Volume III: Biographies

 

DOUGHTY, Francis Worcester

Scenario writer (1914-1915)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: A freelance writer, Francis W. Doughty worked with Lloyd F. Lonergan on the scenario for the Thanhouser serial, Zudora.

Biographical Notes: Francis Worcester Doughty was born in Brooklyn, New York on November 5, 1850. Early in his career he was a typesetter in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He soon relocated in New York, where he made an arrangement with the Frank Tousey Company to write the Old King Brady dime novel stories and other fiction each week. According to an account in The Moving Picture World, September 18, 1915, by that time he had written 1,500 novels of about 60,000 words each! He then turned his attention to film. His first script was for Hook and Hand, released in February 1914 by Blaché Features (Solax) in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Soon after the release of the initial installment of the Thanhouser serial, Zudora, the promoter, the Thanhouser Syndicate Corporation, realized it was in serious trouble. The convoluted plot, by Daniel Carson Goodman, was confusing to even the most dedicated movie fans, but trade reviewers, many of whom were aware of Thanhouser's advertising clout, were kind and hoped it would get better. However, as subsequent installments were shown, things got worse and a number of exhibitors, including the Loew circuit, cancelled their bookings.

Francis W. Doughty was called in to "straighten" Zudora and try to salvage its reputation. He rewrote the script, and the scenarios from Episode 11 onward were his. Zudora, its name changed to The Twenty Million Dollar Mystery, improved, but the damage had already been done, and although his episodes were said to have been a vast improvement, the serial never achieved the success of its predecessor, The Million Dollar Mystery.

In 1915, Doughty continued his involvement with films and wrote scenarios for Horsley-Bostock pictures. A trade directory account noted that Doughty was 6' tall, weighed 175 pounds, and had white hair and blue eyes. In 1916 he lived in Cresskill, New York. He was a member of Photodramatists, Inc.

Among numismatists (coin collectors), Francis Worcester Doughty achieved renown as a student of early American cents and other coins. His monograph, The Cents of the United States, A Numismatic Study, published in 1890 by the Scott Stamp & Coin Company, New York, comprised 115 pages and four photographic plates and was widely acclaimed in its time. His collection was sold at auction by the New York Stamp & Coin Company (Harlan Smith and David Proskey) April 14-16, 1891 and was described in a catalogue containing 1,539 lots. Francis Worcester Doughty died in Cresskill, New York on October 30, 1917.

Thanhouser Filmography:

1914-1915 Serial: Zudora, Episodes 11-20 (2-1-1915-4-5-1915)

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Copyright © 1995 Q. David Bowers. All Rights Reserved.