Stagecoach (1939) still one of the greatest films of all time

Who could guess that the John Ford western “Stagecoach” from 1939 would still be considered one of the greatest films of all time – not just from an objective viewpoint, but rather a subjective one? That is the approach taken by TIME magazine’s film critic Stephanie Zacharek in her article titled "How TIME’s Film Critic Chose the 100 Best Movies of the Past 10 Decades" dated July 26, 2023. As a recipient of the Newswomen's Club of New York award and 2015 Pulitzer Prize finalist, Zacharek puts that subjective, critical thought into selecting the one hundred movies for this list. Surprisingly, “Citizen Kane” (1941), “The Godfather” (1972), and “Casablanca” (1942) did not make Zacharek’s list – films which often make the ubiquitous “Greatest Movies of All Time” lists compiled by other film critics.

One article which takes a definitive look at this movie, which received an Oscar nomination for Ford’s efforts as director, is written by David A. Punch, “Stagecoach: Defining the Western”.  As a canonical film, “Stagecoach” certainly revived interest in the western genre at a time in Hollywood when most westerns of the oater variety dominated the 1920’s to 1930’s. While the cinematography, direction, and screenplay are a major cut above everything done at the time, what really makes the movie stand out is the complex character development. In steps Tom Tyler, who eventually became a member of Ford’s company, appearing in “Drums Along the Mohawk” (1939), “The Grapes of Wrath” (1940), “Red River” and “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon”, to name a few. Even better, Tom also had the required background for the demanding role he played as Luke Plummer, as minor a role – and character – in “Stagecoach”. No doubt one of the most memorable scenes in the movie is where the viewer is introduced to Luke Plummer, his personality, and character development – primarily in belated silent film form, with only a few spoken lines. Tom’s performance received accolades from film critics. I wrote extensively about Tom’s performance, and the likeliest reason for it in the article located here. 

Whether subjective or objective as a movie choice, “Stagecoach” is sure of one thing: even first-time viewers will be as impressed with it as much as weathered fans of the film.

 

Cine Aventura: Tom Tyler

Definitely one of the rarer items to come from Spain, at least in booklet format, Cine Aventura: El Valiente Tom Tyler was published by Sociedad General Española De Librería in Barcelona, Spain. This is not a film booklet in the style of Biblioteca Films per se, but is rather a brief biography of the star, along with a pulp fiction story, and an illustration of Tom fighting a bandit. The western story herein takes place during the time of President Lincoln. Thus with this addition included in the booklet, it is not quite like the more popular Tras La Pantalla published by Publicaciones Cosmos, also based in Barcelona, but rather something unique which appealed to western fans.

The booklet itself is slightly smaller compared to the size of a Biblioteca Films booklet, being 3 ¾” x 5 ¼” in size. The red and white border of the booklet is decorated with a western theme, and the still of Tom Tyler, seen with Bud Osborne on the cover, is from Tom’s 1930 silent film, “Call of the Desert”. The actual date of publication likely came after 1941 and no later than 1945 due to Tom’s list of credits including “Adventures of Captain Marvel”, which was released that year. Other booklets in this series are dedicated to the following stars: Tom Mix, Buck Jones, Ken Maynard, and Hoot Gibson. At least five issues are known in this series, although it is highly likely the series had a limited number of these small booklets, as well as limited circulation.

According to the Spanish website Sociedad General Española De Librería (SGEL), the company has been in business for over 100 years, founded in 1914 in Barcelona when its origins were in managing bookstores and publishing novels, weekly periodicals, and comics during the 1920's to 1940's. Today, SGEL is a marketing and distribution company based in Madrid.

Motion Picture News and the miscaption of “Wild to Go”

Even business to business publications, also known as trade publications, can make errors when it comes to making sure that the correct captions are matched to images which appear throughout the publication. Case in point: Motion Picture News May 8, 1926 with the Tom Tyler silent film “Wild to Go” which appears on page 2267. The correct set of stills appear on page 2263 but bears the caption of:

"The Danger Quest" is a current Rayart release. These scenes were taken from the picture.

The “Wild to God” silent film page of Aventuras de Tom Tyler has been updated with this correction.

At the FBO Ranch

"Born to Battle" 1926, filmed at FBO Ranch

Heading west on Sunset Boulevard towards the East Pacific Coast Highway in California, one might guess that the modern developed land was once a popular location where movie production companies filmed in the great outdoors. The guess is of course correct, upon observing the view of the ocean, the Santa Ynez Canyon and beach, which was once raw land home to a number of filming sets four miles north of Santa Monica. At the entrance of the Santa Ynez Canyon is where the Robertson-Cole Ranch once stood: production sets and facilities for westerns, including stables for horses. This ranch encompassed the beach, part of the ocean, a river, mountain, plains, and a hamlet. Perhaps not surprisingly, this beautiful landscape was used by previous Hollywood film production companies, long before it was known as the FBO Ranch where Tom Tyler would travel each filming day to mount his horse and work for the cameras.

