidor’s brother-in-law and the man who worked most closely with him during his investigation; Colleen Moore, film producer, friend, and confidante of Mr. Vidor; and Thelma Carr, his secretary.

While all important events in these notes were documented by these witnesses and others, it was not always possible to delineate clearly Mr. Vidor’s step-by-step progression. Given the nature of the story, accounts of the same episode would sometimes vary in detail, and in such circumstances, I have chosen the version that seemed the most likely, given an understanding of Mr. Vidor’s personality and the manner in which he conducted his affairs and kept his records. I have chosen to delete from his story instances in which I was not able to corroborate events documented in Mr. Vidor’s notes.

Certain liberties have been taken reporting the information. Dialogue, as described in the introduction, has been reconstructed in cases in which I have had only rudimentary notes from Mr. Vidor. In such instances, most specifically during conversations Mr. Vidor had with Laurence Stallings, Antonio Moreno, Herb Dalmas, and Betty Vidor, I have based my reconstruction upon interviews conducted with either the participants or, in the case that these persons had passed away, interviews with relatives or persons likely to have an intimate knowledge of the subject. I do not claim that the dialogue represents the exact words used by characters at the time of the events described, but feel, however, that the dialogue represents the essence and spirit of the conversations represented, as well as the personalities, styles, and characteristics of these persons.

I have also taken the liberty, in a few instances, of consolidating into one meeting interviews and meetings Mr. Vidor had over a period of time in different locations. This was done in the cases of Mr. Vidor’s meetings with Allan Dwan, Herb Dalmas, and Laurence Stallings, all of whom were close friends of Mr. Vidor, and all of whom met with him many times. Such a liberty was taken purely for the sake of brevity, and done so, I feel, in situations that do not compromise the spirit or essential thrust of the investigation.

The police and court records represented in Mr. Vidor’s files and described in this book have been quoted from and synthesized as professionally and accurately as I believe possible. All such transcripts have been verified by police or professional sources, and further supporting evidence has been gathered to corroborate all statements made. What remains of the original police records can now be found housed in the County Archives of the City of Los Angeles filed under case package 1947, Box No. 38, CRC # 57456. What remains of the original court records are housed in the County Archives of the Superior Court, principally filed in cases #422468 and #426350. In situations in which only summaries existed in the County Archives of cases quoted from in this book, I have obtained and examined all important original documents provided to the defendants. Helpful to my endeavor to verify all findings have been Hynda Rudd, county archivist of the City of Los Angeles; Commander William Booth, Captain Arthur Sjoquist, Captain Bill Davis, Officers Jim Amormino and Wayne Mackley, and retired Lieutenant Jack Halstead, all of the L.A.P.D.; and Nicholas R. Burczyk and Associates, handwriting analysts.

Other certified police documents have been used to support Mr. Vidor’s findings. Of greatest importance has been the June 13, 1941, “Summary and Resume of Facts Developed During the Investigation of the William Desmond Taylor Murder, Submitted to C. B. Horrall, Director of Investigation, Room 26, City Hall of Los Angeles.” This document, in conjunction with the James Kirkwood and Mary Miles Minter Memorandum, filed by the Homicide Detail, L.A.P.D., also submitted to C. B. Horrall, indisputably supports Mr. Vidor’s findings in connection with his examination of L.A.P.D. files.

The King Vidor papers not part of his Taylor files were indispensable to my understanding of Mr. Vidor’s personal and professional life. These papers, collected after his death from his ranch in Paso Robles, his home and office in Beverly Hills, and storage rooms throughout Los Angeles, represent over 75,000 pages of letters, scripts, diaries, journals, notes, and assorted documents. It was from this source that I drew pertinent details of Mr. Vidor’s childhood in Galveston, his early filmmaking endeavors in Texas and Hollywood, the relationships he had with his wives, friends, and business associates, and, most significant, the daily records of his activities and habits in 1967. Photographs and motion-picture footage housed in his estate were used to chronicle his dressing habits. IRS tax returns, American Express charge receipts, canceled checks, and an assortment of bills and receipts from such sources as his auto mechanic, barber, grocer, and country club were used to detail all the important scenes portrayed.

The interviews used in conjunction with this book represented as significant a contribution as the King Vidor papers. At last count, nearly two hundred hours of interviews were logged with over forty-five different individuals interviewed in locales that included New York, Los Angeles, El Monte, Arcadia, Hemet, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, Templeton, and San Francisco. With the help of the Vidor family and the L.A.P.D., I spoke to all major living sources mentioned in the context of this book, and in cases where the individual had passed away, friends, relatives, or associates were contacted who, in my opinion, were best suited to provide pertinent information or corroborating evidence.

Individuals interviewed by this author whose names appear in this book were Muriel and Alice Deane Tanner, Dick Marchman, Colleen Moore, Thelma Carr, Robert Giroux, Herb Dalmas, Adela Rogers St. Johns, Bill Cahill, George Hopkins, and Rosalie Sanderson. Without their participation, most notably by Marchman, Moore, Hopkins, and Sanderson, I could not possibly have drawn such detailed accounts as reflected in these pages.

