Carl Laemmle, a documentary by James L. Freedman, English language, 91 minutes; to be shown during the San Diego International Jewish Film Festival at 1 p.m. Sunday, February 10, at the Museum of Photographic Arts, 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park, and at 1:30 p.m., Sunday, February 17, at the Reading Cinemas Town Square, 4665 Clairemont Drive, San Diego.
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – An immigrant from Laupheim, Germany, whose first job in the United States was as an errand boy, Universal Studios founder Carl Laemmle did not get into the movie business until 1906, when he was 39 years old. Enamored by the potential of moving pictures, he opened the White Front Theater in Chicago, which was an immediate sensation. Working as ticket taker, projectionist, and janitor, he rented films from Thomas Edison, whose company had a monopoly both on films and equipment for showing them. From theater owner, Laemmle moved on to movie distributor, but he broke with Edison over increased fees for renting movies. That was when he decided to form his own, independent movie company. His first silent film was Hiawatha.
Edison fought Laemmle and all other independent film makers, using a combination of legal and illegal tactics. He brought suits against the independent film makers for violation of his patent rights. But thugs also broke up their filming sessions. Laemmle, lampooning Edison, created a cartoon character called General Filmco, and also hired away from his company popularly received actresses whose names never appeared in Edison’s films. He gave Florence Lawrence and Mary Pickford star billing by name. Eventually, Laemmle merged with other independent film makers to create Universal Studios, its name inspired by a passing truck with the name “Universal Pipe Fittings” on its side.
As the head of Universal Studios, Laemmle recorded a lot of firsts. The first full-length feature film (as opposed to shorts) was his Traffic in Souls, about women being pressed into prostitution. His Universal City studio became a tourist attraction. He created the studio’s own magazine with features that theater owners could supply to local newspapers. He was the first to spend $1 million to produce a picture, Foolish Wives, not because he wanted to but because director Erich von Stroheim went way over budget. He mentored movie maker Irving Thalberg. He helped make movie stars out of Rudolph Valentino, Stan Laurel, and Lon Chaney. He pioneered the employment of women as movie directors, with Lois Weber at one point being the highest paid of all Universal directors.
He hired directors who went on to win Academy Awards such as John Ford and William Wyler. He also hired numerous relatives, in particular, his son Carl Jr., who rose to the head of the studio before cost overruns forced Carl Sr. to step back into the position. So many other relatives were on the payroll that poet Ogden Nash famously wrote, “Uncle Carl Laemmle/ Has a very large faemmle.”
The Laemmles, father and son, pioneered the making of monster movies such as Dracula, The Invisible Man, Frankenstein, Phantom of the Opera, and the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Dracula was his studio’s first talkie, which starred Bela Lagosi. Lagosi turned down the part of Frankenstein’s monster, opening the way for Boris Karloff to play the part to acclaim.
One of the most important films made by Universal Studios was the anti-war epic All Quiet on the Western Front, in which school boys who were anxious to fight for Germany in World War I learned to their horror that the battlefield was far from the glory that they had imagined. Coming out in 1930, the film which won Academy Awards for best picture and best director and was nominated for two other Academy Awards, was an anathema to Adolf Hitler whose Nazi movement was rising in Germany. Hitler’s storm troopers released stink bombs in the first German showing of the movie, letting it be known that the “Jewish film” of Laemmle would not be tolerated. Later, when Hitler became chancellor of Germany, one of his first acts was to ban all Jews as German film directors.
Laemmle sold off his assets in Germany, and began a campaign that would preoccupy him for the rest of his life in opposition to Hitler and Nazism. Notwithstanding opposition from the U.S. State Department, he arranged for 300 German Jewish families to live in the United States under his sponsorship. Getting papers for each family was a struggle that took a toll on his physical health.
Meanwhile, Universal Studios continued to make films. Imitation of Life was one of the first films dealing with race relations in the United States. It featured two female partners, one black and one white, detailing their friendship and their struggles.
In 1935, Laemmle made Show Boat, which was a large grossing movie, but the revenues were not enough to prevent lenders from taking the company away from him. After that neither Carl Laemmle nor his son ever made another movie.
In 1939, at age 72, Laemmle died. An estimated 2,000 people attended his funeral services at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple.
James L. Freedman was the writer, director, and narrator of this documentary. On all counts, he did a wonderful job.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com