JOSEPH M. SCHENCK - DOCUMENT SIGNED 03/23/1928 CO-SIGNED BY: JAMES A. MULVEY, DENNIS F. O'BRIEN, ALBERT H. T. BANZHAF, ARTHUR W. KELLY, ALEXANDER "AL" LICHTMAN, NATHAN BURKAN, BERTRAM S. NAYFACK - HFSID 282350
Sale Price $595.00
Reg. $700.00
UNITED ARTISTS: MARY PICKFORD
14x22 printed certificate: the text of a resolution of the Board of Directors of United
Artists expressing condolences on the death of Pickford's mother, Charlotte. Signed by
Joseph Schenck, Board Chairman, and by 7 other Directors of the Corporation.
Document signed: "Joseph M. Schenck" as Chairman, "Dennis O'Brien" as Vice President,
"Arthur W. Kelly" as Vice President and Treasurer, "Al Lichtman" as Vice President and
General Manager for Distribution, "Albert H. T. Banzhaf" as Secretary Director, and
"Nathan Burkan", "James A. Mulvey" and "Bertram S. Nayfack" as Directors, 14¼x22. New
York City, 1928 March 23. Resolution of the Board of Directors of United Artists
Corporation, passed unanimously at a meeting assembled for that purpose, expressing
condolences on the death (Beverly Hills, March 21) of Charlotte Pickford Smith, Mary
Pickford's mother and a member of the United Artists Board. Six following paragraphs praise
Smith, and a seventh directs that a copy be placed on the wall at United Artists headquarters,
with additional copies sent to each of her children. United Artists Corporation was founded
in 1919 by silent film stars Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and film
maker D. W. Griffith, along with US Senator/Cabinet Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo to
produce films and give actors more freedom from the control of the major studios. As
film production costs rose, UA's resources proved insufficient, and the Corporation was
reorganized in 1924 with veteran producer JOSEPH SCHENCK (1876-1961) as President.
Schenck brought to UA not just film production knowledge, but the promise that his wife,
Norma Talmadge, sister-in-law Constance Talmadge, and friend Buster Keaton would make
films for United Artists. He also formed a separate partnership with Pickford and Chaplin to
buy and build theaters. Schenk left United Artists in 1933 to co-found what would soon
become Twentieth Century-Fox and remained a major force in the industry until his 1957
retirement. ALEXANDER LICHTMAN, sales manager and a signing Director here,
succeeded Schenck as President. The original founders had separated by from the company
by the 1950s, but United Artists continued to prosper as a public corporation. DENNIS
O'BRIEN, NATHAN BURKAN, ALBERT BANZHAF and BERTRAM NAYFACK,
lawyers, respectively, for Pickford and Fairbanks, for Chaplin, for Griffith, and for allied
producer Samuel Goldwin, respectively, represented the founders in early litigation. JAMES
MULVEY, another lawyer, was the only man Samuel Goldwyn ever accepted as a partner, an
alliance which ended with lawsuits in the 1960s. ARTHUR W. KELLY was in charge of
foreign distribution of UA films through the 1940s. CHARLOTTE SMITH (1873-1928)
raised Mary and her two siblings single-handedly after the alcoholic John Charles Smith
abandoned the family. A shrewd woman, she managed the business affairs of her children and
was an active voice at United Artists. She often used the name Pickford, the stage named
adopted by her daughter. A Christian Scientist, she refused surgery which might have saved her
life. Lower right corner stained and missing 1½x2¾ ragged piece. Soiled and toned. Lightly
foxed at top margin.
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