Ever since the publication of Stephen Walker’s seminal work, Lemp: The Haunting History in 1989, one of this city’s most famous—and infamous families—has continued to fascinate St. Louis. Unfortunately, in the haste to build upon the meticulous research of Walker, a cottage industry of often slipshod and factually incorrect publications has arisen to capitalize on history buffs’ thirst for even the smallest tidbit of new Lemp mythology. The Lemp story has even dealt with the appearance of an impostor claiming descent from William Sr.’s daughter, Anna. The time is right, almost 30 years after the publication of Walker’s book, to begin “cleaning house,” dispelling the myths and correcting the legends that have arisen around the Lemp family.
Enter Fourth City Films, headed by principals Franki Cambeletta and Jeremy King, which will tackle one of the most infamous aspects of the Lemp family: one of the four alleged suicides. Troubled by what they saw as inconsistencies in the story of the only female suicide victim, Elsa Lemp Wright, Cambeletta and King set out to reexamine the circumstances surrounding her alleged suicide. Speaking with St. Louis Magazine recently, Cambeletta summed his motivations for a Lemp documentary succinctly.
When a Lemp argued against Prohibition—and for the German Empire
“I got tired of stories about the Monkey Boy,” he says, referring to the supposedly deformed son of William Sr. and Julia Lemp. Late one night on Main Street in St. Charles, Cambeletta, King and his wife were discussing their fascination with the Lemp family. They started conversing about Elsa, one of three daughters of from the Lemp’s most famous generation and her tumultuous marriage, divorce and remarriage to Thomas Wright. Finally, the question was posed:
“Why don’t we do a movie?”
The seed was planted. The genesis of the movie continued at the unlikeliest of times and places. King’s wife was experiencing difficulties with her pregnancy, and he and Cambeletta found themselves waiting out in the hallway of the hospital at 2 a.m. as she slept nearby. Conversation turned to the story of the Lemps and the often-ridiculous urban myths that have arisen around the famous brewing family. Finally, Cambeletta brought up the Lemp movie again:
“Why don’t we do a movie?”
“Wait, what do we do for equipment? King asked, reminding his friend of the fact they did not own any film production equipment.
Cambeletta replied, “I’ll take care of it.”
While Cambeletta and King are holding back the public release of much of the compelling evidence they have discovered about the suspicious circumstances surrounding Elsa’s death, they did share with St. Louis Magazine some of the details, and the evidence is incredibly compelling.
Photo by Megan Cox, @ChariotPhotography, courtesy of Fourth City Films
The crew behind "The Case for Elsa Lemp."
“Everyone has gotten it wrong,” Cambeletta states, “They didn’t even look at the simplest of evidence.”
They were upstairs in the Gelataria del Leone on South Grand discussing their research, and Cambeletta was growing restless, worried they would not be able to find anything suspicious about Elsa’s death.
Finally, King asked, “What day did she die?”
“March 20, 1920,” replied Cambeletta.
“That’s funny, the coroner’s report says the 19th,” observed King.
“And then we started to go through the documents, and nothing made sense. Nothing added up. There were so many clerical errors,” King explained. Leads began to develop.
“The physician does the examination in the bedroom of 13 Hortense Place,” instead of the coroner’s office. There was also a plethora of contradicting statements in witnesses’ testimony. The driver for Thomas and Elsa was never interviewed, despite being in the house at the time of the supposed suicide.
“If this was a suicide, they sure as hell made it look like a murder,” Cambeletta remarks.
King and Camebeletta turned to several experts both to examine the evidence, including Nini Harris, their “resident” historical factchecker; Michael Graham, Chief Medical Examiner of St. Louis; Baxter Leisure, former Chief Medical Examiner; Neil Zielinski, Senior Crime Scene Analyst, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, Florida; Timothy C. Richards, a former St. Louis police detective in the Central West End; and Jan Jett, an expert in Colt firearms, the type used in Elsa’s death. The crew also filmed the interior of 13 Hortense Place, where Elsa lived with Thomas Wright.
While Cambeletta’s longtime friend Alexandra Nunez helped in pre-production and early directing, the team has now turned to an old friend from college, award-winning documentary filmmaker and producer, Dorjan Javas Williams. Williams was immediately impressed with the story of the Lemps, largely unknown outside of St. Louis, and he was equally fascinated by the surprisingly rich history of the Gateway City.
Take a look inside a Lemp Brewery Souvenir Book, circa the 1893 Columbian Exposition
“Having worked on several documentaries I understand the amount of work, effort and dedication needed. Sometimes it’s not worth the journey,” Williams remarked recently, “This particular story I found very interesting: the socialites, the suspicion of murder, the legacy of this family I’d never heard of.”
Along with Williams and John Bolduan as the sound engineer, Lillian McLeod Schenck rounds out the crew, playing the role of Elsa Lemp Wright.
“I was sitting in the Mud House, and in comes this woman, and I think ‘Wow, she looks like a young Elsa,’” reminisces Cambeletta. The two ended up speaking for two hours about filmmaking and writing.
“Elsa has a lot different character sides. She’s not just this wealthy heiress. She’s very relatable to my life. She was a wild child who was adventurous, constantly breaking the norms of society. She dressed as a man to go to bars,” Schenck explains, “Elsa was a race car driver. But most importantly, she cared a lot about the city, donating time and money to Children’s Hospital.”
Schenk sums up the character she is playing, “If Elsa were alive today, I would be privileged to know her. We really wish she were here.”
That affection and respect is what drives the production of the film. The facts of Elsa’s life to do match the evidence of her death.
“Perhaps the most concerning piece of evidence lies in the time between 8:05 AM and 8:45 a.m., when Thomas Wright doesn’t call the police,” King says.
A look at the treatise Louis Lemp wrote when he was a young brewing student
In fact, the film’s original title was The Space Between, referring to the 40 minutes when Elsa’s husband does not seem concerned with saving his wife’s life, if possible. However, a movie released last year already used that title, so their new name for the film is The Case for Elsa Lemp.
Cambeletta explains the new title, “This film is about restoring the Lemps’ reputation.”
Speaking with Stephen Walker and David Mullgardt, two experts in the Lemp family’s history who also are interviewed for the film, that same theme of redemption comes up.
“Elsa can no longer speak for herself, so it falls to the producers of her documentary to tell her story, and I hope the film serves to shine a spotlight on the questionable circumstances associated with her death,” explains Walker.
Mullgardt continues, “I also hope, as I do with all things Lemp, that the family's story will be allowed to be told, free from the sensationalism that plagued their family in life as in death and that people can see them for the complex and totally human people that they were.”
The time has certainly arrived for liberating the Lemp family from that sensationalism, those legends of a Monkey Boy and lurid tales of suicide. The Lemps’ real, fact-based story is far more interesting than any of the bizarre urban legends. When The Case for Elsa Lemp is released next year at the St. Louis Film Festival, an important victory for facts will certainly be won.
Franki Cambeletta – director of photography, writer, producer
Jeremy King – assistant director, best boy grip
Lillian McLeod Schenck – actor, writer, editor
Alexandra Nunez – director, pre-production
Dorjan Willims – director
John Bolduan – sound engineer
Chris Naffziger writes about architecture at St. Louis Patina. Contact him via email at naffziger@gmail.com.