Historically, this same piece of land was used for silent film exteriors by director Thomas Ince of the New York Motion Picture Company. Ince bought the 460 acres of land in 1912 that makes up Santa Ynez Canyon, then leased an additional 18,000 acres into the Santa Monica Mountains, or seven miles of land, just for filming movies on. Due to the topography, the land became suitable for all types of film genres, including westerns and dramas which called for an exotic locale like “Kismet” (1920). Appropriately named Inceville, all types of buildings and stages were assembled. Restaurants, a commissary, office buildings, wardrobe, and enough dressing rooms for the 500 plus people who worked and filmed here.

In 1917, Ince sold the original 460 acres to western star William S. Hart, who named it Hartville. By 1920, Robertson-Cole bought the land from Hart and named it the Robertson-Cole Ranch. An article on the purchase of the ranch property is described in detail in The Moving Picture World, June 26, 1920. Harry R. Hough was in charge of the ranch, and in 1922, Robertson-Cole reorganized as Film Booking Offices with Joseph P. Kennedy as President of the company. Tom Tyler must have enjoyed filming in the location, the land reminding him of the hamlet in upstate New York where he was born, Port Henry, by Lake Champlain. It is not wrong to say that Tom filmed while in the Pacific Ocean, strong swimmer that he was, capable of escaping a ship off land once he finished fighting a group of bandits, as he did in “Born to Battle” (1926). In this silent film, Tom swims to the beach and lands in front of a building designed to resemble a school – in the story, a girl’s school, where a bevy of beauties see him emerge from the ocean like a merman, all dripping wet. The cliff and river on the FBO ranch provided the setting for “The Wyoming Wildcat” (1925) and “The Cowboy Musketeer” (1925), and once again the beach in “Wild to Go” (1926).

A view of Inceville, from Movie Pictorial, September 1915

Nowadays, the very town where Tom Tyler filmed his earliest silent films for FBO is called Inceville, and the neighborhood to its immediate south, Pacific Palisades, and to the northwest, Palisades Highlands. Largely an affluential region where many actors and musicians live, the once glorious film production sets that thrived here are now long gone.

Collectibles: Tom Tyler Polonia Films movie heralds

Law of the Plains, 1929, Polonia Films

Movie heralds for Tom Tyler westerns can be a rarity, however, probably the most sought after ones are printed by Polonia Films. What makes these Polish language heralds a true curiosity is that they were most likely manufactured in Spain.

It is believed that Polonia Films was owned by Z. de L. Bakanowski, who was born in 1899 and entered the film industry in 1926. According to a brief biography in Kinematograph Year Book 1946, Bakanowski based Polonia Films out of Madrid, Spain, one of the nation's publishing hubs. He also represented the Association of Polish Film Producers in Spain. An astute businessman, he was a managing director of several other companies including B.M.D. Ltd, which oversaw the exchange of films between the United Kingdom and continental Europe. Not much else is known about Bakanowski or Polonia Films although some examples of these movie heralds do appear online and periodically show up on auction sites.

Each Polonia Films movie herald is 7” x 5 ½” in size, printed on the front and back, usually in monochrome although sometimes with a different color used in the background, as shown in the movie herald for “The Man from New Mexico” (1932). While these heralds are few and far between they do make a nice addition to any Tom Tyler collection.

The Man from New Mexico, Polonia Films

Signing a card for Tom Tyler

Nowadays the signing of a digital card for a famous person is quite easy: the interested fan is provided a link to the card either by email or social media, then navigates to the fields to fill out, such as name, city and state. But did you know that the non-digital card that Tom Tyler received was soon after he filmed “Adventures of Captain Marvel” in 1941?

The exact details of how this all came about are unknown, it could have been a marketing tactic offered through Republic Pictures, although it may have been an idea on behalf of the Odeon’s manager, Jack Smith, who offered the suggestion to Tom’s fans when the famous serial was released. Located on 7 E. Main Street in Shawnee, Oklahoma, the Odeon placed a special advertisement in the Shawnee News-Star dated February 21, 1942 requesting all young cinema patrons who attend the opening night of “Adventures of Captain Marvel” sign a large card measuring 60” x 40” in size. The card itself was most likely sturdy posterboard, white in color, large enough for many children to sign for it to be sent their hero. Once Smith mailed it to Tom Tyler on behalf of Republic Pictures, Tom in return sent a thank you letter to the Odeon. The letter was reproduced in full in the Shawnee News-Star dated March 29, 1942:

The signers of the card must have been pleased as punch to have Tom thank them for such a special gift. The cinema ad bearing the special notification appears below:

 

The History of Film Booking Offices, America, Inc.

Most Tom Tyler fans know that his major break in film as a leading man was with Film Booking Offices America (FBO) in 1925. The history of this film production company dates back to December 15, 1919 when Robertson-Cole Corporation, a British-American film distribution company, eventually reorganized in 1922 as FBO. Robertson-Cole was created by Harry F. Robertson and Rufus S. Cole, two enterprising young men whose vision of having a film distribution company would eventually lead to one of the most successful production companies by the end of the silent film era.

