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.

Willis Brown
Salt Lake City Juvenile Court judge
In office
1905–1907
Personal details
Born(1881-07-31)July 31, 1881
Columbus, Indiana
DiedOctober 20, 1931(1931-10-20) (aged 50)
Columbus, Ohio
OccupationFilm producer
Known forFounder of Boy City Film Company

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

Judge

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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

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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

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

Film series

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References

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  1. ^ a b The Juvenile court record, Volumes 9-12 By Timothy David Hurley, February 1910 issue, page 5, "As to Judge Willis Brown")
  2. ^ a b 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. ^ a b 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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