The House of Rothschild

This is quite a rousing film for a biopic, and sports one of Arliss's best performances. Made two years after Hitler's rise to power, the whole subtext of the film is anti-Semitism and the then-current events in Europe. Napoleon is the stand-in for Hitler--the man all peace-loving men must join together to wage war against to secure peace. There are scenes of violence in the Jewish ghetto--stirred up by anti-Semite Karloff. Everything Rothschild does he does to end anti-Semitism; many speeches on this theme. Rothschild's father is shown as a Shylock-type, making money with money, fooling the tax collector, but with reluctance and great bitterness, doing so only because other professions are denied him, and because the tax collector overcharges Jews. C. Aubrey Smith gives a really delightful performance as Wellington. The final scene is one of the first live-action sequences to be made in three-color Technicolor, before BECKY SHARP. The topicality gives the film an immediacy that is often lacking in period films.

This interesting early talkie from 1934 is a biopic of Nathan Rothschild, the British-German-Jewish banker from the times of Napoleon that is considered one of the founders of international finance. Rothschild is famous among many things from making a fortune in the London Stock exchange by speculating successfully on Wellington's victory over Napoleon at Waterloo (this is in this film, though apparently according to recent historians it probably never happened).

Rothschild, as portrayed in the film by George Arliss, is not a very likable person: unabashedly ethnocentric (he is adamant that his daughter must not marry a gentile suitor), he is always ready to take offense, views almost every non-Jew as anti-Semitic, is willing to use money to exercise power, etc. Probably because of this, the Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels was an unlikely fan of this film, releasing an edited version in Germany (that emphasized the most negative aspects of the protagonist) and in 1940 he used an unauthorized clip from this film in the infamous anti-Semitic documentary "The Eternal Jew" and also had his own German remake, "The Rothschild's shares in Waterloo". The German film, by the way, despite its obvious propaganda intentions, is well made and has a literate, intelligent script. In a way, Rothschild is a more sympathetic character in the German film than in the Hollywood version! The Hollywood film is also notable for the last scene (in which Rothschild is knighted by the King) being shot in an early Technicolor process.

I also watched it the other day on the Fox Movie Channel and the final sequence was indeed not in color. That surprised me because I thought that surely their vault would have contained a print with the Technicolor finale.

About 15 years ago, the Castro Cinema here in San Francisco showed a series of 20th Century Fox classic films, all with 35 mm prints. The House Of Rothschild was shown with the beautiful Technicolor final sequence. The fact that it was not shown that way on the FMC was disappointing, but it was still great to see the film again, as it's so rarely shown.

The movie tells the story of the beginnings of the Rotschild empire ,at a time (1934) when the Jews were about to suffer as never.The pogroms were a sinister omen of the Crystal Night which would happen in Germany and in Austria in 1938.And the worst was to follow as everybody knows.

I did not like the very beginning of the movie,which shows the Jews with the traditional spate of clichés.But further acquaintance with the old man shows this: he has realized that only money can bring him power and dignity and thus help his people.There is something biblical (Old Testament) when the patriarch sends his five sons to set up banks all over Europa (the score over the cast and credits includes snatches of "La Marseillaise" "Das Lied Der Deutschen" and "God save the king" ). George Arliss outclasses all the other actors ,even Boris Karloff ,in his portrayal of Nathan Rotschild,a noble gent ,probably too good and too generous to be true.Napoleon works behind the scenes ,although he plays a prominent part in the screenplay.The two Young (Robert and Loretta) supply the love interest in the Romeo (Christian or gentile) and Juliet (Jew) mold.

Dazzling finale in color ,which is quite a surprise for a 1934 movie!

... which is appropriate since he had the talent of at least two actors of any era. In this case Arliss plays both Mayer Rothschild and son Nathan after the house of Rothschild has begun to flourish into a huge banking enterprise. What makes these precode biopics of Arliss fun to watch is his mischief, the precocious energy of a five year old and the wisdom of a sage observer of human nature all packed into one lean unimposing frame. The precode era also allowed Arliss to make a comment here and there that likely would be censored in the production code era.

The time is that of the Napoleanic Wars and the Rothschilds, after funding the British in the first defeat of Napolean, find the British aristocracy develops a not so startling case of amnesia and begins treating Nathan Rothschild as an outsider - a Jew - and excludes him from their most lucrative deals. When Nathan Rothschild initially outsmarts them in business, the vindictive Count Ledrantz (Boris Karloff) incites riots against the Jews throughout Europe, even putting Nathan's own mother at risk back at the ancestral home in Germany. However, what nobody knows at the time is that Napolean will escape and a second campaign against him will be necessary. Will the Rothschilds go after their own best interests and back Napolean or will they again side with those that have discarded them - the British. Watch and find out.

Also watch George Arliss' other biopics of the early sound era - Disraeli, Voltaire, and Alexander Hamilton are the ones I've actually been able to see so far. All of these are very much worth your time.