Stephen Andrew Lynch

[5] Through the remainder of the nineteen teens, Lynch continued acquiring theaters and distributing Paramount product throughout the South.

Triangle films also featured the premier actors of the day, including Douglas Fairbanks, William S. Hart, and Norma Talmadge.

Triangle Film Corporation began to fall apart in 1917 amidst financial scandals involving the Aitkins and lost its three 'star' directors and many of its star actors.

Lynch, who by that time had had a falling out with Hodkinson and a third owner, Pawley, bought out both in order to obtain sole control of Triangle Distributing.

Block booking was made possible for Paramount in part due to the exclusive contract between its principal supplier, the Famous Players Lasky Corporation and the first real motion picture star, the former "Biograph Girl," Mary Pickford.

Several major theater circuit owners, unhappy with Paramount's block booking arrangement, banded together in 1917 to form First National in order to create a competing stream of pictures for distribution to its members.

The purpose of Southern Enterprises was to take over Lynch's exclusive distribution franchise and to acquire theaters in order to repel the First National challenge.

Not to be deterred, Lynch advanced Paramount's share of the Southern Enterprises capital on the condition that he remain in control until the loan was repaid.

[11] Southern Enterprises, seeking to break into markets controlled by First National, sent Lynch and his so-called "Wrecking Crew" or "Dynamite Gang" through the South to acquire theaters by whatever means necessary.

By that time, Paramount's financial position had improved and at the end of 1922 it negotiated a $5.7 million deal to pay off its debt to Lynch and acquire the Southern Enterprises theater chain, which then numbered in excess of 200.

[18] The Federal Trade Commission charged that Lynch and the others had violated antitrust law by using oppression and coercion in the acquisition of theaters, utilizing the block booking method of distribution, and by forcing Paramount customers to exclude other producer's product from their screens.

As the public outrage over Paramount's practices subsided after the fall of First National, so did the government attorneys' encouragement to continue.

[22] Lynch later assumed control of Paramount's South Florida theater operations,[23] which he ran until 1945[21] when he retired for the second and final time from active involvement in the motion picture industry.

Lynch himself built a residence on the southwest corner of Sunset II named "Sunshine Cottage," which was featured on tour-boat rides to see houses of the rich and famous.

While most of these activities do not merit special mention, one in particular stands out as an example of the tenacity and aggression Lynch displayed in his business dealings.

For several years during the early 1950s, Lynch waged a furious court battle in an effort to take over control of the Florida East Coast Railway, which was then in receivership.

In the mid-1920s, Lynch obtained Rival, one of several Sound Schooner class of 30-foot waterline racing yachts that competed in the waters off Long Island.