Solomon Max Wurtzel (September 12, 1890 – April 9, 1958) was an American film producer.

Life and career

Born in New York City, the second of five brothers; his parents were both Polish Jews from the village of Ulanow (Surname ''Wurtzel'' is a variant spelling of German and Yiddish ''wurzel'', ''root'' in English). Wurtzel worked as an executive assistant to William Fox, founding owner of the

Fox Film Corporation The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American Independent film production studio formed by William Fox (1879–1952) in 1915, by combining his earlier Greater New York Film Rental Company and Box Office Attractions Film ...

. In 1911, Wurtzel hired

Alan E. Freedman Alan Eliot Freedman (October 12, 1889 – April 29, 1980) was a pioneer and long-time executive in the motion picture film processing industry. He founded DeLuxe Laboratories after serving as president of its predecessor, Fox Film Laboratorie ...

as a bookkeeper for Fox's fledgling film processing laboratory. Freedman would remain for over 50 years, eventually turning the operation into the gargantuan "Color by DeLuxe" DeLuxe Laboratories. In 1917, Fox sent Wurtzel to California to oversee the studio's West Coast productions. Early in Wurtzel's career, he shepherded Fox's Hollywood studio through the Spanish Flu pandemic. He developed a formula for creating consistently profitable

B movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...

s that are heralded today. During his 34 year career at Fox and 20th Century Fox Wurtzel produced hundreds of films (many uncredited) including a large number of both the ''

Charlie Chan Charlie Chan is a fictional Honolulu police detective created by author Earl Derr Biggers for a series of mystery novels. Biggers loosely based Chan on Hawaiian detective Chang Apana. The benevolent and heroic Chan was conceived as an alter ...

'' and ''

Mr. Moto Mr. Moto is a fictional Japanese secret agent created by the American author John P. Marquand. He appeared in six novels by Marquand published between 1935 and 1957. Marquand initially created the character for the ''Saturday Evening Post'', whi ...

'' series as well as other successes such as '' Bright Eyes'' in 1934, starring

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple;While Temple occasionally used "Jane" as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Her birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood shortly after she signed with Fox in ...

and featuring her enduring trademark song: "

On the Good Ship Lollipop "On the Good Ship Lollipop" is a song composed by Richard A. Whiting with lyrics by Sidney Clare. It was the signature song of child actress Shirley Temple. Temple first sang it in the 1934 film, '' Bright Eyes''. In the song, the "Good Ship ...

". He discovered young director

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

who later went on to earn 4

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

s. He also discovered and made a star of famous cowboy

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...

. Wurtzel cast dancer

Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined th ...

(credited under her given name Rita Cansino) in her first film role, the 1935 production ''

Dante's Inferno ''Inferno'' (; Italian for "Hell") is the first part of Italian writer Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem ''Divine Comedy''. It is followed by ''Purgatorio'' and '' Paradiso''. The ''Inferno'' describes Dante's journey through Hell, guid ...

''. He gave an unknown

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

her first walk-on in his 1947 production of ''

Dangerous Years ''Dangerous Years'' is a 1947 American drama film produced by Sol M. Wurtzel, directed by Arthur Pierson, starring Billy Halop and Ann E. Todd. Marilyn Monroe makes her first onscreen appearance as Evie, the waitress in the restaurant scenes. ...

''. He produced several of

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American Double act, comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–19 ...

's later comedies in the 1940s, including ''

Great Guns ''Great Guns'' is a 1941 film directed by Monty Banks, and produced by Sol M. Wurtzel for 20th Century Fox starring Laurel and Hardy. It is also known as ''Forward March''. Plot The young, spoiled but feeble Daniel Forrester IV (Dick Nelson), ...

'' (1941), '' A-Haunting We Will Go'' (1942), ''

Jitterbugs ''Jitterbugs'' is a 1943 Laurel and Hardy feature film produced by Sol M. Wurtzel and directed by Mal St.Clair. Plot Stan and Ollie are musicians travelling across the country as "The Original Zoot Suit Band". En route to their next gig, their ...

'' (1943) and '' The Big Noise'' (1944). In 1943, he produced ''

Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas ''Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas'' is a war film made by Twentieth Century Fox in 1943. The film starred Philip Dorn, Anna Sten, and Martin Kosleck. The film was originally titled ''The Seventh Column''. It was directed by Louis King and is b ...

