by Paul R. Spitzzeri
In 1917-1918, as America’s involvement in the First World War ramped up and soon helped turn the tide for the Allies and against Germany, Josephine M. Workman, who’d been a movie star for several years with the stage name of Princess Mona Darkfeather, playing mostly Indian maidens in short motion pictures, and her husband actor and director Frank E. Montgomery, relocated to Spokane, in eastern Washington state, to try to reboot their flagging fortunes in film.
After Montgomery opened his self-named acting college late in 1917, a failed partnership with the Washington Motion Picture Corporation, with word broadcast that Darkfeather was to appear in several new Indian-themed works, followed. By late April 1918, however, a new venture appeared as Montgomery was named general manager of the Titan Feature Photoplay Company.
This was launched by J. Don Alexander, who went to form the Alexander Film Company, which found success in producing advertising shown with films in theaters with plants in Englewood and Colorado Springs, Colorado, as well as a short-lived aviation firm, also situated in Colorado Springs. In the Spokane Spokesman-Review of 21 April, Alexander stated,
We consider ourselves fortunate in getting Mr. Montgomery. Although a number of men whose reputations are quite extensive have been available, Mr. Montgomery fits best into the important work of building the industry here.
The article went on that Montgomery, having relocated to the city several months ago, was so taken with Spokane that he acquired a stake in Titan and it was added that he’d “produced over 500 accepted photoplays with six studios (101 Bison, Kalem, Mutual, New York, Selig and Universal) including a half-dozen pictures that were cited.
These included “The Massacre on the Santa Fe Trail,” “An International Romance,” and “The Woman Without a Soul.” Among the actors he’d directed were Hobart Bosworth, Bebe Daniels (later to be a huge star), Herbert Rawlinson, and Darkfeather—who, however, was not specifically mentioned as Montgomery’s wife.
The article did follow by stating that “Mr. Montgomery and his wife have been conducting a school here, but the stars and actors for important parts will be imported from California by the Titan company,” despite the ads cited in part of this post about using only homegrown talent. Alexander told the paper that film scenarios were being reviewed to choose the one, likely based on the current war, that would “go over the top,” while it was asserted that only “the most popular celebrities in the business” would act.” As for the studio, it was anticipated to be ready by early summer.
An advertisement for potential Titan investors from the underwriting firm included a photo of the “famous director” Montgomery, who was touted as “one of the great assets” of the firm and “one of the most experienced and best known directors in the film world.” It repeated much of his resume, including the statement that one of his stars was “Princess Mona Darkfeather, who is now his wife and is with him in Spokane.”
Naturally, the prospect for “picture profits” was rosy and some eighteen popular films were listed with their financial showings—among them in the infamous “The Birth of a Nation,” “The Squaw Man,” Brewster’s Millions,” and “The Virginian.” The first one, released in 1914 with production costs of $108,000, was said to have netted some $8 million to date, while another blockbuster, “The Spoilers,” a 1914 picture based on the Alaska Gold Rush, was said to have earned $5 million on a mere $80,000 budget. Theda Bara’s first star turn, 1915’s “A Fool There Was,” in which her character, a vampire, gave rise to the common term of “vamp” for a feminine seducer and exploiter, purported was profitable to the tune of a cool million dollars.
Under a month later, however, the Titan relationship with Montgomery terminated and the general manager laying out his reasons in a long letter, summarized by the Spokane Chronicle of 11 June as that he was “dissatisfied with the methods employed by the board of directors in transacting business, including financing by the Allied Film Company and the hiring of a prior underwriter. Moreover, the missive warned,
This is to advise you that from this moment on you are not to use my name or that of Princess Mona Darkfeather on any literature or advertising of any description, or verbally, in the promotion of this corporation.
The piece ended with Montgomery quoted as stating that, “I am going to remain in Spokane and will conduct the motion picture school as usual with Miss Darkfeather,” but, in short order, a significant move was made to another state, Montana, where, when he was Frank E. Akley, Montgomery moved, at age six, with his family from his native Pennsylvania. He resided in the state for over two decades before leaving at the dawn of the 20th century to pursue a stage acting career.
The Helena Independent Record of 24 June reported that “Frank E. Ackley, who was one of the early settlers in the state—in 1879—now one of the leading producers in movieland, is spending a short time in this city, meeting old friends and incidentally casting about for a site at which to place a big moving picture plant.”
Curiously, Montgomery purportedly told the paper that “the palms and jungles of southern California are playing out as scenery background” and that, “for the Indian plays in which he features his wife, whose stage name is Mona Darkfeather, the pines and mountains of Montana will be more in harmony.” It was also notable that the article ended by observing that “his plant at present is in a suburb of Los Angeles” and that Montgomery “is producing two lines of features, under the names respectively of the ‘Darkfeather’ and the ‘Monty.'”
As noted in part one of this post, the last films Darkfeather made were released over a year prior and there is no known evidence that there was any activity related to Los Angeles and Hollywood since spring 1917. The move to Spokane and the jaunt to Helena (several Montana newspapers reprinted the news of his visit) look to have been attempts by Montgomery to reestablish his production work in outlying areas with cheaper costs and, while there are many areas on the continent, including Albuquerque, Atlanta and Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada, to name a few, that have significant film and television production industries today, Hollywood was rapidly consolidating power in motion pictures at that time.
