What Kind of a Fellow Is — Freuler? (1918) 🇺🇸

Being a glance at the real human side of the big men of the picture game caught in action

by William A. Johnston

Once we told John R. Freuler a story. It was a funny story and we expected to get a laugh.

To our chagrin — for we had put Mr. Freuler’s ever ready smile down as indicating a facile sense of humor — Mr. Freuler rebuked us with an introspective solemnity, said “Ah, yes!” politely and introduced us to a serious man who wanted to know what we thought of the market for one-reel comedies.

Six months later we met Mr. Freuler in Washington — one of a peripatetic crowd, and he winked at us frequently during the day. That evening we sat with him in the dining car to New York and he laughed right in his soup — over that six-months-old story.

Which might indicate, that Mr. Freuler, like the fabled Englishman, enjoys his spring jokes in the fall.

Not so, it seems that Mr. Freuler filed that story away for future reference and enjoyment— at the proper time.

Mr. Freuler is a cataloguer. He works as fast and definitely as a card index system. In fact, we might call him the Globe Wernicke of the film industry.

He even files his Presidencies and Directorships — which is going some.

In one drawer of his systematic desk is a card index to twenty-four corporations of which he is a god-father, papa, uncle or cousin. They are mostly film companies, with a sprinkling of dye and munitions concerns.

Right here we mention Mr. Freuler’s smile.

It is a large, comfortable, come right-in-and-sit-down smile. It is like the smile of a successful plate-passer in church. When Mr. Freuler smiles you are perfectly willing to hand him a quarter. It is a receptive smile. It seems to invite money as well as comfort and confidence.

So, to a keen psychologist, there may be quite a connection between Mr. Freuler’s smile and the twenty-four smiling corporations of which he is an intimate relative; also between his rise from a four hundred and fifty dollar store theatre to the presidency of a $3,500,000 corporation.

He has smiled himself up and along in the world.

And he smiles his way clear through you, too.

As we were studying Mr. Freuler we had a feeling that, behind his smile he was X-raying us. We felt conscious that we needed a hair cut; and we knew too that he didn’t like the way we toyed with our watch chain.

We have an idea that when Mr. Freuler concluded his $675,000 deal with one Charles Chaplin he told Charley not to bulge his vest pocket with his chewing tobacco and then sent him out to get a fresh shoe shine.

We also have an idea that we’ll select Mr. Freuler to write us up. If he has ever seen you he can tell what kind of a fellow you are; that’s the kind of a fellow he is.

He catalogues away all these little points of observation — little things that count but are usually overlooked. Then he forgets them — till he wants to use them. He cultivates this temporary forgetfulness. That leaves his mind free for major problems.

A very good idea!

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Things They Say About Him

• He’s a practical man, is John R.
• A darn busy man; a hustling, practical optimist.
• He knows the film business.
• He’s a good figurer. He doesn’t play poker; but if he did he’d be particularly good at spotting four flushes.
• He’s a go-getter. And he smiles — smiles — smiles.
• He’s square — the old man is. I can’t boost him enough.
• Has eyes like an eagle — one glance and he’ll tell you whether you smoke, drink or chew.
• If we make a poor picture that’s just the one he’ll see in a theatre — and then there’s lightning.
• When he visits New York he stops at a hotel most film men never saw. Why? Oh, he’s here on business — and every minute counts.
• Needs a whole flock of private secretaries — for he saves his mind for the big things.
• The least of his worries is what the other film “magnuts” think of him.
• He discovered Dennis Sullivan — that’s some achievement.

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Illustration by: Harry Palmer (Harry Samuel Palmer) (1882–1955)

Collection: Motion Picture News, February 1918