The Fox Hunt

Race for a Hollywood prize

For the past few years Hollywood's 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. has been under siege. The place has borne an uncanny resemblance to the rebel outpost attacked by Darth Vader's forces in The Empire Strikes Back, one of Fox's biggest box office smashes. Flush with profits from that film, Star Wars, Alien and other blockbusters, the studio has been pursued by a flock of acquisition-minded outsiders, most notably Chris-Craft Industries, which holds 22% of Fox's stock. But the winner in the Fox hunt may be a new entry: Denver Oilman Marvin Davis, who last week wheeled into Hollywood in a Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith II and made a cash offer of almost $800 million for the company. If the bid succeeds, Fox would become the first major studio since the days of Louis Mayer and the Warner brothers, more than 40 years ago, to be ruled as a personal fief.

Davis, 55, has a passion for privacy. The son of a New York City garmentmaker, he amassed a fortune, believed to approach $1 billion, in 25 years of wheeling and dealing that have made his wholly owned Davis Oil Co. a leading independent oil driller. Davis has tried but failed to buy up other non-oil businesses, including the Oakland A's baseball team and the Denver Post. If he captures Fox, he will own not just a highly profitable movie studio but a budding entertainment and real estate empire. Fox Chairman Dennis Stanfill has been investing movie revenues in nonfilm properties, including California's Pebble Beach golf courses and Colorado ski areas.

At week's end Fox's directors announced that they would negotiate with Davis, and old Hollywood hands believe that the oilman will eventually get his studio. For one thing, Davis has the important backing of Chris-Craft Chairman Herbert Siegel. For another, he promises to retain current Fox management. That will surely appeal to Stanfill, a hard-nosed boss who, Fox insiders say, has been feuding with other directors.

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