As one of the first moves in getting this new film distribution company off the ground, an office location was pertinent. New York City seemed like the logical city to base the company from, and in March of 1920, the first office building for the Robertson-Cole production company was erected in New York City, a twelve-story building at the north-east corner of Seventh Ave. and 48th St. The building is still there today in its original location, with the unmistakable R-C letters upon a shield, inside a circle, emblazoned on the brick building. The symbol is distinct in that multiple copies of the logo are evenly spaced around the building facing the two streets. The building is now home to retail businesses.

from Exhibitors Herald, Dec. 25, 1920

By July 1920, the west coast office of Robertson-Cole in Los Angeles, California started being built, and was completed in November of that year. December of that year saw the one-year anniversary of the company, and an inspiring Christmas message from the company’s Vice President and General Manager, A. S. Kirkpatrick, on the growth of the film industry, which appeared in the Exhibitor’s Herald December 25, 1920 issue. By 1921, Robertson-Cole operated company exchange offices across the United States and began producing films in addition to distributing them. 

With its new production company and ranch in Hollywood where many a silent film western was made, Robertson-Cole had reason to celebrate and be granted so much attention in the Hollywood trade publications. One of the biggest feature films distributed by Robertson-Cole was “Kismet” from 1920, now considered a lost film. It starred Otis Skinner and Rosemary Theby and transported the audience to the Middle East. Based on the play of the same name by Edward Knowblock, the film was successful largely due to the amount of promotion it received in Boston during its premiere, due to Joseph P. Kennedy’s involvement.

Executives at Robertson-Cole took a firm stand in not operating any cinemas unless they were forced to do so, in order to avoid a monopoly, and concentrate instead on fair competition in Hollywood. This was made clear during the June 1920 Exhibitor’s Convention in Cleveland, a time when some production-distribution companies were moving into the field of actually owning a cinema, such as Paramount. Furthermore, by the time Joseph P. Kennedy became owner of Film Booking Offices of America, Inc. in 1926, the company still maintained this unique policy. Close to home in Boston as always, Kennedy made sure he had an office in the city, located at 87 Milk St. Perhaps most importantly, the type of silent films produced by FBO, in accordance with the company’s exhibitor’s advisory board, produced family-friendly movies as an alternative to the majority of adult-themed movies made by Fox, Universal, or Metro Goldwyn Mayer. With the plethora of FBO films released across the nation and in Europe, children could easily be sent off by their parents on the weekend to the matinee for a nickel admission price, knowing their children were viewing safe, wholesome entertainment. With movies starring actors like Fred Thomson, Tom Tyler, and Tom Mix, among others, they became all the more appealing to American youth. 

Over the next few years, Kennedy remained involved with Robertson-Cole until the company reorganized in late 1922, taking on a new company name, Film Booking Offices of America, Inc. Both Robertson and Cole left the film industry at this point. Kennedy remained a board member of FBO, finally purchasing the company in January 1926.

Motion Picture News dated November 24, 1923 reported a rather unusual move by FBO as a film production company. For the first time in film history, an exhibitors’ advisory board was established by FBO, primarily to grant exhibitors across the nation - and fifty of the most prominent ones in America made up the board - the power to say what kind of movies they wanted to see and have exhibited in their own cinemas. Essentially, FBO did not produce movies until the exhibitors read a copy of the submitted film story upfront and approved of it. Once a story was approved, FBO then proceeded in the making of the film. Thus the purpose of this exhibitors advisory board was twofold: it put FBO as a film production company in direct touch with the public, and it increased profitability for the company. Moreover, exhibitors also played an active role with cinema patrons, most likely by distributing surveys to them upon attending a silent film. With this survey information, the exhibitors on the board would use it to evaluate against the stories sent to them by FBO. Such a highly innovative marketing tactic proved effective, for it was a win-win situation for everyone. 

from Moving Picture World, April 11, 1925

By 1924, FBO still remained heavily interested in the promotion of their movies in Europe and Asia. Company Vice President Joseph I. Schnitzer evaluated reports on the success of FBO films in western European nations, which in turn led to the popularity of many of the company’s silent film stars in Europe, especially Fred Thomson and Tom Tyler. That same year, Film Booking Offices expanded their production company on the corner of Melrose Ave and Gower St. at a cost of $100,000.00. Along with a $5,000.000.00 program, which covered filmmaking equipment and studio care, FBO was well on its way to becoming one of the most important film production studios of the 1920’s which specialized in low-budget photoplays but highly engaging entertainment. In 1929, the company reorganized once again to become RKO, also known as one of the “Big Five” film production companies of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

While the majority of silent films produced by FBO remain lost, a small percentage have survived, existing in film archives in Europe, or on DVD, such as “The Texas Tornado” from 1928 starring Tom Tyler. Even more have been “preserved” in the form of film booklets, such as the Biblioteca Films ones published in Spain during the late 1920’s to early 1930’s. One FBO silent film "A Regular Scout" starring Fred Thomson and written by F. Buckleigh Oxford, was reproduced in story format in the newspaper Daily Clarion-Ledger, Jackson. Mississippi, January 25, 1927, complete with illustrations of scenes from the silent film.