One of the more neglected aspects of Ollie's life is the company she
worked for... Selznick. This is unfortunate because it may have had
more to do with her death than we care to think about.

Ollie got along well with all the members of the Selznick family.
Though most of her dealings were with Myron and father Lewis, it is
well known that she was the object of a crush by younger brother
David. It was something that Ollie never discouraged. As contented as
she was with the family personally, there were things about her
contract that were distressing to her.

Ollie signed a personal services contract with Mother Selznick in Dec
1918 which was then sold to the Selznick Co. (Myron was still
underage). It was manna from heaven at the time for Ollie, who needed
a job as Triangle had just dismissed her and Jack was facing the
stockade in a draft scandal. It would later come back to haunt her.

Ollie signed a 2+2 contract. Ollie would be obligated for two years
to Selznick getting $1000 a week and raised to 1250 a week for the
second year. The remaining two years were at the company's option.
Her pay would jump to 1750 a week and then to 2250 a week at the end
of the contract.

Selznick, the firm, has its own liabilities. The firm was one of the
few that rejected the "block booking" that was started and perfected
by Famous Players-Lasky. (Vitagraph was another) Under block booking,
films were sold as a block with weaker films grouped with one
acclaimed star or director's work. Selznick sold films individually.
Curiously,Famous Players-Lasky was Selznick's original silent partner
with a million dollar stake in the company. It was an example of
Adolph Zukor's legendary caution and how he always hedged his bets.

By the time Selznick got off the ground, Olive Thomas was its primary
attaction along with the Talmadge sisters and Owen Moore. The
Talmadges were unique though. Their films were self-produced and
Selznick only distributed their films. Owen Moore was similar, though
the members of the Selznick family were partners in his production
company. Ollie was owned outright by the firm and her films were
popular but not great hits with a few exceptions. As with Triangle
previously, Ollie brought in a steady stream of cash which allowed
Selznick to gamble on bigger names for one or two picture deals, such
as Elsie Janis. This strategy worked as long as Ollie remained
popular and put fannies in the seats of theatre owners such as Marcus
Loew who disliked block booking. For the firm, Ollie was where the
most money was.

Selznick has a greater problem. Where to make its movies? The offices
were based in New York but they had no studio facilities and had to
rent them. This meant that all Selznick films were more expensive
than their competitors (though offset by Ollie's cheaper contract.
She was woefully underpaid compared to contemporaries. Jack would
start at 2000 a week for Goldwyn and Ollie was considered a bigger
draw!). Ollie's films were made at the Robert Brunton studios or even
worse for the firm, on location.

For most of 1919, none of this mattered to Ollie and her new husband
Jack. Through the early spring, both were working in California at
the Brunton studios and Jack, completing his contract for First
National, spent the summer in Long Island with Ollie. However, in the
fall, Jack signed with Goldwyn and began work at the old Triangle
studios in Culver City. Ollie returned to a schedule of shooting
films every other month wherever space was available.

By the summer of 1920, Ollie's marriage to Jack was on the rocks. He
was working on the west coast and Ollie was more and more on the east
coast. Even when she was in California, the fights between Jack and
Ollie were legendary. By May 1920, Ollie asked to Myron Selznick to
return to New York, after one horrendous fight. A divorce was
expected by all those who knew the couple.

Complicating any reconcilliation were things happening within
Selznick. The Selznick hired Ollie's beloved brother Jim originally
as a cameraman. Her other brother, William, occassionally worked as
an electrician for the firm. The Talmadges wishing to avoid a fight
between Famous Players-Lasky and Selznick, signed to distribute their
films through First National when their contract ended in July.
Selznick opened their own studio... in Ft Lee, NJ ending the need for
studio work in California. The company celebrated its opening with a
baseball game on the grounds the day Ollie left for Paris. Finally,
Ollie was notified that the company was exercising it option for two
more years.

Contrary to this, Jack had been making statements, though they may
seen like fantasy, about Ollie just wanting to finish her contract
and coming back to him and having babies. Another statement suggested
that Ollie wanted to go to Hawaii with Jack and leave movies behind.
Curiously, Jack left Goldwyn to form his own production company to be
run by one person who hated Ollie the most, Mother Pickford.

It should be obvious that Selznick would not survive without Ollie at
this precarious time but she was bound to it. As Lewis J. Selznick
suggested at her passing, her contract was always on her mind. Truer
statements have never been said.

Your partner in limburger.