Willis Brown Explained

Office:	Salt Lake City Juvenile Court judge
Term Start:	1905
Term End:	1907
Birth Date:	31 July 1881
Birth Place:	Columbus, Indiana
Death Place:	Columbus, Ohio
Occupation:	Film producer
Known For:	Founder of Boy City Film Company

Willis Brown (July 31, 1881 – October 20, 1931) was a permanently removed Utah juvenile court judge, falsely-claimed lawyer, 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^[1] on the Chautauqua circuit as a judge of the Utah Juvenile Court and a progressive expert on boys' reformation.^{[2] [3] [4] [5]}

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.^[6] In 1910, the Juvenile Court debunked Judge Brown's credentials.^[7] 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 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

• The Boy City (1910) (it) (fr)^{[12] [13] [14]}
• Bud's Recruit (1918)^{[15] [16]}
• The Chocolate of the Gang (1918)^[17]
• The Lost Lie (1918)
• Tad's Swimming Hole (1918)
• Marrying Off Dad (1918)^[18]
• The Accusing Toe (1918)
• Thief or Angel (1918)^[19]
• The Rebellion (1918)
• The Preacher's Son (1918)
• A Boy Built City (1918)
• I'm a Man (1918)
• Love of Bob (1918)
• Dog vs. Dog (1918)
• The Three Fives (1918)
• The Case of Bennie (1918)^[20]
• Kid Politics (1918)
• The Demand of Dugan (1919)
• Shift the Gear, Freck (1919)
• Gum Drops and Overalls (1919)
• Danny Asks Why (1919)

External links

• • picture and storie on Judge Willis Brown (Motion Picture Magazine, 1911)

Notes and References

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