The Montana sojourn ended with no success and Montgomery and Darkfeather headed for Seattle where he, under the name of Frank Edward Montgomery Akley registered for the draft on 12 September with an address downtown and giving his “Present Occupation” as “Photo Play Star Mgr.” Obviously, the persistent goal was to relaunch the stalled career of his wife, listed as Josephine Montgomery Akley.
Rather, however, than do this through the increasingly unlikely prospect of independent film production, a hard road to roe under any circumstance, the latest project was to reimagine Princess Mona Darkfeather as a live act and mount a tour of theaters throughout the Pacific Northwest to trade on her past popularity and renown. By the end of August, advertisements appeared in the Tacoma Ledger for a personal appearance at the Liberty Theatre, where the feature film was “The Eyes of the World,” produced by William H. Clune, a Los Angeles theater owner.
The featured photo for this second part of the post is a snapshot from the Baltazar Madrid Estate donation of materials from Darkfeather, who was a tenant of Madrid in an apartment building in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles, where she resided for many years until her death in 1977, when she was not only long forgotten as an early silent film star but out of contact with her Workman family members. Consequently, photographs, furniture and other items were moved to a Victorian-era Lincoln Heights house and left in the basement until the gift was made three years ago.
The image shows Josephine Workman (Akley) Montgomery in her Princess Mona Darkfeather in front of the Liberty with twin young women. Immediately behind the trio are display boards with photos of scenes from “The Eyes of the World,” while above and next to the doors to the venue are banners promoting Darkfeather’s live appearance, including the wording “Indian Princess.” In pencil on the reverse is her inscription, “These are two twins, taken in Tacoma, their father was Mgr.”
The Ledger of 4 September reported that, “Princess Mona Darkfeather, celebrated screen star . . . will give a post card of herself in her famous Indian makeup [sic] to any one who will send her a self-addressed stamped envelope to her at the Liberty [perhaps the postcards the Museum has in its collection come from such promotions as this].” Moreover, it let readers know that the actor “will give advice to anyone in person contemplating entering the movies in any capacity in they will call at the theater after any performance.”
The following day’s issue of the paper contained another interesting bit of information about the film star, telling its readers,
Princess Mona Darkfeather . . . comes from one of the oldest and best families in the state of California, her father being the owner of the first bank in the city of Los Angeles, and her grandfather owned Alcatraz Island, where now stands the federal prison, it being given to him by Gen. Pico as an old Spanish grant, and Miss Darkfeather is now one of five heirs to the city of Puenta [sic], Cal., considered to be worth over $6,000,000, and a contest for which is at present in the courts.
There is a fair amount to unpack in this statement, including the fact that the Temple and Workman bank was the fourth to be established in Los Angeles, with her grandfather, William, as co-owner, with Josephine’s uncle by marriage, F.P.F. Temple, although the two were partners of Isaias W. Hellman in the city’s second institution, Hellman, Temple and Company.
As to Alcatraz Island, it was a grant to William Workman by Governor Pío Pico (not General, this being the title of a brother, Andrés) in late spring 1846 just prior to the American invasion of Mexican (not Spanish) California. The island was purchased from F.P.F. Temple, to whom Workman gave the grant deed, on behalf of the American government by Lt. Col. John C. Frémont in April 1847 under a promissory note, though this was disavowed by the government when the impetuous officer was subsequently court-martialed.
Alcatraz was proclaimed a government possession in 1850 by President Millard Fillmore, though Temple and his heirs then spent decades, until not long before this article appeared, trying to make a claim for compensation for the island. Notably, Darkfeather’s brother, William J. Workman, much later tried to mount his own legal campaign on this score, though it was, like all others, unsuccessful. A multi-part post on this blog details this very long series of efforts.
Lastly, there is the reference to Darkfeather being, with her siblings, including William, Mary, Agnes and Lucille to lands that were lost in the 1890s by their father, Joseph, through foreclosure and became the community of Bassett, which is west of what was then known as Puente. The initial suit by the Workman heirs against Charles N. Bassett, whose father Oscar, acquired the tract in that foreclosure, was filed just recently in summer 1918 and went through several years of litigation, including a win for Darkfeather that was overturned by the California Supreme Court. Another multi-part post goes into this remarkable court battle.
The Ledger of the 6th introduced another notable element to the Darkfeather appearance at the Liberty, in which it reported that,
Princess Mona Darkfeather . . . has a Pinto pony, Camanche [sic], which has been seen with her on the screen, and has taken her out of many tight places, in many hair raising “stunts” before the camera. It is an Arizona cayuse, and was bought by her on the reservation for $12. Since it has been educated by her to do over 25 tricks, such as untying knots, falling at the word of command, untying itself, picking out numbers and colors, [and] adding and subtracting, she has been offered $500 for him, but says “Camanche” is not for sale.
A pair of photos in the Madrid donation show Darkfeather, out of her Indian costume and wearing what look to be overalls and a head covering, feeding and holding a foreleg where the shoe is of a horse that is likely Comanche. The word “cayuse” is applied generally to horses apparently brought to the American West by the Spanish in the 16th century and then crossbred with French Canadian breeds and the cayuse was said to be renowned for its endurance and speed.
After the weeklong run at the Liberty in Tacoma, Darkfeather next headed to Portland, Oregon for an engagement of the same length at the Strand Theatre. We’ll pick up the story there, including appearances at other Pacific Northwest towns and cities, for part three tomorrow, so check back with us then!