The World

THE DREAM MAKERS OF HOLLYWOOD

The first chapter in American film history was written in 1903 at the
screening of The Great Train Robbery, a primitive production by the
Edison Company. Within five years, more than twenty independent studios
were grinding out thousands of films seldom longer than ten minutes in
length. Under Jewish influence, the speed and scale of Hollywood's
transformation were staggering. In 1912, Quo Vadis, a multi-reel
screen spectacular from Italy inaugurated full length features.
By 1916, more than 20,000 "dream palaces"--some being lavishly
appointed theaters built largely by Jewish interests--rose like citadels from
coast to coast. Paramount, Universal and Fox studios were founded by
Jewish entrepreneurs and the "star system" they created became a powerful
marketing strategy. Hollywood was to become the dominant caterer of
American culture worldwide. Who were the ground breakers? First and
second generation Eastern European Jews, many poorly educated, but who
were literate in the language of dreams.
IRVING THALBERG
(1899-1936) b. Brooklyn, NY Motion Picture
Executive/Producer Generations after his
premature" death, he. remains the "boy wonder"
who at age 24 produced the memorable The
Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) for Universal
Pictures. Thalberg developed the "studio system"
after joining MGM in 1926, and released another
screen,. gem that year: Ben Hur. The system,
adapted by other major studios, led to production efficiencies and quality
never before attained. Spearheading MGM's transition from silent film to
sound, he presented such classics as The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)
and Mutiny on the Bounty (1935). Among the talents he nurtured were
Greta Garbo, Clark Gable and Joan Crawford. Thalberg married another
protégé, Norma Shearer, who converted to Judaism. The Motion Picture
Academy's prestigious Thalberg Award was established in his honor.
DAVID 0. SELZNICK
(1902-65) b. Pittsburgh, PA Motion Picture
Producer The descendent of a film industry
family began his career as a script reader at MGM
and advanced to filmmaking for Paramount and
RKO. His tight rein on direction and production
built a reputation for meticulously crafted works
that were box office sensations--the finest of their
era. The most famous in Hollywood history was
Gone with the Wind (1939), winner of ten Academy Awards. His faculty
for coupling strong story lines with acting talent also realized such sagas as
David Coppeifield (1935), A Star is Born (1937), Rebecca (1940), Duel in
the Sun (1947), Anna Karenina (1948) and A Farewell to Arms (1957).
Selznick had been named the leading American producer for ten successive
years. Several of his last films starred actress Jennifer Jones to whom he
was married.
OTTO PREMINGER
(1906-1986) b. Vienna, Austria Motion Picture
Director/Actor Immigrating to the United States
with a law degree and stage experience, he .
directed such Broadway hits as Outward Bound
(1938) and Margin for Error (1939). While
Preminger later played German roles in World
War Two films, he was best known for a varied
,
repertoire of directorial successes after arriving in
Hollywood in 1941. His career flowered with the internationally praised
his 1944 mystery drama Laura--suggestive of screenplays with social
themes he favored. Others included The Moon is Blue (1953), Anatomy of
a Murder (1959), Exodus (1960) and Such Good Friends (1971). The
sometimes temperamental and always outspoken director of musicals and
westerns, as well, also inspired crusades against motion picture censorship.
- Saul Stadtmauer.
Footnote for silent movie buffs. Theda Bara (1890-1955), born Theodosia
Goodman in Cincinnati, was the first femme fatale of the cinema, a
bewitching star who introduced the word
into our vocabulary. She
portrayed a merciless enslaver of men in many of her forty films which
_were forerunners of today's sensuous motion picture fare.

Visit many more notable Jews at our website: www.dorledor.org

8/21
1998

COMMISSION FOR THE DISSEMINATION OF JEWISH HISTORY
Walter & Lea Field, Founders/Sponsors
Irwin S. Field, Co-chairperson
Harriet F.Siden, Co-chairperson

46 Detroit Jewish News

international body to respond strongly

to Saddam's Aug. 4 announcement that
he was suspending all weapons inspec-

tions.

Jewish activists responded cautiously,
but with visible anxiety.
"We are concerned, although the sit-
uation is very cloudy," Mr. Baum said.
"We are particularly concerned about
the feeling that we have to yield to the
concerns of other countries and violate
our resolute stand against terrorism and,
extremism."
Like most Jewish leaders, he said that
the sex scandal may be a factor in the
policy shift — but probably not the
decisive factor.

A U.N. weapons inspector in a protec-
tive suit searches for missle parts in Iraq.

"Absent Monica Lewinsky, there still
might be the same reluctance to bring
vigorous, bold, creative policy to bear," -
he said. "It's hard to think the scandal
isn't a factor, but we weren't seeing that
kind of leadership even before these
scandals."
Abraham Foxman, national director
of the Anti-Defamation League, said
that "there's been a change in tactics
toward Iraq, but not a change in overall
policy — which is to confront and stop
Saddam.''
Foxman, who was in Washington for
a round of meetings with congressional
and administration officials, declined to
say whether the burgeoning sex scandal
was affecting U.S. policy toward Iraq,
or the all-but-dead Mideast peace
process.
But other Jewish leaders warned that
the White House sex scandal already
was having a significant and dangerous
impact.
"It's a 'wag the dog' situation," said
the leader of one major Jewish group.
"If they reacted strongly to Saddam's
latest outrages, people would say it was
because of the scandals; that may have

been a factor in the decision not to
respond with the military threat."
Robert 0. Freedman, president of
Baltimore Hebrew University and
author of several books on the Mideast,
said that "there's clearly the perception
around the world of weakness in this
administration and of being distracted
by the scandals. It's a significant factor
in the Arab-Israeli situation, in the latest
Iraqi crisis — and in the fact that
Russia is selling missiles to the Greek
part of Cyprus which have the capabili-
ty of hitting southern Turkey."

B'nai B'rith Convention

Delegates from around the world are
gathering in Israel this week for the
biennial convention of B'nai B'rith —
the perennially troubled Jewish commu-
nal giant whose latest reorganization
plan seems to be producing results, but
which has yet to reverse the decline in
membership that threatens the group's
future.
The good news for B'nai B'rith is
that nine new "units" have been created
in the past year, and membership
among the under-40 set has increased
fivefold since 1993.
But the group continues to lose
members overall, largely through attri-
tion among a membership skewed
toward the upper age brackets. B'nai
B'rith officials declined to say how
much membership has declined.
On Wednesday, the group will elect
a new international president. The
front-runner and anointed successor to
the current president, Tommy Baer, is
Richard D. Heideman, a Washington
lawyer who strongly supports the
sweeping overhaul which centralized
many B'nai B'rith functions while
opening a number of regional offices.
"The reorganization has been a
major step forward," he said this week.
"It's put the emphasis on programming,
not structure. The establishment of 18
regions has brought hundreds of new
people into key leadership positions."
But Bernard Friedman, a South
Carolina lawyer who also wants the top
job, insisted that "the reorganization has
taken away the power of our people to
govern themselves."
He worries that B'nai B'rith will
"reform ourselves to death; the real
question is how we can make changes
that will help members believe they are
really a part of this organization, that
they have real prerogatives."
A third candidate, Chicago lawyer
Hugh Schwartzberg, said B'nai B'rith
has to focus on innovative program-
ming. ❑

