Willis Brown

Willis Brown (July 31, 1881 – October 20, 1931) was a permanently removed Utah juvenile court judge,[1] falsely-claimed lawyer,[2] self-described humanitarian, and filmmaker.

Born James Willhenry Brown in Columbus, Indiana to James W. Brown and Lucetta Pierson.

Judge

In the decade of the 1900s Brown lectured[3] on the Chautauqua circuit as a judge of the Utah Juvenile Court and a progressive expert on boys' reformation.[4][5][6][7]

He was appointed to the Juvenile Court in Salt Lake City in the spring of 1905, served two years, but had been permanently removed by the Utah Supreme Court.[2] In 1910, the Juvenile Court debunked Judge Brown's credentials.[1] Brown was, in fact, not even a lawyer, and had been misrepresenting himself.

Boy City Film Company

Building a national reputation, in the 1910s he started "Boy Cities" in Charlevoix, Michigan, and Gary, Indiana,[8] then relocated to Southern California. (The better-known Boys Town, Nebraska was founded in December 1917.)

By 1917 Brown founded the Boy City Film Company in Culver City, part film studio, part homeless shelter. He served as a film producer.

In film history, Brown is remarkable for giving director King Vidor his first directing job. Brown funded a series of twenty-two reelers, both moral lessons and promotional films. Brown appeared as himself in all but the first one; Vidor directed at least ten[9] of them. These films have evidence of "fascinating social content" - the plot of the second entry, The Chocolate of the Gang, deals with a black child being denied membership in an all-white club, and employed black actors for the lead roles as opposed to the usual practice of white performers in blackface.[9]

Death

According to Variety, Brown was shot to death in Columbus, Ohio in 1931 by "a jealous widow".[10][11]

Film series

References
  1. The Juvenile court record, Volumes 9-12 By Timothy David Hurley, February 1910 issue, page 5, "As to Judge Willis Brown")
  2. The Pacific reporter, Volume 88, Utah Supreme Court decision Mill v. Brown, January 17, 1907
  3. "Judge Willis Brown :: Traveling Culture - Circuit Chautauqua in the Twentieth Century". digital.lib.uiowa.edu.
  4. Hobey, Jack (12 December 2017). Lost Boys: The Beulah Home Tragedy. Harbor House Publishers Inc. ISBN 9781582413730 – via Google Books.
  5. Cohen, Ronald D. (1 May 2014). Children of the Mill: Schooling and Society in Gary, Indiana, 1906-1960. Routledge. ISBN 9781136798085 – via Google Books.
  6. Brown, Willis (28 December 1915). "The Boy Problem: What the Grown-Ups Fail to Remember in Considering This Important Question" (PDF). Ottumwa Tri-Weekly Courier. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  7. A. P. Warrington (December 1919). "From the National President: Criminals and Children" (PDF). The Messenger. p. 205. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  8. Brownlow, Kevin (12 December 1990). Behind the Mask of Innocence. Knopf. ISBN 9780394577470 – via Google Books.
  9. Durgnat, Raymond; Simmon, Scott (12 December 1988). King Vidor, American. University of California Press. p. 24. ISBN 9780520058156 – via Internet Archive. Willis.
  10. Silent film necrology, Eugene Michael Vazzana, page 66
  11. Vazzana, Eugene Michael (1 May 1995). Silent film necrology: births and deaths of over 9000 performers, directors, producers, and other filmmakers of the silent era, through 1993. McFarland. ISBN 9780786401321 – via Google Books.
  12. Edwards, Paul M. (31 March 2016). World War I on Film: English Language Releases through 2014. McFarland. ISBN 9781476620633 – via Google Books.
  13. "The Boy City". 31 December 1910 – via www.imdb.com.
  14. "Lyceumite & Talent". Lyceum Magazine. 12 December 2017 – via Google Books.
  15. "Bud's Recruit (1918)". www.filmpreservation.org.
  16. "Bud's Recruit: A Judge Brown Story (1917) American B&W : Two reels / 1865 feet Directed by King W. Vidor". www.silentera.com.
  17. "Chocolate of the Gang · (Early Cinema History Online)". echo.commarts.wisc.edu.
  18. "Dramatic Mirror of Motion Pictures and the Stage". Dramatic Mirror Company. 12 December 2017 – via Google Books.
  19. "Thief or Angel? · (Early Cinema History Online)". echo.commarts.wisc.edu.
  20. "The Case Of Bennie - Fiche+technique - La base de connaissances française". savoiro.fr.
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