'' on the guerrilla resistance movement in

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

Personal life and death

Wurtzel married Marian Bodner, who immigrated to New York from a small Polish

shtetl A shtetl or shtetel (; yi, שטעטל, translit=shtetl (singular); שטעטלעך, romanized: ''shtetlekh'' (plural)) is a Yiddish term for the small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jewish populations which existed in Eastern Europe before ...

, in 1912. They had two children Paul Wurtzel, who worked in his father's production company Sol M. Wurtzel Productions and went on to become a prolific assistant director for multiple television serie

and Lillian Wurtzel Semenov, who compiled and edited a book of letters between her father and his boss William Fox. Ill for many years following a stroke in 1953, Wurtzel died at his home in Hollywood on April 9, 1958.

and Rabbi Max Nussbaum delivered eulogies at his funeral at Temple Israel of Hollywood attended by 400 mourners. Wurtzel was interred in the

Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery The Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary is a Jewish cemetery located at 6001 West Centinela Avenue, in Culver City, California. Many Jews from the entertainment industry are buried here. The cemetery is known for Al Jolson's elaborate tomb (design ...

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most d ...

. Wurtzel cofounded and served as the first President of

Temple Israel of Hollywood Temple Israel of Hollywood is a Reform Jewish synagogue in Hollywood, California founded in 1926. Services were originally held in the Hayakawa Mansion before the first Temple Israel building was established on Ivar Street under the leadership ...

. The Wurtzel-Neff Estate on Bellagio Road in

Bel Air, Los Angeles Bel Air (or Bel-Air) is a residential neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. Founded in 1923, it is the home of the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden and the American Jewish Universit ...

was designed by

Wallace Neff Edwin Wallace Neff (January 28, 1895 – June 8, 1982) was an architect based in Southern California and was largely responsible for developing the region's distinct architectural style referred to as "California" style. Neff was a student of ...

and completed in 1932.

Selected filmography

*''

Rustling for Cupid ''Rustling for Cupid'' is a 1926 American silent Western film directed by Irving Cummings and starring George O'Brien, Anita Stewart, and Russell Simpson.Langman, p. 386 Cast * George O'Brien as Bradley Blatchford * Anita Stewart as Sybi ...

'' (1926) *''

The Shamrock Handicap ''The Shamrock Handicap'' is a 1926 American romance film directed by John Ford. Prints of the film still exists in the Museum of Modern Art film archive and Cinematheque Royale de Belgique. Cast * Janet Gaynor as Lady Sheila O'Hara * Leslie Fe ...

'' (1926) *''

Once a Sinner Once a Sinner may refer to: * Once a Sinner (1950 film), a British drama film * Once a Sinner (1931 film) ''Once a Sinner'' is a 1931 American pre-Code romance film directed by Guthrie McClintic and written by George Middleton. The film stars D ...

'' (1931) * '' Body and Soul'' (1931) * ''

Charlie Chan's Greatest Case ''Charlie Chan's Greatest Case'' (1933) is an American pre-Code murder mystery film starring Warner Oland as the Oriental detective Charlie Chan. It was based on the Earl Derr Biggers novel ''The House Without a Key'' (1925). Oland made a serie ...

'' (1933) * '' The Man Who Dared'' (1933) * ''

Smoke Lightning ''Smoke Lightning'' is a 1933 American Pre-Code Western film directed by David Howard and written by Sidney D. Mitchell and Gordon Rigby. The film stars George O'Brien, Nell O'Day, Betsy King Ross, Frank Atkinson, Clarence Wilson and Morgan ...

'' (1933) * '' The Last Trail'' (1933) * ''

Life in the Raw ''Life in the Raw'' is a 1933 American pre-Code Western film, based on Zane Grey's short story "From Missouri", directed by Louis King and written by Stuart Anthony. It was Claire Trevor's film debut. Plot Cast * George O'Brien as J ...

'' (1933) * ''

Walls of Gold ''Walls of Gold'' is a 1933 American Pre-Code drama film directed by Kenneth MacKenna and starring Sally Eilers, Norman Foster (director), Norman Foster, and Ralph Morgan.Goble p.1009 Plot Cast * Sally Eilers as Jeanie Satterlee Ritchie * No ...

'' (1933) * '' Smoky'' (1933) * ''

Judge Priest ''Judge Priest'' is a 1934 American comedy film starring Will Rogers. The film was directed by John Ford, produced by Sol M. Wurtzel in association with Fox Film, and based on humorist Irvin S. Cobb's character Judge Priest. The picture is set i ...

