Volume I: Narrative History

Chapter 7 (1914): Mutual Affairs

Concerning the larger corporate scheme of things, Variety, which usually pulled no punches in its news coverage, printed the following on June 19, 1914:

RE-ELECTING AITKEN: All signs say that Harry E. Aitken will be re-elected president of the Mutual Film Corporation at a meeting of executives scheduled for late this week. The Western factions of the company are opposed to the retention of Aitken in the presiding chair, but C.J. Hite, vice-president of the company and the governing power in the Thanhouser and Broadway Rose Gardens companies, it is predicted, will swing his forces over to Aitken in the balloting and re-elect him.

The losses of the company on certain big productions instituted during the Aitken regime are said to be at the bottom of the Western faction's dissatisfaction. Street rumor has it that the losses on these and other productions this season aggregate close to $150,000.

To anyone in the trade reading Variety this news must have come as a shock, for elsewhere in various periodicals nothing but glowing reports had been published of Mutual, its big productions, and other ventures. Mutual, it seemed, had the Midas touch. But, apparently it didn't.

By this time Mutual was a far-flung enterprise. Nearly every month, it seemed, saw a new corporation surfacing under its banner; witness the Mexican War Films Corporation, the Broadway Rose Gardens, venture, etc. Dozens of Mutual exchanges in American cities were furnishing product to between 6,000 and 8,000 theatres, not to forget branches overseas, supervised by Roy Aitken, in London, Rome, Paris, and Berlin. The hiring of D.W. Griffith was frosting on what seemed to be a large and very fancy corporate cake. As Mutual endeavored to dominate the industry, other leaders in the field grew increasingly concerned. Carl Laemmle, whose Universal empire was growing rapidly, and who the next year would open Universal City in Los Angeles, became a foe, in contrast to the Independent ally he was earlier. Adolph Zukor, a rising figure in the industry, and others went head-to-head against Harry E. Aitken in the competition to acquire stars, directors, and distribution outlets.

In the Mutual empire John R. Freuler took care of finances, Roy Aitken was busy overseas, the bankers in Chicago and New York were visiting various studios and enjoying their fraternity with the glamorous industry, and Harry E. Aitken was making deals. Aitken, who landed Griffith, was now contending with the director's expressed desire to make a film to outdo all others: a grand production of 12 reels or more in length, based upon Thomas Dixon's novel of the Civil War, The Clansman. While Aitken was enthusiastic, Mutual's bankers and investors were cut from more conservative cloth and considered the picture to be an expression of Griffith's outsized ego, and not a good business prospect. Mutual's board of directors rejected the idea.

Believing that Griffith was the keystone in Mutual's reputation and publicity strategy, and knowing that Adolph Zukor was waiting to hire Griffith for as much or more money if Mutual faltered, Aitken contributed money from his own pocket and also went outside of Mutual to seek investments from other friends and acquaintances, in the process alienating himself from certain of his Mutual partners and associates, who didn't want to invest but didn't want Aitken to profit either. Additional funds came from Mutual itself, unknown to most of the directors and major stockholders. D.W. Griffith in the meantime raised funds himself by making side deals against eventual film profits. By mid-1914 all of this was developing into a big mess, and more nasty things were to come.

Unlike the readers of Variety, who might have suspected that there was a crack in the Mutual facade, subscribers to The New York Dramatic Mirror had no such thoughts, at least not from reading this account in the June 24th issue:

The annual election of the directors of the Mutual Film Corporation was held last week at the New York offices, and the men who have directed the firm's destinies for the past year were re-elected to authority. The officers are: H.E. Aitken, president and general manager; C.J. Hite, first vice-president and treasurer; John R. Freuler, second vice-president; E.L. Thomas, secretary. James N. Naulty has been appointed third vice-president [his appointment was made after the meeting].

At the stockholders' meeting held in Richmond, Virginia, on June 17, the directors, Crawford Livingston, Felix E. Kahn, George W. Hall, Wilbert Shallenberger, Addison E. Jones, were re-elected [for terms of three years each].

Bright reports were read at the New York meeting. Regular seven percent dividends on the preferred stock for the year, beginning July 1, 1914, were declared payable quarterly, and a dividend of one half of one percent, with an extra dividend of the same amount, declared on the common stock in each of the next four months. Note

The New York Dramatic Mirror, July 1, 1914, printed a follow-up article:

As an aftermath of the harmonious election of officers of the Mutual Film Corporation, the announcement is made that Phil Mindil, who has been publicity manager for the past year, has resigned. Mr. Mindil, one of the best known publicity men in the country, organized the publicity department and made Reel Life, the Mutual house organ, the best known paper of its kind in the trade. W.H. Peckham, business manager of Reel Life, also resigns. Arthur James, former Sunday editor of The Morning Telegraph, and well-known litterateur, becomes head of the department.