Thomas Peters

Or you wake up from your colonoscopy and your mask is nowhere to be found.

There was also Will Hays to consider.

But that’s another story.

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DeMille discussed this with Sid Grauman, owner of the Chinese and Egyptian Theaters in Hollywood. Grauman thought having DeMille’s name affiliated with both Jesus Christ and Roxie Hart would be bad for business. That’s why DeMille decided to “assign” Frank Urson as “Chicago’s” director.

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So why, then, did DeMille have his name removed as the director of “Chicago?” Blame “King of Kings.”

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This is where the mystery comes in. Why did DeMille choose to keep a copy of another director’s film in his personal archive? As film historians began to dig into the mystery it became clear that “Chicago” wasn’t directed by Frank Urson. It was directed by Cecil B. DeMille himself!

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Program pictures were the smaller, cheaper films, (typically comedies) that helped fund the big budget prestige pictures like “King of Kings,” DeMille’s retelling of the passion of Jesus Christ that was released the same year as “Chicago.”

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In the early 2000s, a pristine print of “Chicago” showed up in an unlikely place: Cecil B. DeMille’s personal archive. DeMille’s kept copies of all of his tent-pole prestige pictures, as well as a few of his favorite program pictures.

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It was last year's movie, so why bother keeping it around when people had already seen it? “Chicago” was lost to history.

Or so we thought.

In the early 2000s, a pristine print of “Chicago” showed up in an unlikely place: Cecil B. DeMille’s personal archive.

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But it suffered the fate of about 75% of all films from the silent era. Once the prints reached their final theaters, the studios didn’t want them anymore and they were simply thrown out or burned. The negatives were destroyed and the silver nitrate was recycled.

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Poster of the 1927 version of "Chicago" with Phyllis Haver and Victor Varconi. The text is in German.

CHICAGO PART 3: A Mystery

CHICAGO (1927) WITH LIVE MUSIC BY TOM PETERS, SATURDAY, AUGUST 30, 2025 AT 7:00 PM AT Parson's Nose Theater IN PASADENA, CALIFORNIA

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“Chicago” opened on December 27, 1927 and had a successful run.

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Why is this important? Because the administration owes its power to a series of distorted narratives about our country. In order for those narratives to stick, all other stories need to be crowded out. That makes artists and storytellers existential threats.

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The administration's hollowing out of NEH, NEA, the Kennedy Center, and now the Smithsonian is the five-alarm fire that is not getting the attention it deserves. Stories are the common thread between all of these institution, and this is a major threat to the administration.

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About that time, a copy of the original 1927 version of “Chicago” resurfaced in an unlikely place, sparking a mystery.

But that’s another story.

“Chicago” opened on Broadway in 1975 with Gwen Verdon as Roxie Hart and Chita Rivera as Velma (in a much-expanded role), and music by Kander and Ebb. The subsequent film version of the musical was released in 2002, winning the Oscar for Best Picture.

By that time, Watkins had become a born-again christian and wanted to distance herself from the jazz-era tale of adultery and murder. When Watkins died in 1969, Fosse purchased the rights to “Chicago” from her estate.

In 1946, 20th Century Fox released “Roxie Hart” with Ginger Rodgers in the title role, directed by William Wellman. In the 1960s, Broadway star Gwen Verdon read “Chicago” and fell in love with it. She convinced her husband, Bob Fosse, to approach Maureen Dallas Watkins to buy the rights to "Chicago"

Once its run was finished, “Chicago” suffered the fate of over 90% of all silent films: all prints and negatives were destroyed, and the film was lost to history.

But “Chicago” wasn’t done yet.

Phyllis Haver was a rising star, and Victor Varconi was a major leading man who was starring in DeMille’s “King of Kings” as Pontius Pilate at the same time as “Chicago.”

“Chicago” was a hit, playing to packed houses all over the world.

“Chicago” caught the attention of Cecil B. DeMille, who bought the movie rights. DeMille assigned his chief cinematographer, Frank Urson to direct “Chicago” with stars Phyllis Haver as Roxie Hart and Victor Varconi as Amos.

“Chicago” was based on the real-life murder trial of Beulah Annan, a case she covered for the Tribune that had become a media sensation.

“Chicago” opened on Broadway on December 30, 1926, running for 172 performances. The play toured for two years.

Orignial poster for the 1927 version of "Chicago," starring Phyllis Haver and Victor Varconi. The poster is blue with green lettering. A drawing of Phyllis Haver as Roxie Hart is on the right.

PART 2: CHICAGO AT THE MOVIES

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In 1925, a 29-year old Maureen Dallas Watkins enrolled in the Yale School of Drama. While at Yale, she wrote a scathingly funny play about her experiences as a courtroom reporter for the Chicago Tribune.

YouTube video by Mark Redding Laurel and Hardy - Money

youtu.be/qpDzNQNPzG0?...

“Chicago” caught the attention of legendary director and producer Cecil B. DeMille.

But that’s another story.

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The Chicago Tribune assigned the Beulah Annan story to a young Courthouse Reporter named Maureen Dallas Watkins. In 1925, Watkins wrote “Chicago,” a Broadway hit about her experiences in the Beulah Annan murder case and the media circus it generated.

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With Steward’s help, (despite changing her story three times, including admitting to the crime, then walking it back), Beulah was acquitted on May 3, 1925. She filed for divorce from her husband Albert the next day.

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The salacious story stoked a wild media frenzy, from the crime and its investigation to the trial of Beulah Annan. Beulah’s husband, Albert, somehow gathered enough money to hire famed mob lawyer William Scott Steward.

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At some point, a lover’s quarrel turned violent, and Beulah shot Harry in the back. Instead of calling the police, Beulah played the song “Hula Lou” on the Victrola over and over for the next four hours, dancing as Harry writhed in agony. He died on the floor of Beulah’s apartment.

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So I guess I’ll begin at the beginning.

On April 3, 1924, Beulah Annan met her lover, Harry Kalstadt, at her apartment on Chicago’s South Side for an afternoon tryst while her husband was at work. They had been drinking.

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Phillis Haver as Roxie Hart in the 1927 version of Chicago

CHICAGO (1927) WITH LIVE MUSIC BY TOM PETERS, SATURDAY, AUGUST 30, 2025 AT 7:00 PM AT Parson's Nose Theater IN PASADENA, CALIFORNIA

The 1927 movie version of “Chicago” that I will be performing on August 30th so perfectly encapsulates the 1920s that it’s hard to know where to begin.

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I always read WESTWAYS, breezing through the whole magazine in about 10 minutes. And every time, I wonder how many trees gave their lives for 10 minutes of time that I'll never get back.