tion in the Midwest。 Smuggling in the coastal areas of the
South where his fertilizer factories were。 Finally an association with the
nascent western gambling interests。
Probably Derwent's most famous investment was the purchase of the foundering
Top Mark Studios； which had not had a hit since their child star； Little Margery
Morris； had died of a heroin overdose in 1934。 She was fourteen。 Little Margery；
who had specialized in sweet seven…year…olds who saved marriages and the lives
of dogs unjustly accused of killing chickens； had been given the biggest
Hollywood funeral in history by Top Mark — the official story was that Little
Margery had contracted a 〃wasting disease〃 while entertaining at a New York
orphanage — and some cynics suggested the studio had laid out all that long green
because it knew it was burying itself。
Derwent hired a keen businessman and raging sex maniac named Henry Finkel to
run Top Mark； and in the two years before Pearl Harbor the studio ground out
sixty movies； fifty…five of which glided right into the face of the Hayes Office
and spit on its large blue nose。 The other five were government training films。
The feature films were huge successes。 During one of them an unnamed costume
designer had juryrigged a strapless bra for the heroine to appear in during the
Grand Ball scene； where she revealed everything except possibly the birthmark
just below the cleft of her buttocks。 Derwent received credit for this invention
as well； and his reputation — or notoriety — grew。
The war had made him rich and he was still rich。 Living in Chicago； seldom
seen except for Derwent Enterprises board meetings （w