Sol Lesser

Sol Lesser
Sol Lesser ca. 1920
Born(1890-02-17)February 17, 1890
DiedSeptember 19, 1980(1980-09-19) (aged 90)
Resting placeHillside Memorial Park, Culver City, California
OccupationFilm producer
Years active1913–1958
SpouseFay Grunauer Lesser (1913–?) (2 children)
ChildrenJulian Lesser (1915–2005)
Marjorie Lesser Fasman

Sol Lesser (February 17, 1890 – September 19, 1980) was an American film producer. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 and was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1961.

Biography

In 1913, while living in San Francisco, Sol Lesser learned that the authorities were about to clean out the Barbary Coast district, a raucous area of gambling houses, saloons and brothels. He grabbed a camera and a friend, future Hollywood cameraman Hal Mohr, and roamed the area, especially the parts that were best-known before the area was shut down. (The Barbary Coast was not actually closed down until 1917.) This film is now considered a lost film.

The resulting film was The Last Night of the Barbary Coast, an early example of an exploitation film that was sold directly to movie theater owners by Lesser. With the profits from the film, he bought several theaters, and soon owned a cinema chain.

Sol Lesser signed Jackie Coogan to a movie contract in 1922, establishing both as major Hollywood names. The Coogan-Lesser hits included Oliver Twist and Peck's Bad Boy. Lesser made a successful transition to sound films, with his own Principal Pictures company; he would either distribute his productions himself under the Principal name, or arrange for a major studio to release them under their own trademarks. In 1933, Lesser produced Thunder Over Mexico a compilation film made from Eisenstein's Que Viva Mexico! with the permission of Upton Sinclair, who had commissioned the Soviet film maker, and his wife.

His productions usually had higher budgets than the usual independent features; Lesser was able to produce entire series with name stars like Bela Lugosi, George O'Brien, and Bobby Breen.

In 1933 Lesser succeeded in buying screen rights to Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan character. A Tarzan the Fearless serial with screen newcomer Buster Crabbe resulted, but Burroughs, deciding to make his own Tarzan films, refused to renegotiate with Lesser. Burroughs's movie enterprises were short-lived, and the rights passed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Burroughs sold Lesser options on all his Tarzan novels for seven years with Lesser producing one Tarzan film a year for 20th Century Fox. Only one Tarzan film Tarzan's Revenge featuring athletes Glenn Morris and Eleanor Holm was produced; Lesser sold the rights back to MGM. He returned to the Tarzan property in 1943, after MGM relinquished the rights. Lesser's new Tarzan films were produced for RKO and starred Johnny Weissmuller and later Lex Barker and Gordon Scott, and Lesser devoted himself to these jungle adventures for the rest of his career.

Later films include Our Town (1940) and the all-star wartime revue Stage Door Canteen (1943) that featured a cameo by Johnny Weissmuller. Toward the end of his life he was actively involved in restoring many of his early productions.

Lesser retired in 1958, selling the Tarzan rights to producer Sy Weintraub. "I had reached the age that one either finishes on top or far below. I decided I would end on top, and I was satisfied," he said.

Lesser was buried at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, California.

Accolades

Sol Lesser was the recipient of The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1960. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Filmography

Year Title Notes
1920 What Women Love
1921 One Man in a Million
1922 My Boy
1922 The World's a Stage
1922 Oliver Twist
1922 Trouble
1922 Bing Bang Boom
1923 Circus Days
1923 Daddy
1923 The Drug Traffic
1924 Captain January
1924 Helen's Babies
1924 The Mine with the Iron Door
1924 When a Man's a Man
1925 The Re-Creation of Brian Kent
1925 Balto's Race to Nome
1930 The Eyes of the World
1932 South Sea Adventures
1932 With Williamson Beneath the Sea
1932 The Amazon Head Hunters
1933 Jaws of Justice
1933 Matto-Grosso
1933 Thunder Over Mexico
1933 Tarzan the Fearless Serial
1933 The Return of Chandu Serial
1934 Peck's Bad Boy
1934 Ferocious Pal
1934 Fighting to Live
1934 Chandu on the Magic Isle
1934 The Dude Ranger
1935 Hard Rock Harrigan
1935 Thunder Mountain
1935 Whispering Smith Speaks
1935 When a Man's a Man
1935 The Cowboy Millionaire
1935 The Calling of Dan Matthews
1936 Let's Sing Again
1936 Rainbow on the River
1936 O'Malley of the Mounted
1937 The Californian
1937 Make a Wish
1937 Western Gold
1937 Roll Along, Cowboy
1937 Secret Valley
1937 It Happened Out West
1938 Breaking the Ice
1938 Hawaii Calls
1938 Rawhide
1938 Tarzan's Revenge
1938 Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus
1938 Panamint's Bad Man
1938 Hawaiian Buckaroo
1939 Fisherman's Wharf
1939 Way Down South
1939 Everything's on Ice
1939 Escape to Paradise
1940 Our Town
1941 That Uncertain Feeling
1942 The Tuttles of Tahiti
1943 Stage Door Canteen
1943 Tarzan's Desert Mystery
1943 Tarzan Triumphs
1944 Three Is a Family
1945 Tarzan and the Amazons
1947 Tarzan and the Leopard Woman
1947 The Red House
1947 Tarzan and the Huntress
1948 Tarzan and the Mermaids
1949 Tarzan's Magic Fountain
1950 Tarzan and the Slave Girl
1950 Kon-Tiki Academy Award, Best Documentary Feature
1951 Tarzan's Peril
1952 Tarzan's Savage Fury
1952 Under the Red Sea
1952 Without Warning!
1953 Tarzan and the She-Devil
1953 Vice Squad
1953 The 3D Follies
1955 Quest for the Lost City
1955 Tarzan's Hidden Jungle
1957 Man on the Prowl
1957 X the Unknown
1958 Tarzan's Fight for Life
1958 Tarzan and the Trappers TV pilot

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