The author’s father, Al Altman, with his discovery, Joan Crawford. Courtesy of the Author.Mary Pickford the silent screen star Photo: Collection of Todd Luspinski.Greta Garbo with Beulah Bondi and Cecilia Parker, 1934, filming THE PAINTED VEIL. Photo: Collection of the author.Willie Bioff extorted $2 million from the film industry in the late 1930’s.William Fox, founder of Fox News (1919) Photo: Courtesy of Quigley Photographic Archive.Joe Vogel (right) with attorney Louis Nizer after gaining control of Loew’s in 1957. Photo: Courtesy of Quigley Photographic Archive.An unidentified Vitaphone cameraman poses with a Bell Telephone Laboratories sound engineer. Photo: courtesy of the Print Department at the Boston Public Library.Theda Bara, Harry’s favorite screen star in In Theda Bara’s Tent. Photo: Collection of Todd Luspinski.Temple Street, Haverhill, Massachusetts where Louis B. Mayer lives when he meets Harry Sirkus in the novel In Theda Bara’s Tent.Early sound machine. Harry and his friend Etta argue about the coming of sound in In Theda Bara’s Tent.Nick Schenck and Dore Schary after they ousted L.B. Mayer from MGM in the 1950’s. Photo: Courtesy of Quigley Photographic Archive.Samuel Goldwyn (1882-1974) founder of Goldwyn Pictures. Photo: Collection of Alvin H. Marill.Pembroke, Marcus Loew’s mansion Photo: Collection of the Glen Cove Public Library.Boston’s Olympia TheaterLoew’s State Theater auditorium for movies and vaudeville, now gone. Photo: Courtesy of Theatre Historical Society.Lobby of the 3,500 seat Loew’s State Theater in Times Square razed to make room for a hideous Marriott Hotel. Photo: Courtesy of Theatre Historical Society.Loew’s State Building (1921) in Times Square, historic MGM headquarters where the author’s father worked for almost forty years. Photo: Courtesy of Theatre Historical Society.Nathan Gordon, Boston theater magnateL.B. Mayer shakes hands insincerely with his new boss Nicholas Schenck. Photo: Courtesy of Quigley Photograph Archive.Louis B. Mayer, Norma Shearer, Irving Thalberg at 1931 opening of Strangers May Kiss. Photo: Courtesy of Quigley Photographic Archive.Marcus Loew, founder of Loew’s Theaters who hired L.B. Mayer to head MGM Photo: Courtesy of Quigley Photographic Archive.Inside Marcus Loew’s mansion in Glen Cove, Long Island. Photo: attribution unknownGeneral Douglas MacArthur Chief of Staff U.S. Army and Louis B. Mayer on visit to M.G.M. Studios, Nov. 1930 Photo: Collection of the author.Louis B. Mayer and wife Margaret. Photo: Collection of Edna Grace.A promotion certificate from the early days of Loew’s Theaters. Photo: Collection of the author.The sign that greeted little Harry Sirkus when he arrived in Haverhill in the novel In Theda Bara’s Tent. Photo: Courtesy of the Haverhill Public Library.Fred Waller, inventor of Cinerama, a 3D film process for which he received an Oscar in 1953.The author’s father, Al Altman, with his discovery, Joan Crawford. Photo: Collection of the author.The wedding of L.B. Mayer’s daughter Edith to William Goetz, 1930. Photo: Collection of the author.David O. Selznick, producer of Gone With the Wind, and son-in-law of Louis B. Mayer. Photo: Courtesy of Photofest.Staff of the Cozy Nickel, one of four movie halls in Haverhill, Massachusetts in 1908. Photo: Collection of Beatrice Malbon.Colman Levin, the Boston millionaire who launched the career of Louis B. Mayer and befriended Harry Sirkus Photo: Collection of the author.Actress Celeste Holm who valiantly tried to save the Loew’s State Building from the wrecker’s ball. Photo: Collection of the author.Ava Gardner, age seventeen, a still from her screen test directed by Al Altman. Photo: Collection of the author.Ava Gardner whose screen test was silent because her southern accent was so strong. Photo: Collection of the author.Anita Stewart, silent screen star and best friend of Harry SirkusTheda Bara, the screen’s first vamp, as Cleopatra in 1917 with Fritz Leiber as Caesar. Photo: Collection of Todd Luspinski.Adolph Zukor, founder of Paramount, with his wife Lottie.
