Edward Golden

SIMPP Member (1943-1957)

Edward Golden, called "Doc" by friends, was a dentist practicing in Boston when he entered the film industry around 1912. Allegedly, when Paramount and United Artists executive Hiram Abrams visited Golden for a tooth extraction, the affluence of the visitor prompted the dentist to look into the film business. Entering at the states rights level, he became established as one of the leading New England franchise distributors following his vigorous promotion of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921).

Later Golden became an important manager at Monogram Pictures, where he hired Steve Broidy, the individual who became one of the most prominent independent distributors. 

The Monogram Studios of Hollywood's "Poverty Row" independent distributors.

Golden joined Republic Pictures and then decided to form his own independent production company in 1941. His Poverty Row experience compelled him to invest in low-cost, high-yield productions. His first independent film No Greater Sin (1941) cost $42,000, and made $150,000. Next he produced the acclaimed anti-Nazi hit Hitler's Children (1942), released through RKO at a negative cost of $200,000 and grossed a phenomenal $3.25 million.

SOURCES:

Edward A. Golden: "Edward Golden, Pioneer, Dies," DV, September 28, 1972; "Silence Is Not a Golden Trait," NYT, October 31, 1943, sec. II, p. 3.

See Bibliography.