Of the many individuals interviewed or contacted whose names do not appear but whose contributions provided significant documentation of events chronicled, I would like gratefully to acknowledge the following: retired Lieutenant Jack Halstead, L.A.P.D., friend and partner of Ray Cato and Thad Brown; Willis Lane, friend of Claire Windsor; Margaret Tante Burk, historian of the Ambassador Hotel and friend of Adela Rogers St. Johns; Don Schneider, film historian and friend of Minta Durfee; William Stephenson, friend and bridge partner of Betty Vidor; Betty Fussell, biographer of Mabel Normand; Len and Leah Corneto, friends and companions of Mary Miles Minter; Ken Du Main, Minter historian; Cleve Dupey, friend of Mary Miles Minter; George Noonan, friend and associate of Brandon O’Hildebrandt; Mary Oldham, nurse of Buron Fitts; Sergeant Gary Blyleven, investigating officer of the Buron Fitts suicide; Mrs. Eliot Todhunter Dewey, friend of William Desmond Taylor; Eleanor d’Arrast, silent-film star and second wife of King Vidor; Charles Higham, friend and confidant of King Vidor; Mary Anita Loos, friend and companion of King Vidor; David Bradley, film historian and friend of King Vidor; George McQuilkin, former student of King Vidor; Nancy Dowd, former student and associate of King Vidor; Rouben Mamoulian, neighbor and associate of King Vidor; Doug Whitehead, foreman of Willow Creek Ranch; and finally, Hollywood historians Kevin Brownlow, Kemp Niver, Michael Yakaitis, Marc Wanamaker, De Witt Bodeen, and Anthony Slide.

There are others who need to be acknowledged with the recognition that they contributed far more than they realized: John Vidor, Cyndi Voltz, Mike Hawks, Robert Gitt, Peter Bateman, John Paoli, Jim Wait, I. V. Edmunds, Andrew Friedman, Jeffery Luna, Brian Borden, Jetta Goudal, Mary McLaren, Blanche Sweet, Bertha Hoagland, David Fritz, John Rapore, Katherine Berge, Henry King, Lee Shively, Mitchell Block, Vicki Hamlett, Belinda Vidor, Tony Vidor, Vickie Foreman, Sam Gill, Paul Killiam, Stephen Paul Cohen, Mindy Warren Pickard, Michael Welsh, Harriet Baba, Jackie Cooper, Richard Partlow, Heinz Stossier, Marc Cohen, and Judson Scruton. A note of special thanks goes to Professor Thelma Vickroy.

Collections of research materials held in public libraries and private hands were consulted to clarify matters of historical record. Most significant, I would like to acknowledge the support and assistance of the following: Len and Leah Corneto for use of their private collections of papers on Mabel Normand and Mary Miles Minter; David Shepard for use of the Directors Guild of America oral history on King Vidor; Miles Kreuger, of the Institute of the American Musical, for his collection of papers and research materials on William Desmond Taylor; and Tom McDonald, of the office of Los Angeles District Attorney Ira Reiner, for his historical papers concerning Los Angeles district attorneys. Other significant sources include the Mamaroneck Public Library in Westchester County, New York; the Cork County Library, Ireland; Shreveport Public Library, Louisiana; the Los Angeles Public Library; the National Archives and Investigative Case Files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, D.C.; the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; the Performing Arts Library of the New York Public Library at Lincoln Center; the Film Study Center, Library and Stills Archive of the Museum of Modern Art; the Motion Picture Section of the Library of Congress; the Library and National Film Archives of the British Film Institute; the Special Collections of the General Research Library of the University of California at Los Angeles; and the American Film Institute.

For use of their photographs or drawings, I would like to thank Brian Borden, Len and Leah Corneto, Michael Yakaitis, Marc Wanamaker, and Kevin Brownlow. Thanks also to Roxana Swearingen for proof-reading the updated and revised edition of this book.

Finally, I would like to thank those who worked to bring this book into print: David Shepard, Special Projects Officer of the Directors Guild of America and close personal friend of King Vidor, who was instrumental in laying the groundwork that made my research possible; Michael Yakaitis, for his ingenious ability to track down and unearth major sources of original research materials and photographs; New York literary agent Tim Seldes and Hollywood film agent Evarts Ziegler, for their encouragement and counsel; Bill Whitehead, my first editor at E. P. Dutton, for his patience, confidence, and insights; Jennifer Josephy, my new editor at E. P. Dutton, for shepherding my manuscript into print; and author A. Scott Berg, whose example I can only hope to emulate. Finally, greatest thanks must go to Richard Woods, Hollywood screenwriter, whose editorial advice and dialogue notes helped to insure that this story was presented as King Vidor would have wanted it told.