'' (1934) * '' Handy Andy'' (1934) * '' Bright Eyes'' (1934) * ''

Charlie Chan in Paris ''Charlie Chan in Paris'' is the seventh film produced by Fox with Warner Oland as Charlie Chan. Long thought lost, it is available on DVD as part of Twentieth Century Fox Home Video's ''Charlie Chan Collection, Vol. 1''. Hamilton MacFadden di ...

'' (1935) * ''

Paddy O'Day ''Paddy O'Day'' is a 1936 American comedy-drama film directed by Lewis Seiler and released by 20th Century Fox. It stars Jane Withers, Pinky Tomlin, and Rita Hayworth (credited as Rita Cansino). The story follows the adventures of a plucky Irish ...

'' (1936) * ''

Ramona ''Ramona'' is a 1884 American novel written by Helen Hunt Jackson. Set in Southern California after the Mexican–American War, it portrays the life of a mixed-race Scottish– Native American orphan girl, who suffers racial discrimination and ...

'' (1936) * ''

Thank You, Jeeves! ''Thank You, Jeeves!'' is a 1936 comedy film directed by Arthur Greville Collins, written by Stephen Gross and Joseph Hoffman, and starring Arthur Treacher, Virginia Field, David Niven, Lester Matthews, Colin Tapley and John Graham Spacey. It was ...

'' (1936) * '' Gentle Julia'' (1936) * ''

Think Fast, Mr. Moto ''Think Fast, Mr. Moto'' is a 1937 film directed by Norman Foster and featuring a mysterious Japanese detective named Mr. Moto. It is the first of eight films in the Mr. Moto series, all based on the character Mr. Moto created by John P. Marqu ...

'' (1936) * '' Thank You, Mr. Moto'' (1937) * ''

Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation ''Mr Moto Takes A Vacation'' (1939) is a Norman Foster-directed entry in the Mr. Moto film series, with Lionel Atwill and Joseph Schildkraut and George P. Huntley, Jr, as Archie Featherstone, in supporting roles. This was the last Mr. Moto fil ...

'' (1939) * '' The Man Who Wouldn't Talk'' (1940) * ''

Charlie Chan in Rio ''Charlie Chan in Rio'' is a 1941 film featuring the Asian detective Charlie Chan. It was the tenth film to feature Sidney Toler as the title character, who is called upon to investigate the death of a suspected murderer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. ...

'' (1941) * '' Dressed to Kill'' (1941) * ''

Michael Shayne, Private Detective ''Michael Shayne, Private Detective'' is a 1940 American mystery film directed by Eugene Forde and starring Lloyd Nolan, Marjorie Weaver and Joan Valerie.Backer p.106 It is based on Brett Halliday's novel ''The Private Practice of Michael Shay ...

'' (1941) * '' A Haunting We Will Go'' (1942) * '' The Lone Star Ranger'' (1942) * ''

'' (1943) * '' The Big Noise'' (1944) * ''

Backlash Backlash may refer to: Literature * '' Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women'', a 1991 book by Susan Faludi * ''Backlash'' (Star Wars novel), a 2010 novel by Aaron Allston * Backlash (Marc Slayton), comic book character * ''Backla ...

'' (1947) * '' Roses Are Red'' (1947) * '' The Invisible Wall'' (1947) * '' Second Chance'' (1947) * ''

Half Past Midnight ''Half Past Midnight'' is a 1948 American comedy murder mystery film. It was William F. Claxton's first directed feature after eight years as a film editor. Plot Kent Taylor plays a man who meets a dancer in a nightclub. She's implicated in a ...

'' (1948) * ''

Miss Mink of 1949 ''Miss Mink of 1949'' is a 1949 American comedy film directed by Glenn Tryon (his last film as a director) and written by Arnold Belgard. It stars Jimmy Lydon, Lois Collier (in her final film role), Richard Lane, Barbara Brown, Paul Guilfoyle a ...

'' (1949) * ''

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

'' (1949) Source:

References

External links

* * *
''Sol Wurtzel: The Forgotten Mogul''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wurtzel, Sol 1890 births 1958 deaths Businesspeople from New York City Film producers from New York (state) American people of German-Jewish descent American film studio executives Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery 20th-century American businesspeople